Intel D975XBX (Bad Axe)

[emgarf]

Originally Posted by Sandog

Very nice setup. The CPU and mobo will run the hottest in BIOS. Those are actually not bad temps. My computer will spin up the case fans really fast in BIOS which is something they never do in Windows. I hit the highest temps ever on my Koolance display (44C) when in BIOS which the CPU is way up there.

I would get the 955EE in April but I have to sell the 840EE. I am trying now for the 4th time. It does not look like it will sell and I may have to keep it until Conroe.

"The CPU and mobo will run the hottest in BIOS."
Wow - this was certainly true in my case (pun intended). With WinXP now installed, idle temps at the desktop for proc/zone 1/zone 2 are 50/38/32 (estimated room ambient of 22-23). After running the 'stress tester' included as part of the Intel utilities, temps climbed and stabilized at 60/47/39, basically identical to the BIOS HW monitoring page.

Is BIOS really exercising the CPU that much? I assume that the Windows-based Intel system monitor is reading the same temp sensors in pretty much the same way - the discrepancy between BIOS and Win readings is odd.

Anyway, I can definitely live with 60/47/39 under heavy load. Fans are still fairly quiet in that scenario - the PS fan is actually the most noticeable.

Memory: I booted from a SuSe 10.0 DVD and ran one pass of memtest-86; it took about 25 minutes, no errors, so I guess my manual BIOS mem timing changes to match the manufacturer's advertised numbers are OK. The 'stress test' mentioned above included some kind of memory test and also had no failures.

One more note about two examples of good customer service:
The Lian Li PC-G70B case I bought has two power supply bays ("normal" top mount and bottom mount) but did not come with a cover plate for the unused PS bay. I inquired with Newegg and with Lian Li about the availability of a cover plate. Newegg apologized for not carrying the item, said they would in future, and credited me $15 so I could buy it myself. Lian Li responded (directly from Taiwan) by asking my address so they could ship me one at no charge. Both companies responded within half a day.

Hope this rambling info is of use,
Cheers,
emgarf

[pointreyes]

Originally Posted by emgarf

"The CPU and mobo will run the hottest in BIOS."
Wow - this was certainly true in my case (pun intended). With WinXP now installed, idle temps at the desktop for proc/zone 1/zone 2 are 50/38/32 (estimated room ambient of 22-23). After running the 'stress tester' included as part of the Intel utilities, temps climbed and stabilized at 60/47/39, basically identical to the BIOS HW monitoring page.

The bios does not normally have instruction sets to the processor to tell it to run at idle. Windows on the other hand does.

[emgarf]

Originally Posted by pointreyes

The bios does not normally have instruction sets to the processor to tell it to run at idle. Windows on the other hand does.

Good point. The BIOS HW monitor is then a fairly convenient way of evaluating case fan configuration - power off, move/reverse a fan, power on straight into BIOS is much faster than booting into Windows and starting a CPU stress test each time a fan or heatsink change needs to be evaluated.

[Sandog]

Those are very useful facts regarding the BIOS and temps. I really get hotter temps in BIOS where my CPU is still clocked at 4GHz usually. The fans rev. up instantly and it is kinda scary because it is unusual. It is almost like the system is having a meltdown. I may go home and try it tonight for a prolonged period and see how hot everything gets.

[emgarf]

1) Intel's own Desktop Control Center (both the supplied version and the latest version downloaded from their site) just hangs at the load screen and will not start. The hung app shows up as "TK" and the hung process is listed as idcc.exe.
Fortunately the Intel Desktop Utilities do function correctly, so I still have a hardware monitoring function.

2) I had an "unknown device" in Device Manager that took quite a while to track down... chipset driver reinstalls and enabling/disabling peripherals in BIOS didn't help. System couldn't find any drivers, I couldn't manually find any matching drivers on the install disk or listed for the BadAxe on Intel's site. Anyway, the Device Properties | Details | Device Instance ID was ACPI\AWY0001\... googled on that, it lead me to something called 'Away Mode'... apparently it's a new 'feature' for the Viiv tech base.

I had to install the Intel Quick Resume Technology Driver (QRTD), which wasn't included with the MB, but can be found here:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...ng&prdmap=2223

Device Manager is happy now.

There's now a new tab in Control Panel | Power; 'Away Mode' can now be assigned to the Sleep button. IMHO Away Mode is not very useful since it only shuts off video and audio, but leaves HDs and fans running. Full standby works very well on this MB. I think Away Mode would be more useful for a media center.
Both can be used by assigning Away Mode to the Sleep button and putting Standby on a timer basis.

I couldn't find a way to disable the QRTD function in BIOS so that the Away Mode driver need not be installed.

Hope this info is, well, informational.
Cheers,
emgarf

[pointreyes]

You're correct about media center usage for the away mode; however, it actually sounds nice for a file server as well. I don't need the video card going if I just need to access some files from the machine on my network. Standby is miserable for a file server because you have to wait for the system to wake up to receive your request.

[AHLnut]

Originally Posted by emgarf

1) Intel's own Desktop Control Center (both the supplied version and the latest version downloaded from their site) just hangs at the load screen and will not start. The hung app shows up as "TK" and the hung process is listed as idcc.exe.
Fortunately the Intel Desktop Utilities do function correctly, so I still have a hardware monitoring function.

