
From a platform point of view, the last few months have been rather slow. There have been no significant chipset innovations, and the processor speeds of both CPU players have not increased. This summer, however, things will change dramatically. AMD is on the verge of a significant platform transition that is starting now. For its part, Intel will replace its good old Pentium family with the all-new Core 2 processor family in the summer, as it works to be reinstated as the undisputed #1 processor company.
Intel has emerged victorious in preliminary benchmark runs that compared the 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo E6700 against an overclocked AMD Athlon 64 FX-60. Those test systems were assembled and installed by Intel, but our own benchmark results give little reason to doubt the company's performance claims. In fact, we are pretty sure that Intel will at least make up for the current gap in performance and energy efficiency - it will likely overtake AMD sometime this summer.
But the Texans are not asleep, of course. The platform change will transition both the mainstream Socket 939 and the budget Socket 754 to the new 940-pin AM2 socket - "one platform to rule them all". Performance levels will initially not change much; Socket 939 and AM2 processors at equal clock speeds perform more or less alike. Although looking much faster on paper, the new DDR2-800 memory interface provides only small performance benefits when compared to its DDR400 Socket 939 counterparts. However, DDR2 RAM is indeed quite beneficial in terms of lowering memory costs per megabyte: you can expect 2 and 4 GB RAM soon at the cost you pay for 1 or 2 GB today. If you wonder why you may need 2 GB of RAM or more, think long term - think Windows Vista.
Although AMD's 90 nm SOI manufacturing cannot keep up with Intel's winning combination of a 65 nm process and the efficiency-tuned Core 2 micro architecture, AMD is working on its own 65 nm process. The firm will stick to its elaborate silicon-on-insulator manufacturing, so we expect it to be back in the race as soon as the yields allow output of high-speed parts in quantity.
There are many motherboards available that are capable of working with both today's Pentium 4 and Pentium D processors, as well as with the majority of the upcoming Core 2 models. However, please make sure you verify Core 2 support before purchasing a particular motherboard, as it may not coexist well with old motherboard revisions.
We looked around and selected several current 975X motherboards for review. There are several alternatives with Nvidia chipsets around as well, but given that nForce4 will be replaced by the nForce 500 family soon, we decided to leave them out for now.
The 975X chipset has been around since the beginning of the year, although there were few motherboard products on the market during its first few weeks. Technically, it is comparable to the 955X chipset, which was launched almost a year ago. Both chipsets support Front Side Bus (FSB) speeds of FSB800 and FSB1066, run DDR2-667 memory, and offer 16 PCI Express lanes. The 955X supports only one graphics slot, while the 975X supports two x16 slots each running in x8 link mode. It is nice to know that ATI's CrossFire dual graphics technology works on any 975X motherboard. FSB1066 support is required for the Core 2 Duo E6000 series, because Intel will speed up the system speed for most of the mainstream models from FSB800 to FSB1066.
975X is also the better memory overclocker than its single graphics counterpart, because its memory controller can be configured to run in synch with the FSB. This means that FSB800 can be paired with dual channel DDR2-800 memory (400 MHz), and FSB1066 even supports dual DDR2-1066 (533 MHz). However, our experience is that highest-speed DDR2 memory does not necessarily work on all motherboards, so be careful to select memory that works on your particular motherboard. In addition, not every motherboard model allows you to run the memory at this 1:1 ratio.
The chipset offers six additional PCI Express lanes, which can be configured as one x4 and two x1 slots, or as four x1 slots. There are six PCI slots and four Serial ATA ports with support for 300 MB/s transfers and Native Command Queuing (NCQ). More optical drives use Serial ATA now, making this interface increasingly important. For this reason, all motherboards in this roundup come with additional SATA controllers to add two to four more ports.
Intel has always been quick with implementing software RAID features for its integrated controllers. This also applies to the 975X as well: RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1 and RAID 5 are supported, but the really neat thing is the ability to run two different RAID arrays across one set of hard drives. You can, for example, set up a RAID 0 across two drives using only 50% of the capacity for your operating system. At the same time, you can install another RAID 1 array that you use to store your important data. Should a drive crash, the OS will be lost, but your data will still be on the second drive.

