Intel D975XBX: Intel brings their Bad-Axe to Market
by Gary Key on January 26, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: Intel D975XBX
The Intel D975XBX is a member of the Extreme Series product family and, as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the Intel enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package that includes a 3.5" front panel bay for audio, IEEE1394, and USB 2.0 connections. Intel also includes several desktop utilities for monitoring and tuning your system.
This is the main BIOS screen and displays the generic options available on the board.
The advanced BIOS section allows you to view or change the majority of the system settings.
The advanced screen allows you to set individual parameters for voltage, multipliers, and chipset settings. You must first answer "yes" to the standard legal verbiage before being allowed to modify the limited range of settings. The Host Burn-In Mode Type option allows you to set a positive or negative value when determining whether to increase or decrease the front side bus. The Host Burn-In Mode Percentage option allows you to increase the front side bus up to 30% in 1% increments.
The board fully supports manual memory timing adjustments or allows for a Default setting that will set the memory to the SPD settings. The memory voltage settings have been increased to 2.2V.
Overall, the BIOS options are sparse on the Intel D975X compared to other enthusiast boards, with memory voltage to 2.2V, and a limited range of chipset, bus, and vCore voltage adjustments. However, the support for a 1333 FSB is interesting at this time. The BIOS will not recover by itself if you choose an incorrect setting. You will need to power down the system, switch the BIOS configuration jumper, power on the system, make the necessary changes in the BIOS, power down the system, switch the BIOS configuration jumper, and then power on the system. We cannot understand why Intel continues to require this interaction on their enthusiast board as it can become very frustrating while exploring the performance abilities of varied components.
Specification | Intel D975XBX |
CPU Interface | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors |
Chipset | Intel 975X - MCH ICH7R - ICH |
Pentium D Support | 820D, 830D, 840D, 840EE, 920D, 930D ,940D ,950D , 955EE |
Front Side Bus | 1333 / 1067 / 800 / 533 MHz |
Host Burn-In Mode | 0 - 30% (in 1 percent increments) |
Memory Speeds | Default, DDR-2 333, 400, 533, 667, and 800MHz |
PCI Bus Speeds | Default, 40.00MHz |
PCI Express Bus Speeds | Default, 101.32, 102.64, 103.96, 105.28, 106.6, 107.92, 109.24MHz |
Set Processor Multiplier | 12 to 40, (in 1 step increments) |
Core Voltage | Default, 1.2750V to 1.6000V (in 0.0125V increments) |
DRAM Voltage | Default, 1.80V, 1.90V, 2.00V, 2.10V, 2.20V |
MCH Chipset Voltage | Default, 1.525V, 1.600V, 1.650V, 1.725V |
FSB Termination Voltage | Default, 1.271V, 1.333V, 1.395V |
Memory Slots | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, ECC, un-buffered memory |
Expansion Slots | (2) x PCI-E x16 (operates in 1x16 and 1x8 or 2x8 mode) (1) x PCI-E x16 (operates in x4 mode) (2) x PCI 2.3 |
Onboard SATA | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA 3Gb/s |
Onboard IDE | Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 |
SATA/IDE RAID | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA 3Gb/s RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology Silicon Image SiI 3114: (4) x SATA 1.5Gb/s RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 (operates on PCI bus) |
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | (8) USB2.0 ports (2) IEEE 1394a FireWire Ports by TI TSB43AB23 |
Onboard LAN | Intel 82573L PCI-E x1 Gb LAN |
Onboard Audio | Sigmatel STAC9221D, 8-channel capable HD Audio Codec featuring Dolby Master Studio technology |
Power Connectors | 24-pin ATX 4-pin 12V Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel 1 x Serial 1 x Audio I/O Panel 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out Port 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Out Port 1 x RJ45 4 x USB |
Other Features | Value Added Software: Intel® Audio Studio Intel® Desktop Utilities Intel® Desktop Control Center InterVideo* WinDVD* Ulead* VideoStudio* 9 SE DVD InterVideo* MediaOne* Gold Musicmatch* Jukebox Farstone RestoreIT!* Gold Farstone Gamedrive* Norton* Internet Security Norton* AntiVirus Yahoo!* Toolbar with Anti-spy |
BIOS | Intel 0420 (01/05/2006) |
The Intel D975XBX is a member of the Extreme Series product family and, as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the Intel enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package that includes a 3.5" front panel bay for audio, IEEE1394, and USB 2.0 connections. Intel also includes several desktop utilities for monitoring and tuning your system.
This is the main BIOS screen and displays the generic options available on the board.
The advanced BIOS section allows you to view or change the majority of the system settings.
