Intel P965: Mid-Range Performance Sector Roundup
by Gary Key on October 20, 2006 9:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe: Feature Set
We really liked the Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe motherboard when we reviewed it in our Conroe Buying Guide as we thought it had the best blend of performance and price at the time. One omission in this motherboard is the lack of Firewire support that we found in both the Asus and Abit boards. Considering this motherboard is in the $150 price range we find this to be perplexing. Also, the memory voltage only goes to 2.2V but this did not hinder its overclocking capabilities during testing.
The only real change in the motherboard since its release has been a significant upgrade to the BIOS that cleared any remaining memory compatibility issues along with an increase in overclocking capability to 500FSB. The motherboard is the only one in our roundup to use the VIA VT6410 IDE chipset instead of the now standard JMicron JMB363. While it does not offer additional SATA ports like the JMicron, the IDE performance and compatibility was better in our testing. Our original feelings about the performance and compatibility of this board have not changed but we have noticed the board to be in very short supply. Biostar assures us this supply issue will be solved by early November.
Biostar includes several software utilities with the board: an Overclock Program, Hardware Monitoring application, Smart Fan Utility, and an online BIOS update applet. The overclock utility allows for changes to the FSB and basic system voltages. The smart fan utility allows control of the CPU and main system fan header within Windows. The Hardware monitoring utility allows for real time monitoring of CPU temperature, CPU fan speeds, and basic system voltages. Biostar includes an automatic overclocking utility in their BIOS that offers three different settings named V6, V8, and V12.
We naturally selected the V12 setting in the BIOS and after a reboot were greeted with Ford Pinto performance. Okay, it was not that bad but the final results were a blistering 2009MHz CPU speed via a 7x287FSB with the memory speed at DDR2-715. However, the system was smart enough unlike our other boards to actually set the memory timings at something other than an ultra safe 5-5-5-15 setting with actual timings at 4-4-4-10. This is unusual as the BIOS will default to DDR2-667 (4:5) settings with timings at 5-5-5-15 when left on auto settings. Overall, the automatic overclocking worked without any issues and provided a small increase in speed just as Biostar intended it to work.
| Biostar TForce 965 Deluxe | |
| Market Segment: | Mid-Range Performance |
| CPU Interface: | Socket T (Socket 775) |
| CPU Support: | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Pentium EE, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme |
| Chipset: | Intel P965 + ICH8R |
| Bus Speeds: | 200 to 500 in 1MHz Increments |
| Memory Speeds: | Auto, 533, 667, 800 |
| PCIe Speeds: | Auto, CPU, Fixed at 100MHz, 100MHz~200MHz |
| PCI: | Fixed at 33.33MHz |
| Core Voltage: | Startup, 1.10000V to 1.80000V in 0.00625V increments |
| CPU Clock Multiplier: | Auto, 6x-11x in 1X increments for Core 2 Duo |
| DRAM Voltage: | 1.8V, 2.0V, 2.1V, 2.2V |
| DRAM Timing Control: | SPD, 8 DRAM Timing Options |
| NB Voltage: | Auto,1.5V, 1.6V, 1.7V, 1.8V |
| Memory Slots: | Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 8GB Total |
| Expansion Slots: | 1 - PCIe X16 1 - PCIe X4 1 - PCIe X1 3 - PCI Slot 2.3 |
| Onboard SATA/RAID: | 6 SATA 3Gbps Ports - Intel ICH8R (RAID 0,1,5, 1+0,JBOD) |
| Onboard IDE: | 1 Standard ATA133/100/66/33 Port (2 drives) - VIA VT6410 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394: | 10 USB 2.0 Ports - 4 I/O Panel - 6 via Headers No Firewire Support |
| Onboard LAN: | Gigabit Ethernet Controller - PCI Express Interface Realtek RTL 8110SC |
| Onboard Audio: | Realtek ALC883 HD-Audio 8-channel CODEC |
| Power Connectors: | ATX 24-pin, 4-pin EATX 12V |
| I/O Panel: | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Serial 1 x Audio Panel 1 x RJ45 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 |
| BIOS Revision: | AWARD ip96a803 |
We really liked the Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe motherboard when we reviewed it in our Conroe Buying Guide as we thought it had the best blend of performance and price at the time. One omission in this motherboard is the lack of Firewire support that we found in both the Asus and Abit boards. Considering this motherboard is in the $150 price range we find this to be perplexing. Also, the memory voltage only goes to 2.2V but this did not hinder its overclocking capabilities during testing.
