Intel DH57JG “Jet Geyser” - Intel's First Mini-ITX H57
by Rajinder Gill on March 1, 2010 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Board Features
Intel’s MSRP for the DH57JG is set around $125; the board should be in retail channels within a couple of weeks.
| Intel DH57JG | |
| Market Segment |
General Use/HTPC
|
| CPU Interface |
LGA-1156
|
| CPU Support |
LGA-1156 i3/i5 Pentium/Clarkdale Series of Processors Only
|
| Chipset |
Intel H57 Express Chipset
|
| BCLK Speeds |
133-240MHz in 1MHz increments
|
| DDR3 Memory Speed |
800, 1067, 1333 Frequency Ratios
|
| Core Voltage |
Fixed at Stock Processor VID
|
| CPU Vdroop Compensation |
N/A
|
| CPU Clock Multiplier |
Stock Multiplier or Stock Multiplier with Turbo Only for Clarkdale. Multiplier Control available for Lynnfield Only.
|
| DRAM Voltage (DDR3) |
Auto, 1.20V - 1.70V in 0.05V increments (1.50V base)
|
| DRAM Timing Control |
tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS
|
| DRAM Command Rate |
N/A
|
| PCH Voltage |
N/A
|
| CPU VTT (Uncore) Voltage |
1.1V - 1.25V in 0.05V increments
|
| CPU PLL Voltage |
N/A
|
| Memory Slots |
Two 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots
|
|
Dual-Channel Configuration
|
|
|
Regular Unbuffered DDR3 Memory to 8GB Total
|
|
| Expansion Slots |
1 x PCIe X16 Slot
|
| Onboard SATA/RAID |
|
| Onboard USB 2.0 |
12 USB 2.0 ports (6) I/O Panel, 6 via brackets
|
| Onboard LAN |
Intel 82578DC X1 (PCIe)
|
| Onboard Audio |
Realtek ALC889 High Definition Audio Codec, 7.1 Channel
|
| Power Connectors |
ATX 24-pin, 4-pin EPS 12V
|
| I/O Panel |
1 x RJ45
|
|
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 (1 x eSATA Combo)
|
|
|
1 x Optical Toslink
|
|
|
6 Audio I/O Jacks
|
|
| Other Onboard Connectors |
1 x Serial, 1 x S/PDIF, 1 x FPA, 1 x FP Connector, 3 x USB Headers (6 ports supported)
|
| Fan Headers |
1 CPU + 1 Additional Header (Both 4-pin)
|
| Fan Control |
Temperature related fan control offered (2 settings) - controls both headers (adjusts 4-pin fans only) - via BIOS only
|
| Package Contents |
SATA Cable x 2, I/O Panel x 1, User Manual, Driver DVD
|
| Board/BIOS Revisions Used |
Board Rev: N/A, BIOS Version: 0217
|
| Warranty |
3 Year Standard
|
The only notable component choice on the DH57JG is the Intel 82578DC NIC, rather than the standard Realtek offering included by most vendors at this price point. Realtek is not absent from Intel’s choices altogether though, the ALC889 codec is used to supply 7.1 HD audio. Unfortunately, Intel have not licensed any Dolby upscaling features like you find on Gigabyte's H55/H57 m-ATX boards, which is a bit of a kicker.
Included with the board you get the following peripherals/items:
- 2 X SATA cables
- 1 X I/O backplate
- 1 X User manual
- 1 X Driver CD
We’d have preferred the addition of a couple of extra SATA cables seeing as Intel have opted to use the H57 chipset, which supports RAID.
There’s nothing exciting on the software CD either; it contains system drivers and Intel’s “Silent Install” GUI only. Silent Install is included to make driver installation quick and easy, you just tick the drivers you want, provide the software with your Windows login (if need be) and leave the machine alone for the rest of the installation process.
BIOS
BIOS options for overclocking are rather limited, although some of the limitations seem to fit the mini-ITX form factor well based upon what we’ve seen to date. Voltage control is on offer for CPU VTT and VDIMM only, there’s no option to change processor Vcore on tap. We understand the decision to omit voltage increases for Vcore, but feel that Intel should have included a small selection of under-voltage options for ulta low power consumption lovers. On that subject, multiplier ratio control is also absent for Clarkdale CPU's when using the current public BIOS. Although Lynnfield CPU's do get multiplier change options by disabling SpeedStep - we think Intel should allow multiplier changes on the Clarkdale's too.
The only other suggestion we have is for the performance section of Intel’s BIOS; the CPU VTT and VDIMM options should be moved from the advanced menu of the DRAM timing page so that you don’t have to access memory timings just to set voltages.
