This is probably an over used topic, but can someone tell me which would be better, 965 or 975 for a Conroe cpu? Pricing isn't an issue, nor do I have specific needs.
The 975 had an alteration after April 2006, which allows it to handle the Conroe CPU - so it feels a bit suspect. With 965, I'm not sure what to expect.
If anyone can lift the veil for me, I'd be much obliged!
Isn't the motherboard you are looking for a 775 socket? You just have to make sure it supports conroe though and not to get it mixed up with older versions. The conroe boards still supports older 775 CPUs though.
Thanx for the reply. Maybe some m/b vendors will use iniative on the 965 and include pata connections - i hope so, cos i'm not aware of any other way to connect a dvd drive....
Thanx for the reply. Maybe some m/b vendors will use iniative on the 965 and include pata connections - i hope so, cos i'm not aware of any other way to connect a dvd drive....
It's far from ideal, but you could use an ATA controller card.
Apparently theres problems with SATA optical drives being the default drive with XP or so BenQ claim. I'd imagine this won't be a problem with Vista so hopefully with vista we'll see the death of legacy sh!t like PATA and floppies.
The alteration you refer to is the transition from VRM standard 10.0 (or maybe it was 10.3) to 11.0 standard. Effectively, the pre-Conroe ready 775 socket MBs adhered to a VRM standard that the lowest supplied voltage was too high to support Core 2, thus they need to rev the standard and re-work the boards to allow lower supply voltage.
Here is a link on how you can convert a pre-conroe board to a conroe capable board by simply adding a resistor in the right spot:
Other than allowing lower supply voltages and refresh the bios code nothing else changed, there is nothing suspect to be concerned about.
Having said that, the 965 chipset is a great chipset advantage is that it officially supports DDR2-800. My beef with the 965 is the lack of PATA ports for optical drives, so I myself will opt for the 975 or the ATI RD600.
Jack
From what I have heard, the ICH8 on the 965 motherboards does have a PATA controller in the silicon but they would need to increase the package size to bond out the connections. This is causing most if not all motheroboard vendors to look for a seperate PATA controller. Intel is using a Marvell PATA controller on all of their 965 boards except their pico BTX boards which don't have the space to actually put one down.
This is probably an over used topic, but can someone tell me which would be better, 965 or 975 for a Conroe cpu? Pricing isn't an issue, nor do I have specific needs.
The 975 had an alteration after April 2006, which allows it to handle the Conroe CPU - so it feels a bit suspect. With 965, I'm not sure what to expect.
If anyone can lift the veil for me, I'd be much obliged!
I would definitely go for a 965. it was designed for Core 2, and only certain revs of 975 will work.
The 965 boards are due to ship with Core 2 so there will be some around. The problem maybe a shortage of chips for awhile in retail.
The 965 chipset has eliminated native IDE ports,
which will require a SATA optical drive to run
Windows Setup. Be sure to investigate this
issue thoroughly with the motherboard
manfucturer, before buying a 965 mobo.
I would also investigate well whether or not you
can run Windows Setup using a PCI PATA/IDE
controller installed in a standard PCI slot.
These are certainly cheap, but sometimes
Windows Setup will NOT run to completion
with this configuration.
This topic arose recently concerning the ASUS
P5B Deluxe motherboard, which has an on-board IDE
controller that requires a device driver to be
installed before IDE devices can talk to that
controller correctly (we think!)
The ASUS native IDE connector is BLUE;
the P5B non-native IDE connector is ORANGE.
(See photos at www.asus.com .)
Thus, we predict serious problems trying
to run Windows Setup from a PATA optical
drive wired to this on-board IDE controller
with ORANGE connector on the P5B Deluxe
from ASUS, particularly if you try to add
a device driver mid-stream.
To make matters worse, ASUS User Manuals
have not documented this problem, or its
solution, very well. For example, their
User Manuals omitted the F6 requirement
for enabling AHCI on the 4 main SATA
ports wired to the Intel ICH7R I/O controller
hub (Advanced Host Controller Interface
i.e. 300 MB/second SATA but no RAID).
