The IGP Chronicles Part 1: Intel's G45 & Motherboard Roundup
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Gary Key on September 24, 2008 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Supermicro C2SEA
The third board in today’s overview is from Super Micro Computer, Inc.. Supermicro is typically associated with the server and workstation markets but they also offer desktop products based on the latest Intel chipsets. The Supermicro C2SEA is a full size ATX board featuring the G45 chipset but with DDR3 memory support instead of the typical DDR2 configurations we see in this sector of the market. While DDR3 is usually associated with top end chipsets like the Intel X48 or NVIDIA 790i, it is an alternative option on the P45/G45 chipsets.
Pricing on DDR3 has steadily been declining the last six months and a 4GB DDR3-1333 kit can be had now for $155~$185 depending on timings. Considering a 4GB DDR2-800 CAS4 kit runs around $70, DDR3 is still about twice as expensive. However, pricing will continue to drop based on the latest projections. Whether you like it or not, 2009 will be the year that we see a heavy emphasis on DDR3 with the new Intel i7 product range and AMD releasing AM3. In the grand scope of things, pricing is not that bad if you remember that 2GB of DDR2-800 was around $140~$180 when Core 2 Duo launched in June of 2006.
Getting back to the Supermicro board, the option/features list is rather mundane compared to the ASUS and Gigabyte boards. However, this board does offer Realtek RTL8111C Gigabit Ethernet (that’s three boards and counting now), Realtek ALC888 for HD Audio, a very good TI controller for IEEE 1394a, iTE8213 for PATA support, and the ICH10 Southbridge instead of the ICH10R on our other boards. One omission compared to our other boards is the lack of a DVI port that we found strange considering the board is designed for multiple markets. Also, we would like to have seen the ICH10R utilized as setting up a RAID 5 setup for the home theater (or even in a small business environment) would have been nice without having to purchase an additional RAID card.
Nothing flashy where the BIOS is concerned, it’s almost as if a group of starched white collar bearing engineers came out of retirement from IBM and created the BIOS for them. Actually, the BIOS is designed in this manner as the board will typically end up in white box systems for large corporate accounts or for those in the retail sector who value stability over pizazz. We have to say upfront, this board was extremely stable if nothing else.
While we wanted additional options, we knew that was not going to happen based on the board’s target market, but more importantly it just did not need a BIOS update. We will repeat that, in an age where BIOS releases are generated almost as fast as some Hollywood actors get picked up for DWI, this board did not have any problems we could locate in over 500 hours of testing. One could argue that by limiting the number of options greatly, that such feats are fairly simple to accomplish. If that was the case, then the Intel DG45ID board should have been problem free instead of carrying the seven plagues with it.
The layout of the Supermicro C2SEA is rather standard affair. We do not like the floppy and PATA connectors being on the bottom of the board as it means cable routing will be affecting airflow if these two legacy ports are used. The MCH heatsink did not interfere with our selection of CPU fan/heatsink choices but it did not dissipate heat as effectively as the ASUS, Intel, or Gigabyte offerings. We constantly measured MCH thermals about 3C higher than the other choices.
The other item that popped out to us after installing the board is the two USB ports at the back of the board instead of headers (two additional headers are available). This setup is great for open-air systems (it does happen) or internal devices like card readers that would require a long cable routing to the rear IO panel. The board includes two x16 slots, one is an x16 PCIe 2.0 capable slot and the other is an x4 PCIe 1.1 capable slot for graphics (CrossFire setup like the P35) or x4 and x1 capable peripheral cards.
This board does offer two PS/2 ports and a coaxial SPDIF out port in addition to the optical port. In addition, the board also features an 8-pin EATX power connector and five 4-pin fan headers with monitoring and control via the BIOS. Fan control is based on three settings, server, workstation, and full speed. Server and Workstation settings are thermal based solutions that will increase fan speeds as temperatures rise in the CPU or the case. While fan control is fairly limited, the three settings did work correctly. Supermicro highly suggests that for the fan control system to work properly that any attached system fans either be all 3-pin or 4-pin designs. We did not encounter any problems with S3 resume functions under Vista 32 or Vista 64.
Pros/Cons
This is not a board for those that like to fine tune, overclock, or tinker with a BIOS. It is not sexy, there is no flash here, and the documentation is about as interesting as a tractor maintenance manual. However, it is a perfect board for those who want to set up a board once and then forget about it. Super Micro Computer, Inc. heritage is in the server and workstation markets where stability is king and this board shows it. In addition to extreme stability and compatibility, our performance and power tests will show a slight advantage for DDR3 on this platform, not much mind you, but it was not a penalty until we had to input our credit card information at checkout for 4GB of Corsair's finest DDR3.
So what would we change? In keeping with Supermicro's design philosophy, we think limited voltage settings for the processor and memory would be valuable for the HTPC user who likes to undervolt or might have memory that will not POST at 1.5V. A DVI port, rearrangement of the floppy and PATA connectors, inclusion of the ICH10R, and a slightly better heatsink solution would be a bonus. However, none of this matters if stability is compromised as this board is about as solid as they come at this point. As such, for those that like to play it safe and keep systems around longer than a couple of years, this a board that deserves your full attention.