Asus P5WD2-E Premium Edition
| Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Rev. 1.01g) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. C0) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 4-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | 0403 (03/03/06) |
| Clock Chip | ICS 954123CGLF |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 267.1 MHZ (+0.12%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-8 |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 4 / 4 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 2 / none |
| Serial COM Port | 1 / none |
| Parallel LPT Port | none / 1 |
| Game | 1 / none |
| LAN | none / 2 |
| WLAN | none / none |
| SATA | 8 / 1 |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / optical Out, SPDIF Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | 1 |
| PCIe 1x | 1 |
| PCI | 3 |
| IDE (PATA) | 2 (4 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 3 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| Marvell 88SE6141 PCIe | 4x SATA
1x IDE (ATA133 RAID 1,0,0+1) |
| LAN | |
| Marvell 88E8053 PCIe | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Marvell 88E8053 PCIe | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Realtek ALC882M 7.1 | AC97 or High Definition Audio |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| Texas Instruments TI 43AB22A | 2x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |

Asus removed the legacy serial port from the back panel, but still offers it as a slot module.

Asus deploys two Marvell 88E8053 Gigabit Ethernet controllers for PCI Express.

This board comes with a IEEE-1394a Firewire controller by Texas Instruments.

The positioning of the CMOS battery is not ideal, because you might have to take out the graphics card in order to remove it.

Thanks to the 88SE6141 SATA controller by Marvell, the P5WD2-W offers a total of eight SATA II ports and an additional UltraATA/100 interface for legacy devices. Please note that this latter interface is shared with the fourth SATA II port (see black connector).
In addition to the Southbridge's storage controllers, Asus provides a Marvell 88SE6141, which features four SATA ports and one UltraATA/100 interface. All drives may be used for level 0, 1 or 1+0 RAID arrays, or JBOD ("just a bunch of drives"). The motherboard also has one external SATA (eSATA) connector on the back panel, but Asus does not provide the cable that is required to attach eSATA drives (which is different from regular SATA cables).

This motherboard is powered by a four-phase voltage regulator; two of these are kept cool by this heat sink. Although we don't believe cooling only two out of four evenly-powered regulators is an advantage, the heat sink should not add much extra cost and is silent, so it doesn't hurt anything.

We used BIOS version 0403 for this roundup.
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 100 - 450 MHz (Bios settings) |
| CPU Core voltage | 1.200 - 1.700 V |
| Memory voltage | 1.80 - 2.40 V |
| FSB Signal voltage | 1.20 - 1.50 V |
| Northbridge (MCH) voltage | 1.50 - 1.65 V |
| Sourthbridge (ICH) voltage | 1.05 - 1.20 V |

If you run this motherboard at FSB800 speed (200 MHz), memory speeds up to DDR2-800 may be selected, although the chipset is only specified for a maximum of DDR2-667.

At FSB1066 (266 MHz) you could deploy DDR2-1066 memory.

Asus allows you to modify certain processor parameters.

The option "Hyper Path 3" helps to increase the memory bandwidth.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-400 | 1.50 | n/a |
| DDR2-533 | 2.00 | DDR2-400 |
| DDR2-667 | 2.50 | n/a |
| DDR2-711 | 2.66 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-800 | 3.00 | DDR2-600 |
| DDR2-888 | 3.33 | DDR2-667 |
| DDR2-1066 | 4.00 | DDR2-800 |

The BIOS offers an item called "Performance Mode". If you set this to "Turbo", the motherboard will increase the FSB speed by 2 MHz, but without telling you about it at boot time. In order to ensure a fair comparison, we used the "Standard" setting.