The advanced screen allows you to set individual parameters for voltage, multipliers, and chipset settings. You must first answer "yes" to the standard legal verbiage before being allowed to modify the limited range of settings. The Host Burn-In Mode Type option allows you to set a positive or negative value when determining whether to increase or decrease the front side bus. The Host Burn-In Mode Percentage option allows you to increase the front side bus up to 30% in 1% increments.
The board fully supports manual memory timing adjustments or allows for a Default setting that will set the memory to the SPD settings. The memory voltage settings have been increased to 2.2V.
Overall, the BIOS options are sparse on the Intel D975X compared to other enthusiast boards, with memory voltage to 2.2V, and a limited range of chipset, bus, and vCore voltage adjustments. However, the support for a 1333 FSB is interesting at this time. The BIOS will not recover by itself if you choose an incorrect setting. You will need to power down the system, switch the BIOS configuration jumper, power on the system, make the necessary changes in the BIOS, power down the system, switch the BIOS configuration jumper, and then power on the system. We cannot understand why Intel continues to require this interaction on their enthusiast board as it can become very frustrating while exploring the performance abilities of varied components.
34 Comments
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BigP - Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - link
Im a self build Virgin - but I'm going in at the deep end. Intel's site makes their Dual Core stuff sound awsome!(a) Is it?(b)Should I look to spend my cash elsewhere when considering a motherboard/processor?Gary Key - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link
This board is fine for stock performance and if you get rev-0304 it works very well with Core 2 Duo.FOXY25 - Sunday, February 4, 2007 - link
hi that are my system setting. My system sometimes make complete restart and i dont know why. I have change entire board with another and nothing. Do y think that could be in memory i have 2x DDR2 1024 MB at 800 Mhz Kingmax. thanks for answer.Foxy====== Board ======
Manufacturer Intel Corporation
Product Name D975XBX
Version AAD27094-306
Serial Number BQBX645001ND
BIOS Version BX97510J.86A.1476.2007.0119.1334
BIOS ROM Size 512 KB
BIOS Release Date 19.1.2007
====== Processor ======
Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation
Processor Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2,13GHz (2 Cores)
Bus Speed 1067 MHz
Processor Speed 2,133 GHz
Stepping 6
Form Factor Other
Hyper-Threading Technology Status Not Supported
====== Cache ======
L1 Cache Data Cache 32 KB, Code Cache 32 KB Per Processor Core
L2 Cache 2048 KB Unified Cache (2048 KB Cache Per 2 Cores)
====== Memory ======
Error Correction Single-bit ECC
Maximum System Memory 4 GB
Memory Slots 4
---- CHAN A DIMM 0 ----
Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 0
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size No Module Installed
---- CHAN A DIMM 1 ----
Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 1
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size 1024 MB
Memory Speed 800 MHz
---- CHAN B DIMM 0 ----
Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 0
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size No Module Installed
---- CHAN B DIMM 1 ----
Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 1
Current Memory Type DDR2
Installed Size 1024 MB
Memory Speed 800 MHz
====== Onboard Devices ======
#Device Type Ethernet
Device Description Intel (R) 82562 Ethernet Device
Device Status Enabled
#Device Type Sound
Device Description Intel(R) Azalia Audio Device
Device Status Disabled
#Device Type Other
Device Description Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID Controller
Device Status Disabled
#Device Type Other
Device Description Texas Instruments TSB82AA2 1394A/B Controller
Device Status Disabled
====== Hard Drive ======
#Model ST3320620AS
Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
Size 298,09 GB
#Model ST380811AS
Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
Size 74,53 GB
JarrettV - Thursday, February 23, 2006 - link
Does this board support dolby digital live in the sigmatel audio chipset? I'm looking to replace my old SoundStorm setup.Also, does Intel High Definition = Dolby Digital Live support?
neilfeier - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link
Unlike most users of this motherboard that want to use the dual x8 PCIe slots for graphics, I want to use them for benchmarking a pair of x4 data acquisition boards we are developing. I want to test max rates to and from memory, as well as peer-to-peer transfers between the two boards (assuming the MCH allows this).So my question is: Do you think I can I put a x16 or x8 PCIe graphics card in the third x4 PCIe slot hanging off the south bridge? I don't care about graphics performance too much, I just want a dual monitor card that will work in that slot and leave the main two slots free.
And ideas on this would be helpful. Thanks!
Gary Key - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link
I will try it this weekend and report back.neilfeier - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link
Thanks Gary, I anxiously await the results of your experiment.Neil
Gary Key - Thursday, March 9, 2006 - link
Hi Neil,I had video working in this slot. I updated to the new bios release today and will test the performance in a couple of days.
Thanks,
Gary
Gary Key - Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - link
Neil,Performance is average but it works.
Gary
Missing Ghost - Monday, January 30, 2006 - link
error! That's not how pcie works! pcie is always full duplex, and never single-ended!