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computerfarmer - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
It is good to hear about new technology, initial issues and how they are worked out.I hope the second part of this article is sooner than the follow up of "AMD's 790GX/SB750" expected chipset review. The AMD announcement was on August 6, 2008, with an expected review to follow.
On September 10th, Gary Wrote:
"An update, DFI decided to proceed forward with their uATX 790GX board. My retail kit arrived today and I will be testing it shortly. Also, based on your comments and others I will show a 4870x2 vs 4870 CF on this platform and compare it to 790FX. The roundup should be up late next week, G45 is up on Monday with 790GX/780G/GF8300/NF750a comparison results.
Sincerely,
Gary "
The recent article on Power Supplies was excellent.
The information is good, but some items appear not to be as important as others.
Now we are still waiting - AMD 790GX/SB750.
erikejw - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
Who cares about if MSI or ASUS have a faster IGP board, compare with NVIDIAS and AMDs boards.It is as useless like running a review of the new Nehalems when they arrive and don't compare them to any AMD chips at all, and we all know that will not happen.
BD2003 - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
Glad to see the p45 is getting quality coverage, I was looking very closely at getting one for my HTPC. Theres a few things I'd like to see touched upon, hopefully in future articles.First, how about a comparison of the post-processing capabilites and quality of the competing solutions? Supposedly intel's "clear video" is supposed to give us the same kind of solution for noise reduction, sharpening, and other postprocessing that nvidia and amd have been offering. Is it an automatic solution that you have no control over like amd, or is there an applet where you can choose how much effect is applied like nvidia?
Also, what about the new revision of intel turbo memory. I always see it mentioned in diagrams and previews, but have never seen it implemented on a board. Does it need onboard flash to function, or is there a PCIE, SATA or USB solution that can be added on to a g45 board in order to enable it? If onboard only, are there any actual boards that have implemented it? My understanding is that its little different from readyboost in vista, but the capability to actually choose whats in the cache is quite interesting to me. On my HTPC, I regularly use the same few apps, and I'd love to get those loading at solid state speeds.
Also, what software is required to enable the hardware acceleration of H.264 and the like? I'm not a fan of using desktop programs like PowerDVD on my HTPC - they often require me to pull out the keyboard which defeats the purpose of an HTPC imo. Can the acceleration be used in Windows Media Center, Mediaportal, or any other HTPC specific software?
Freezebyte - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
Hey, what happened to the preview of the DFI Lanparty P45 T2RS? Its between that one and the Asus P5Q-EM for my new SFF setup I wanna build in the next month.I"ve been hearing lots about discrete video cards not working well or at all in the P5Q-EM. Did you guys run into issues with this or did you not even put in discrete video cards at all? Also, will the Asus support the higher Q9000 series Intel CPU's?
I"m trying to build a decent SFF gaming rig soon, and I wanna know what im getting myself into with either of these boards.
Clart - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
I personally think you should have made price a bigger point, frankly you're comparing the G45 with the 780G, but the 780G boards average at US$80, while you can't get a G45 for less than US$100, plus a could go to newegg and get a 780G+Radeon 4670 for US$145, that's just 15 dollars more!!!Besides when this site reviewed the 790GX there where some criticism about that chipset not actually targeting any specific market, well here is a hint, how about comparing the 790GX with the G45, both cost around 120 dollars.
Is the G45 a good Business board? Really? Well the way I see it a business pc that doesn't care about graphics performance or ou HTPC characteristics would be much better served with a US$66 780G, that's half the price of a average G45 motherboard, or even a US$49.99 740G.
Sorry if I was a little acid, but I'm just tired of IT sites comparing boards that aren't even in the same price range, the only reason I see for this is that Intel can't/doesn't compete in the same price range as the 780G/8200, but if that is the case then IT sites should compare the G45 with the 790GX.
P.S: Gaming in IGPs is not inexistent, ever heard of VALVe? The entire Orange Box runs on a 780G/8200(possibly the G45 also). But I do agree that with cards like the Radeon 4670 out there IGPs loose a lot of their(little?)value for gaming.
CSMR - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
AMD has an advantage in IGPs (less with G45) but a disadvantage in processors. If you care about price and don't care about power consumption/noise/processor performance you should go with AMD. Businesses will care about these things and are not so price sensitive.snakeoil - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
this is pathetic.....pathetic also that intel fanbois think larrabee will change the world and bring world peace.
pathetic
jmurbank - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
"8-channel LPCM but no 24Hz Playback"Is this correct that frequency response will not include 24 hertz. Is this a joke by Intel or by the author. I assume the author is trying to state 24 bit playback.
You should state that hardware MPEG-2/H.264/VC decoding is only supported in Windows.
I prefer AMD processors because they have IGP that works better than Intel's IGP offerings. Also IGP for AMD processors works in Linux while IGP from Intel does not. Intel fans are still stuck with Intel's IGP that are still pathetic.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
My apologies, the two are actually unrelated but I wanted to group them both under the same header.1) 8-channel LPCM is supported
2) 24Hz refresh rates don't work properly currently, this is for video.
Take care,
Anand
CSMR - Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - link
Thanks for the review review, a lot of useful information. Regarding the DG45FC board, voltage changes would be useful; but as you and SPCR have found, in combination with the E5200/E7200 processors it is a very power-efficient choice. You can build a low power but relatively high performance system without any tweaks (SPCR had 35W idle, 45W blu ray, 65W max load).