Asus provides a graphics overclocking feature called "PEG Link Mode". "Slow" does not change anything and runs the graphics card at default speeds. All other options will automatically overclock the graphics card by a noticeable margin.

This is the software selection menu of the Asus software installation disc. It was possible to install all programs properly, but we decided to download the latest versions from the Asus website prior to testing.

The Asus website offers comprehensive driver support, but is somewhat complex.
The impressive number of downloads offered by Asus can be a disadvantage, because we found multiple versions of drivers and tools. Many of them were designed for different operating systems; we also found some download links that did not work.

We tried all four Asus servers, but none of them was capable of delivering more than 10 kB/s for downloads, which is fairly slow. Downloading all the drivers for this motherboard can take up to two hours at that speed.

The Asus AiBooster allows you to increase the FSB and the CPU core voltage without needing to restart the system.


PC Probe II is responsible for system surveillance. It keeps track of voltages, temperature levels and fan speeds, and notifies the user if an irregularity is detected. Unfortunately, PC Probe II does not offer the comprehensive graphical information that former versions did.

You can update your motherboard BIOS either using the Asus Update tool or the common DOS utility Award Flash. The Windows version is much more comfortable and automatically downloads the latest BIOS version from the Asus website.
| Software Accessories |
|---|
| manuals for boarb |
| Drivers & Tools CD |
| WinDVD Suite |
| Hardware Accessories |
| 1x 80-pin ATA cable |
| 1x 40-pin ATA cable |
| 1x Floppy cable |
| 8x SATA data cable |
| 4x SATA power cable (2 devices) |
| 1x IO panel shield |
| 3x jumpers |
| 1x slot panel for serial port (COM) |
| 1x slot panel with 1x Game and 2x USB |
| 1x slot panel with 1x Firewire (small) |

Standard accessories of the Asus P5WD2-E Premium.
Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium Edition.
The main difference between the P5WD2-E and the P5WDG2-WS is that the latter model targets the professional user and workstation segment. As a result, the P5WDG2-WS comes with two PCI-X-133 interfaces, and features an 8-phase voltage regulator. The downside is in the area of multimedia support - the audio chip supports only one rather then three Dolby modes.

| Asus P5WDG2-WS (Rev. 1.01g) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. C0) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 8-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | 0401 (01/16/06) |
| Clock Chip | ICS 954123CGLF |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 267.1 MHZ (+0.12%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-8 |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 4 / 4 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1 / 1 |
| Serial COM Port | 1 / none |
| Parallel LPT Port | none / 1 |
| Game | 1 / none |
| LAN | none / 2 |
| WLAN | none / none |
| SATA | 8 / 0 |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / optical Out, SPDIF Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | none |
| PCIe 1x | noen |
| PCI-X 133 | 2 |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE (PATA) | 1 (2 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 3 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| Marvell 88SE6141 PCIe | 4x SATA (RAID 0,1,0+1,5) |
| LAN | |
| Marvell 88E8062-BDJ PCI-X 66 | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Marvell 88E8062-BDJ PCI-X 66 | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Realtek ALC882D 7.1 | AC97 or High Definition Audio |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| Texas Instruments TI 43AB22A | 2x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |

Asus uses Intel's 6702PHX workstation/server Southbridge...

...that supports two PCI-X slots.

This jumper defines the PCI-X bus speed (Auto/100/133 MHz). It reaches 1.06 GB/s at the maximum speed using its 64-bit bus width, but the bandwidth is shared by the two slots.

A Marvell 88SE6141 PCI Express SATA controller offers four additional ports for hard drives.

The dual Gigabit Ethernet controller is attached via PCI-X.

