Basic Features: Intel D975XBX

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.

Index INTEL D975XBX: Features
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  • Gary Key - Saturday, February 11, 2006 - link

    quote:

    error! That's not how pcie works! pcie is always full duplex, and never single-ended!


    Actually, depending upon the device PCI-E does support single-ended transfers. I probably should have worded my statement differently.
  • Bozo Galora - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=intoilet3...">http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=intoilet3...
  • Zebo - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link

    It's pretty sad Garys great article is'nt being read more - only 16 replies almost two days later - he can blame intel and thier non-exciting chips ATM.
  • Gary Key - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link

    I should have put "Conroe Comes to Town" in the headline. ;-) At least the board is showing the 1333 fsb setting, hint, hint. Intel's products are a little mundane at the moment but at least we have 20 replies now, anything less and I owed my dog a Big Mac.
  • danidentity - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    Do you guys plan on doing a 975X motherboard roundup in the future? If so, when is it going to be ready?
  • Gary Key - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    quote:

    Do you guys plan on doing a 975X motherboard roundup in the future? If so, when is it going to be ready?


    We have three more 975x boards to review. I estimate in about three weeks the roundup will be ready.
  • danidentity - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    Thanks Gary. Also, is there any word on whether 975X will support Conroe?
  • Gary Key - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    quote:

    Thanks Gary. Also, is there any word on whether 975X will support Conroe?


    We continue to ask this question. As soon as we have an answer it will be front page news. :-) This board officially supports the 1333 fsb that we will see on product launches this summer but whether they will respin the 975x or not is up in the air right now.
  • AGAC - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    The lack of performance, specialy when compared to an AMD similarly priced system should be compensated with a richer array of features. Looks like intel failed at that. Couple that with a higher energy bill, hotter/noisier computer and there you may explain why so many people now have AMD systems. For me, my last intel PC was a Pentium III. It was good for over 7 years, went from my home to my office untill a cheaply configured Sempron recently put it out of it's duties.
  • AGAC - Thursday, January 26, 2006 - link

    Can enyone tell me why? Is this "William Shakespeare inside" some spiner's new trend? And while we're talking about intel's marketing strategy what's all the hype with this viiv thang?

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