If you do push BCLK too far the BIOS watchdog will attempt to recover and boot into safe mode allowing you to change any offending settings. There were a couple of instances where we pushed BCLK past 150 MHz and the board got caught in an endless reboot loop that could only be cleared by setting the BIOS jumper to safe-mode. Trouble is that it can be a little fiddly getting to the jumper in a cramped PC case so it would have been better for Intel to place the jumper on the rear I/O panel for ease of use.
Fan control is automatic and varies according to CPU core temperature. You get two options to control the speed ramp and damping slope which can be set to less/more aggressive to suit the efficiency of your heatsink . The system fan header speed is also controlled by CPU temperature, but you’ll need a 4 pin PWM fan to take advantage of this feature; using a 3-pin fan results in what appears to be a fixed speed operation.
BIOS flashing is made very easy by Intel; a built in flash routine is included in the BIOS that can be used with USB pen drives or HDD’s. If you head over to the Intel support site, you get no fewer than four different flashing options, ranging from burning a CD image to downloading an executable file that instigates a BIOS flash from Windows. Unlike other OS level flashing routines though, Intel’s utility reboots the motherboard and automatically flashes the BIOS outside the operating system – it’s very slick.
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Forgetsalvation - Thursday, March 25, 2010 - link
I talked to Intel presales support, i was informed that essentially this motherboard's BIOS has been locked down so that it will not support the core i7.unfortunately i did not discover this until after i purchased this motherboard and a i7-860.
I was very hopeful when I saw this review showed a i7-860 that worked, how ever i still can not get my system to boot.
Do the moderators have any suggestions for me, i very much want to run this combo but I am running out to time to return these parts if they will not work
Erick Thompson - Monday, March 22, 2010 - link
I would love to use the M350 case from mini-box, but the largest power supply I can get is 102 watts. With this board and a i3 530 (using integrated graphics), along with a SSD drive, it seems like 102 watts would be enough, if pushing the edge a bit. Any thoughts?fbd - Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - link
Yeah im interested in that also... I see that actually u tested a Core i7 in the board but i read in the documentation of the board that it is designed to support cpus up to 87W TDP only, while the i7 has 95 W. What does that mean? Is some kind of hardware part ( e.g. circuitry) of the board not sufficient to support an i7 or what? Or does it support it only at lower speeds? Im a bit confused. What does this mean: "We managed to get the board to post at 21X150 BCLK, but found processor core frequency throttles down to 3GHz or so under full load to ensure safety for the CPU VRM". Does it mean that if u put a stock core i7-860 into the board it wont be able to operate over 3ghz? What about turbo boost then? It cant go over 3ghz either? Thx for any reply.abnderby - Saturday, March 6, 2010 - link
Inoticed your comment about not reviewing many intel boards. Yes I do agree with you on the fact that they do not offer the best package of thrills and frils. But it has been my experience with many of the other manufacturers that the quality and length of service of their boards are no where near that of Intels. I have run into many issues with other boards after a year of 24/7 use. Some of the board components would fail or the boards would die.Over the last 12 years I have only had 2 Intel boards die with less than 5 years of service. None of which were my workstation/server boards or high end PC boards. Intel does put in a tremendous amount of quality that lasts.
Currently I run 1 dual xeon that is 6 years old with 2 3.6 GHz xeons with 64 bit Windows 7. It stills runs flawlessly. I run a core 2 on intel uBTX 3 years now flawlessly.
So please your crowd out here is not just enthusiests that like or have to overclock everything. Many of us want the high quality and long lasting systems. Intel boards must be in that mix.
Duane
MamiyaOtaru - Friday, March 5, 2010 - link
Jet Geyser is one of my favorite thermal features in Yellowstone. Around the corner from the Fountain Paint Pots. It's not a very big one though. Wonder if Intel had it in mind when naming their boardmschira - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
HiI love these powerful low power systems!
I would be very interested in tests of a file server based on these board.
Like using a Highpoint RocketRAID 2322 system.
Cheers
M.
AmdInside - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
The P45 based mini-itx board from Intel had a lot of issues. I am not sure if I would jump on this one myself.hnzw rui - Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - link
As far as I'm aware, Intel doesn't have a P45 Mini-ITX board. They do have an Intel DG45FC which is a G45 board.play2learn - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
Usb 3.0 and 32 nm graphics...Then maybe!blyndy - Monday, March 1, 2010 - link
It looks like m-itx is the new m-atx, which is great.