Asus provides an 8-phase voltage regulator for maximum system stability.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-400 | 1.50 | n/a |
| DDR2-533 | 2.00 | DDR2-400 |
| DDR2-667 | 2.50 | n/a |
| DDR2-711 | 2.66 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-800 | 3.00 | DDR2-600 |
| DDR2-888 | 3.33 | DDR2-667 |
| DDR2-1066 | 4.00 | DDR2-800 |
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 100 - 450 MHz (Bios settings) |
| CPU Core voltage | 1.200 - 1.700 V |
| Memory voltage | 1.80 - 2.40 V |
| FSB Signal voltage | 1.20 - 1.50 V |
| Northbridge (MCH) voltage | 1.50 - 1.65 V |
| Sourthbridge (ICH) voltage | 1.05 - 1.20 V |
Drivers, Software And Accessories
If you want to keep using an existing Windows XP installation, you will have to download and install the latest Intel chipset drivers before swapping the platform. The 6702PHX is different from Intel's mainstream ICH building blocks.
| Software Accessories |
|---|
| manuals for boarb |
| Drivers & Tools CD |
| WinDVD Suite |
| Hardware Accessories |
| 1x 80-pin ATA cable |
| 1x Floppy cable |
| 8x SATA data cable |
| 7x SATA data cable |
| 4x SATA power cable (2 devices) |
| 1x IO panel shield |
| 3x jumpers |
| 1x slot panel for serial port (COM) |
| 1x slot panel with 1x Game and 2x USB |
| 1x slot panel with 1x Firewire (small) |

The P5WDG2-WS Premium comes with the same accessories as its little brother, the P5WD2-E.
Foxconn's motherboard is somewhat colorful.
| Foxconn 975X7AA (Rev. 1.0) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. C0) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 3-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | 597F1P23 (03/02/2006) |
| Clock Chip | ICS 9LPR5511CGLF |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 266.1 MHz (-0.25%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-12 (setup 4.0-4-4-8) |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 4 / 4 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1 / 1 |
| Serial COM Port | none / 1 |
| Parallel LPT Port | none / 1 |
| Game | none |
| LAN | none / 2 |
| WLAN | none |
| SATA | 5 / 1 |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / optical Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | 0 |
| PCIe 1x | 2 |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE (PATA) | 1 (2 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 2 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| Silicon Image SiL3132CNV | 1x SATA (RAID 0,1,0+1,5) |
| LAN | |
| Marvell 88E8053 PCIe | 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Marvell 88E8053 PCIe | 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Realtek ALC882 | AC97 (High Definition Audio) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| Texas Instrument TSB43AB22A | 2x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |


Foxconn offers all connectors from eSATA to dual Gigabit Ethernet. The antiquated cap for the optical audio connector would be better exchanged for a flap cover, though.


Foxconn provides two x16 PCI Express slots and two x1 expansion slots.

The Northbridge cooling is pretty significant and should keep temperatures pretty low even under high loads.

Foxconn has a lot of confidence in its voltage regulators, because it only uses three phases. If you use a processor that draws 100+ watts, each phase has to cope with over 35 W!

This additional PCI Express SATA controller (Silicon Image SiL3132CNV) adds two more SATA ports and supports NCQ.

The 975X7AA features two Gigabit Ethernet controllers by Marvell.

Foxconn uses the 24-pin ATX 2.2 power connector that comes with a long lip to lock both 20-pin and 24-pin plugs.

We only found two additional fan headers, which might not be enough for an enthusiast system.

Foxconn is the only manufacturer to deploy a piezo speaker on the motherboard.

One internal and one external Firewire port are available.

Foxconn's Fox One technology can be compared to what Abit does with µGuru or MSI with CoreCell.


Foxconn did not color-code the pin panel, which could result in mixing up cables.

The pinout for the floppy connector is somewhat strange, because the manufacturer spared the second rather than the third pin. This forces you to use the cable that comes with the motherboard.

If you intend to install two graphics cards and up to four hard drives, the SATA cables can collide with the second graphics card.

Foxconn is very stingy in the area of accessories, including only two SATA cables.

We used BIOS version 597F1P23 (03/02/2006).