The only real change in the motherboard since its release has been a significant upgrade to the BIOS that cleared any remaining memory compatibility issues along with an increase in overclocking capability to 500FSB. The motherboard is the only one in our roundup to use the VIA VT6410 IDE chipset instead of the now standard JMicron JMB363. While it does not offer additional SATA ports like the JMicron, the IDE performance and compatibility was better in our testing. Our original feelings about the performance and compatibility of this board have not changed but we have noticed the board to be in very short supply. Biostar assures us this supply issue will be solved by early November.
Biostar includes several software utilities with the board: an Overclock Program, Hardware Monitoring application, Smart Fan Utility, and an online BIOS update applet. The overclock utility allows for changes to the FSB and basic system voltages. The smart fan utility allows control of the CPU and main system fan header within Windows. The Hardware monitoring utility allows for real time monitoring of CPU temperature, CPU fan speeds, and basic system voltages. Biostar includes an automatic overclocking utility in their BIOS that offers three different settings named V6, V8, and V12.
We naturally selected the V12 setting in the BIOS and after a reboot were greeted with Ford Pinto performance. Okay, it was not that bad but the final results were a blistering 2009MHz CPU speed via a 7x287FSB with the memory speed at DDR2-715. However, the system was smart enough unlike our other boards to actually set the memory timings at something other than an ultra safe 5-5-5-15 setting with actual timings at 4-4-4-10. This is unusual as the BIOS will default to DDR2-667 (4:5) settings with timings at 5-5-5-15 when left on auto settings. Overall, the automatic overclocking worked without any issues and provided a small increase in speed just as Biostar intended it to work.
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zjohnr - Tuesday, November 7, 2006 - link
In all the features tables for the motherboards in this article the PCI slots are listed as being PCI v2.3. However, looking at the pictures for the boards, the slots have PCI v2.2 keying. I think the entry in the features tables is wrong. (Is it?)Patsoe - Saturday, October 28, 2006 - link
Seeing all the trouble with the P965 - especially with the non-intel p-ata controller and with the ich8r - I'd be inclined to get a Core2-ready i945P board with ICH7R instead. Would that be a sane idea?BadThad - Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - link
Is the v1.02G Asus P5B-E using all solid capacitors? I read a press release stating that Asus was releasing the "P4B-E Plus" version with all solid caps. Rumor says the "Plus" version will not be sold in the USA.....arrgggggg. Tell me that's not true. I want the solid caps for long-term reliability. I'm wondering if our "Plus" is actually the v1.02G?Thanks
Gary Key - Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - link
The 1.01G and 1.02G boards are exactly the same except for a PLL controller. Asus stills states the P5B-Plus will not be imported into the States but you never know.keithke - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
I was interested to hear you used this Scythe Infinity Air Cooler as I was going to do the same. Were there any issues with the Northbridge heatsink sitting so close? Or did it just plop right in with no spacing issues?Thx
Keith
Gary Key - Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - link
No issues with the Inifinity on all four corners. It is a close fit but it works fine with the enclosed fan.SniperWulf - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
Hey guys,Did you have any strange anomolies with the X-fi on the DS3 while overclocked? When I was using that board with the F6 bios, I'd have to reboot like 3-4 times before windows would properly detect it. I eventually grew tired of it and bought a P5B-D so I haven't had a chance to try F7 with it.
Gary Key - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
I did not have any issues with the X-FI on the DS3 when it was overclocked. The F5 and F6 BIOS releases were not X-FI friendly where F4 was perfect. F7 is working for some and not others, I did not have an issue with it. F8 will fix it for good.schlumpfi106 - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
Im a little bit disappointed that there are so few informations about the cooling/silencing-related capabilitites of the boards. I would like to know how many fans can be connected, if the connectors are 3- or 4-pin, and if there is a way to control the fan speeds (preferably via SpeedFan). I don't care about a one-percent performance difference. My first priority is a reasonably silent system.goinginstyle - Monday, October 23, 2006 - link
He mentioned the number of fan headers on each board and even added a couple of comments on the ones that did not work right. In the features section there was a statement about whether the included utility worked or not. Sure he did not say anything about SpeedFan but how far do you want a guy to go after 26 pages? Also, if you click on the Enlarge picture on the boards you can clearly make out whether the fan headers are 3 or 4 pin.