Or, the ASUS i975X P5W DH Deluxe does have
a BLUE native IDE connector on it, so you
should be able to cable a PATA optical drive to that
BLUE connector and run Windows Setup AOK
using that i975 chipset.
"Native IDE" means you don't need a device
driver, because the driver is built into the BIOS.
This motherboard appears to be a better
long-term investment in many other respects.
Jeez - talk about upgrade headaches..... Thanx for all the input!!!
I've also found a liking in the 965 - seeing that it's designed for Conroe. Now I have to wait for August (Conroe only ships to S Africa then).
Like you, I have taken an early interest in the capabilities of the 965 chipset. I am very interested in the reviews/benchmarks that I expect to be published shortly. The memory controller of the 965 appears to have the potiential of outperforming the 975X.
I hope to see more sophisticated power/heat/noise management functions in the 965.
And, checking this morning, I see that the latest
questions at that Forum STILL concern problems
with the IT8211F on-board IDE controller on that
motherboard.
If you want to see "what happens," then take a look
at the frequency with which Users stumble over
an on-board IDE controller that is NON-Native
to the chipset and requires a device driver
from the Support CD before it will operate
correctly.
This problem is particularly nasty whenever
a User tries to install Windows using a PATA
optical drive wired to such a NON-Native IDE
port, but with no device support in the BIOS,
as such.
BE PREPARED TO RUN WINDOWS SETUP
FROM A SATA OPTICAL DRIVE INSTEAD AND
DO HOPE THAT THE CHIPSET IS COMPATIBLE
WITH THAT SATA OPTICAL DRIVE!
FYI: there is no User Forum yet for the P5B Deluxe,
but I did see one this morning for the P5W DH Deluxe
which does have a Native IDE port in the BLUE connector.
Here's the official ASUS Tech Support answer
to that issue. The "ITE slot" (IT8211F) is the non-native
PATA IDE port on the P5WD2 Premium motherboard,
which requires a device driver from the Support CD
BEFORE it will operate correctly.
ASUS Tech Support Q&A follows ...
Question
Can I connect a CD-ROM to P5WD2 Premium ITE slot to boot from it?
Answer
As suggested by ITE, please do not connect ATAPI devices to ITE slots if you want to boot from it. You can connect ATAPI devies to Intel ICH7R slots.
[end excerpt]
So, you can't boot (i.e. run Windows Setup)
from a PATA optical drive wired to such a
non-native IDE controller.
The only option (that I know of) on the P5B Deluxe mobo
is a compatible SATA optical drive, wired to a native SATA port
with support in the BIOS for that SATA optical drive.
But, with retailers like Fry's Electronics removing SATA
optical drives from their shelves, because of technical
problems like this, GOOD LUCK FINDING ONE THAT WORKS.
Southbridge
- # x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (# = 6 on P5B Deluxe / 4 on P5B)
- Intel Matrix Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10.
JMicron® JMB363 PATA and SATA controller
- 1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 for up to 2 PATA devices <--- !!!
- 1 x Internal SATA 3.0 Gb/s port
- 1 x External SATA 3.0 Gb/s port (SATA On-the-Go)
- Support SATA RAID 0, 1 and JBOD
[I could not find any User Manual to download
from the ASUS website, however.]
Having said that, the 965 chipset is a great chipset advantage is that it officially supports DDR2-800. My beef with the 965 is the lack of PATA ports for optical drives, so I myself will opt for the 975 or the ATI RD600.Jack
What does it mean to "officially" support DDR2-800? Won't a 975 support it? Is that the only advantage of the 965 over the 975?
I really do not know a lot about the intricate details with mobos, but I thought the PATA port was on the mobo where the cable from the IDE device plugs into it. This is not correct?
rrlarose@hotmail.com