Foxconn does not offer a Windows-based BIOS update program. Since modern BIOS image sizes force you to use two floppy disks, the floppy update procedure gets annoying.

Overclocking is now well supported by Foxconn.
There are overclocking profiles that allow you to select any setting, ranging from Energy Saving to Gaming. Here are the available settings and the impact they have:
| FOX Intelligent Stepping | ||
|---|---|---|
| Option | FSB | Power |
| Energy Saving | 232 MHz | 198 W |
| Office | 266 MHz | 204 W |
| Data Mining | 266 MHz | 206 W |
| Power Gaming | 266 MHz | 223 W |
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 266 - 600 (Bios) |
| CPU Core voltage | +0.0125 - +0.3000 V |
| Memory voltage | -0.125 - + 0.600 V |
| Northbridge voltage | -0.120 - + 0.240 V |
Though you can freely set your memory timings, the 975X7AA will sometimes override these; for example, our CL 4.0-4-4-8 setting resulted in CL 4-4-4-12 timings. In addition, DDR2-800 is the maximum memory speed, while other motherboards are capable of supporting DDR2-1066 at FSB1066.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-533 | 1.00 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-667 | 1.25 | DDR2-667 |
| DDR2-800 | 1.33 | DDR2-800 |

The hardware monitor is pretty detailed, thanks to the Fox One chip.

As you can see, the shutdown feature did not work.

Foxconn's installation program starts automatically after inserting the disc.

The program selects the required software components automatically.

Although the product names are not always easy to catch, the Foxconn website is well structured.

Download performance was pretty good.

This tool works hand in hand with the Fox One chip: it reads voltages, frequencies, temperatures and fan speeds.

The program also supports a graphical display.

If any value crosses a threshold there will be a visual and audible warning (using the piezo speaker).


Gigabyte's GA-G1975X was one of the first 975X-based Socket 775 motherboards on the market. However, only the current revisions will be able to support Core 2 Duo (Conroe) processors.
| Gigabyte GA-G1975X (Rev. 1.0) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. C0) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 4-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | F3 (01/11/2006) |
| BIOS | F4a (03/27/2006) |
| Clock Chip | RTM865T-470 |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 268.0 MHz (+0.49%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-8 |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 6 / 2 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 2 / none |
| Serial COM Port | none |
| Parallel LPT Port | none |
| Game | none |
| LAN | none / 1 |
| WLAN | none |
| SATA | 4 / none |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / optical Out, SPDIF Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | 2 |
| PCIe 1x | none |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE (PATA) | 2 (4 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 2 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| GigaATA IT8211F | 1x IDE (ATA133 RAID 1,0,0+1) |
| LAN | |
| Broadcom 5789 PCIe | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Creative Labs Audigy CA0106 | PCI Sound Card |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| Texas Instruments TI43AB23 | 2x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |

Due to the active cooling system that places two small fans to the left and the right side of the back panel, there are only a few connectors left.

It looks like the venting holes are smaller than the fans, which means the air flow will be rather limited.



The G1975X is dominated by a large air duct system that is designed to remove hot air from the system components.

The air duct system takes care of Northbridge cooling as well.

Although the CPU fan will not have to run at high speeds, and thus will work more quietly, the four small fans combined will in fact produce more noise. However, the CPU temperature was a bit lower than with the other motherboards in this roundup, which proves that the strategy works.

A port 80 diagnosis module is still essential for error analysis. Gigabyte provides an on-board debug system; you can look up the hexadecimal error codes in the motherboard manual.

Gigabyte cares for users with legacy devices. Thanks to the GigaATA chip (manufactured by ITE), two more UltraATA/133 channels are available, which allows you to attach four additional hard drives or optical drives. However, there are no extras to add to the four Serial ATA ports, two of which can be used externally.

If you feel like using up to eight displays, the G1975X will likely be your first choice, since it supports four graphics cards. Although the board offers only two mechanical x16 PCI Express slots, you may plug in two additional graphics cards into the remaining slots, because the ends of these slots are open.