2) I had an "unknown device" in Device Manager that took quite a while to track down... chipset driver reinstalls and enabling/disabling peripherals in BIOS didn't help. System couldn't find any drivers, I couldn't manually find any matching drivers on the install disk or listed for the BadAxe on Intel's site. Anyway, the Device Properties | Details | Device Instance ID was ACPI\AWY0001\... googled on that, it lead me to something called 'Away Mode'... apparently it's a new 'feature' for the Viiv tech base.

I had to install the Intel Quick Resume Technology Driver (QRTD), which wasn't included with the MB, but can be found here:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...ng&prdmap=2223

Device Manager is happy now.

There's now a new tab in Control Panel | Power; 'Away Mode' can now be assigned to the Sleep button. IMHO Away Mode is not very useful since it only shuts off video and audio, but leaves HDs and fans running. Full standby works very well on this MB. I think Away Mode would be more useful for a media center.
Both can be used by assigning Away Mode to the Sleep button and putting Standby on a timer basis.

I couldn't find a way to disable the QRTD function in BIOS so that the Away Mode driver need not be installed.

Hope this info is, well, informational.
Cheers,
emgarf

Great info and legwork, THANKS!!! That unknown device would drive most of us crazy until the answer was found.

[Sandog]

I actually tracked down the Quick Resume feature a couple of days ago. I found it by tracking what made the D975 mobo VIIV compatible which is one of it's features Intel says. Apparently it is one of the requirements for VIIV. Here is a description of this feature.

http://www.intel.com/support/enterta.../cs-021742.htm

I have a BIOS setting with this enabled. It appears to offer a better sleep mode with a good use like Pointreyes mentioned.

Also I did not know this was the culprit for the yellow exclamation in Device Manager but the latest 6xx BIOS says it fixes the exclamation problem.

[emgarf]

Originally Posted by Sandog

I actually tracked down the Quick Resume feature a couple of days ago. I found it by tracking what made the D975 mobo VIIV compatible which is one of it's features Intel says. Apparently it is one of the requirements for VIIV. Here is a description of this feature.

http://www.intel.com/support/enterta.../cs-021742.htm

I have a BIOS setting with this enabled. It appears to offer a better sleep mode with a good use like Pointreyes mentioned.

Also I did not know this was the culprit for the yellow exclamation in Device Manager but the latest 6xx BIOS says it fixes the exclamation problem.

I'm using the latest 0618 BIOS... where in your BIOS menu is the setting?

thx,
emgarf

[Sandog]

I can't check until I get home but it is in one of the menu's beside the boot menu. It is labeled similar to 'Quick Resume Technology Feature' and can be enabled/disabled. I remember there not being much else under the menu it was under. Also I saw it under the previous BIOS which I upgraded from this week. Do not know if it is still there but should be.

[Sandog]

On the right are the chipsets that are VIIV capable.

http://www.intel.com/products/viiv/d...htm#components

Here is the QRT featured on the Intel D975XBX.

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd..._available.htm

For a VIIV capable system you need a couple of things which the D975XBX has.

For starters you need this QRT feature I believe, then you need 7.1 sound capability. It also appears you should have a dual-core or EE CPU. You also need a system able to run and handle Windows Media Center Edition which probably means you need a TV tuner of some sort plus it has to be a powerful system to handle multimedia playback and recording.

[lowrider007]

Anyone ?

Couple of questions about the Intel D975XBX, this board has 3 PCI-E slots right, now at
the moment I have three screens connected to my Intel D925XCV (I'm not willy waiving their nothing special), 2 of them are connected to my 7800gtx and one of them to a very old permedia 2 pci gfx card, now the thing is I recently upgraded my main screen so now in total I have 4 screens, now with the Intel D925XCV will I be able to plonk my 7800gtx in for 2 screens and then purchase a cheaper 6600 PCI-E gfx card for the other 2 screens, OR, will I have to puchase the same gfx card, meaning will have to get another 7800gtx just so that I can have 4 screens enabled.

Cheers

Lowrider007

[emgarf]

Originally Posted by Sandog

I can't check until I get home but it is in one of the menu's beside the boot menu. It is labeled similar to 'Quick Resume Technology Feature' and can be enabled/disabled. I remember there not being much else under the menu it was under. Also I saw it under the previous BIOS which I upgraded from this week. Do not know if it is still there but should be.

Hmmm... I must have completely overlooked it. (Wouldn't be the first and probably won't be the last time.) I'm definitely using the latest 0618 BIOS.

Thx for the info!

[Sandog]

Here is the settting.

[Intel_User]

I am pro-Intel, but I sometimes wonder how stupid some of their technologies can be.

One is called Intel Quick Resume Technology. It SOUNDS like better Sleep mode, EXCEPT ITS NOT.

Its a way for LAZY people turn off their monitors. That's it. Oh, yea and plus mute the sound.

Now like Anand said, if the system is quiet enough it MAY be believable. However, if using a Pentium D system, which is what ViiV systems are, then it will be DAMN loud. Then people will be like: "***?"