If you take care to ensure proper system cooling and ventilation, four graphics cards can be installed.
| Software Accessories |
|---|
| manuals for board |
| Drivers & Tools CD |
| Cyberlink Power DVD and Power 2Go |
| Notron Internet Security 2005, Anivirus |
| Hardware Accessories |
| 2x 80-pin ATA cable |
| 1x Floppy cable |
| 8x SATA data cable |
| 4x SATA power cable (4 devices) intern |
| 1x SATA power cable (1 device) extern |
| 1x IO panel shield |
| 1x SLI-Bride |
| 1x SLI-Bride holder |
| 2x slot panel with 2x USB |
| 1x slot panel Audio side, sub center, real R/L, RCA out, SPDIF out |
| 1x slot panel with 2x USB 1x Firewire (small and big) |
| 1x slot panel with 1x SATA extern and 1x eSATA |
| 1x Gigabyte Sticker |

Gigabyte includes a large quantity of accessories.

Gigabyte provides a slot module that runs SATA and Molex power cables to the outside of your system, which allows you to temporarily run SATA drives externally if needed. One connector can be used for SATA, the other for eSATA devices.

Gigabyte equips the G1975X with Creative's Audigy 2 SE CA0106 PCI sound chip.
A highlight of this motherboard is the Creative audio processor, which reaches a signal-to-noise ratio of -115 dB(A). When compared to the -85 dB(A) level achieved by the competition, this represents a huge audio quality advantage for Gigabyte. The PCI sound chip also requires less processor time for the audio. Software installation turned out to be a real problem, however.

The 7.1 sound can be output in either digital or analog form.

We could install neither the drivers that came included on the CD, nor the version that we downloaded.

A manual driver installation is the only way of getting the on-board Audigy 2 operational.

Many less-experienced users would not install a driver component if Windows returned a compatibility warning.
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 100 - 600 MHz (Bios settings) |
| CPU Core voltage | 1.0625 - 1.7500 V |
| Memory voltage | 1.85 - 2.55 V |
| FSB Signal voltage | 1.20 - 1.55 V |
| PCIe voltage | 1.50 - 2.20 V |

The Gigabyte board booted the Pentium EE 955 (3.46 GHz) at an overclocked speed of 3.56 GHz. For some reason, Gigabyte had set a default initial clock speed of 274 MHz, which we had to reduce to 266 MHz manually.

The BIOS item "Advanced" allows you to change some basic processor features.

The F8 key will open Gigabyte's integrated BIOS update function. Here you can save the current BIOS to disk or update the BIOS from disk. You can also copy the BIOS content from the primary to the secondary ROM, using Gigabyte's DualBIOS feature.

The DualBIOS feature uses a pair of Flash ROMs to provide two fully-functional BIOSes.

Gigabyte offers the full range of possible overclocking options.

At FSB800 speed, Gigabyte supports the required multiplier for running the memory at DDR2-800 speed.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-400 | 1.50 | DDR2-300 |
| DDR2-533 | 2.00 | DDR2-400 |
| DDR2-667 | 2.50 | DDR2-500 |
| DDR2-711 | 2.66 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-800 | 3.00 | DDR2-600 |
| DDR2-888 | 3.33 | DDR2-667 |
| DDR2-1066 | 4.00 | DDR2-800 |

The C.I.A.2 feature is a simple way for inexperienced users to overclock the system within reasonable boundaries.

Gigabyte's installation program first checks if there are any drivers missing on your system.

Gigabyte's driver download website worked well: we achieved download speeds of up to 290 kB/s.

You need @BIOS Writer to update the motherboard BIOS under Windows XP; the program will download the latest version automatically.

EasyTune 5 is Gigabyte's all-in-one overclocking software central.

The Face Wizard allows you to replace the system startup screen with a personalized one.

XpressRecover 2 allows you to completely backup or restore your whole hard drive by pressing F9 before the OS starts.
MSI called the board MS-7246.
| MSI 975 Platinum H MS-7246 (Rev. 0A Sample) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. C0) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 4-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | 1.3 (03/13/2006) |
| Clock Chip | ICS 954519BGLF |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 266.9 MHz (+0.12%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-8 |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 4 / 4 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 2 / 1 |
| Serial COM Port | none / 1 |
| Parallel LPT Port | none / 1 |
| Game | none |
| LAN | none / 1 |
| WLAN | none |
| SATA | 6 / none |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / chinch and optical Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | 0 |
| PCIe 1x | 2 |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE (PATA) | 2 (4 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 2 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| JMicron JMB363 | 2x SATA (RAID 0,1,0+1,5)
1x IDE (ATA133 RAID 1,0,0+1) |
| LAN | |
| Broadcom 5751KFB PCIe | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Realtek ALC883 | AC97 (High Definition Audio) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| VIA VT6308P | 3x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |

The I/O back panel offers almost every possible interface except for Serial ATA.

MSI deploys an active fan on the Northbridge, the rotation speed of which can be adjusted in the BIOS. While we tend to prefer passively cooled solutions, this one was designed properly - and with the overclocker in mind.


MSI adds a PCI SATA RAID controller by JMicron that offers two ports.



We had to break the lock of the ATX power connector before we could install it.

MSI deploys a 4-phase voltage regulator; the retail version of the motherboard comes with MOSFET heat sinks.

VIA's VT6308P controller offers three IEEE-1394a Firewire ports.

We used BIOS version 1.1B3 for testing.

MSI have a live update program. This tool allows to update the BIOS and all driver components under windows in a comfortable way.

MSI does not offer many memory overclocking options. The maximum memory clock speed at FSB1066 is DDR2-880.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-533 | 1.00 | DDR2-400 |
| DDR2-667 | 1.25 | DDR2-500 |
| DDR2-700 | 1.33 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-880 | 1.66 | DDR2-667 |

The BIOS version we used did not allow us to select a FSB speed below 266 MHz for the Pentium Extreme Edition 955.

There is no option that allows you to alter the CPU core voltage, which limits overclocking attempts to fairly conservative levels.

With timing settings of CL 4.0-4-4-8 at DDR2-677 speeds, we did not encounter any problems.

DDR2-800 is not supported at FSB800 speed.

The ranks "Private" to "General" allow the user to set an overclocking envelope that the CoreCell technology will act within. "Private" automatically overclocks the system by a few percent, while "General" is the most aggressive setting.

The hardware monitor does not display much... it does not even tell you if your processor fan fails!
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 200 - 350 / 266 - 450 MHz (Bios) |
| CPU Core voltage | 1.0625 - 1.7500 V |
| Memory voltage | 1.85 - 2.55 V |
| FSB Signal voltage | 1.20 - 1.55 V |
| PCIe voltage | 1.50 - 2.20 V |

MSI's website is well structured, and allowed us to find required software easily. We did not receive a driver disc with the motherboard sample, so we used MSI's tools to download the necessary files.

200 kB/s is an adequate download speed.

DigiCell informs you about the installed MSI features.

CoreCenter is the overclocking central for Windows XP, where you can adjust several settings on the fly. However, with this beta sample, the display did not reflect the actual values.

CoreCenter can track monitoring values visually over a period of time.

i-Speedster records your effective network interface bandwidth, and allows you to fine-tune your settings for DSL.

SI's Live Update service is pretty sophisticated now; it automatically updates drivers and software.

A simple click is enough to download the latest versions from MSI's servers.
The 975X motherboard flagship by Intel is called the D975XBX.
| Intel D975XBX (Rev. AA) | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Sockel LGA775 |
| Northbridge | Intel 975X (Rev. 00) |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH7R (82801 GB) |
| Phasen | 5-Phasen Regulator |
| BIOS | BX97510J.86A.0807.2006.0314.1158 |
| Clock Chip | ICS 954519BGLF |
| Clock Setting in BIOS | Measurement |
| 266.6 MHz (FSB1066) | 266.7 MHz (0.00%) |
| SPD Memory Timing Recognition | Timing Result |
| DDR2-667 | CL 4.0-4-4-8 |
| Interfaces | |
| Connectors | onboard / IO - panel |
| USB 2.0 | 4 / 4 |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1 / 2 |
| Serial COM Port | none / 1 |
| Parallel LPT Port | none / 1 |
| Game | none |
| LAN | none / 1 |
| WLAN | none |
| SATA | 8 / none |
| Audio analog | LineIn CD / 7.1 Cannels |
| Audio digital | none / chinch and optical Out |
| Connectors | onboard only |
| PCIe 16x | 2 |
| PCIe 4x | 0 |
| PCIe 1x | 2 |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE (PATA) | 2 (4 channels) |
| Fan 4 pins (CPU) | 1 |
| Fan 3 pins (System) | 2 |
| Mass Storage Controller | |
| ICH7 | 1x IDE (ATA100)
4x SATA (RAID 0,1,5,10) |
| Silicon Image Si3114CTU | 4x SATA (RAID 0,1,0+1,5) |
| LAN | |
| Intel PC82573L PCIe | 1x 1 Gbit/s LAN |
| Audio | |
| Sigmatel STAC9221D5 | AC97 (High Definition Audio) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | |
| Texas Instrument TSB43AB23 | 2x 1394a (400 Mbit/s) |


There are three PCI Express slots: two physical x16 connectors that run x8 mode each, and an x4 slot.

We used three graphics cards here.

Using three graphics cards permits a maximum of six displays.

Intel's Northbridge heat sink is of impressive size and works efficiently.

More SATA: The Si3114CTU by Silicon Image adds four more ports. It supports NCQ and RAID levels 0, 1, 1+0 and 5.

The lock is as wide as the ATX connector, which allows use of all plugs.

The Intel board requires an auxiliary 8-pin ATX connector to work. Hence you will have to purchase an ATX 2.2 power supply.

Intel designed a 5-phase voltage regulator, and cools the components with aluminum heat sinks.


Intel is the only motherboard manufacturer that uses fan headers for PWM fans.

Thanks to the TSB43AB23 by Texas Instruments, the D975XBX offers two IEEE-1394a Firewire ports.

Be careful: the connectors for Firewire and USB look alike!

We used BIOS version BX97510J.86A.0807.2006.0314.1158. We haven't discovered yet why this has to be such a long number!
Intel has been offering a BIOS-based BIOS update procedure for many years. Insert a floppy disk with the latest image and flash. You can also go the traditional way using a DOS boot disk, or the more comfortable way through Windows XP.

Updating the BIOS using Windows XP as the host system is the most comfortable option.

Intel's update utility will automatically restart the system and provide status information.

Intel's BIOS menu runs at a relatively high resolution of 800x600.

Security is a priority for Intel; the event log has been a part of most motherboard products for years.

The hardware monitor is not very detailed. Here we removed the CPU cooler, which caused the processor to heat up quickly, but the motherboard didn't complain at all.
| Possible Memory Configration | ||
|---|---|---|
| FSB1066 (266 MHz) | 1:XX | FSB800 (200 MHz) |
| DDR2-533 | 1.00 | DDR2-533 |
| DDR2-667 | 1.25 | DDR2-667 |
| DDR2-800 | 1.33 | DDR2-800 |

Intel offers comprehensive support for manual memory timing optimization. It is also possible to increase the memory voltage up to 2.2 V.

Intel's D975XBX is the only motherboard in this roundup that reads and displays SPD information.

Although it exceeds the memory specification for the Intel 975X chipset, this motherboard supports DDR2-800. We found the DDR2-333 setting to be pretty useless, though.

We could overclock the Pentium Extreme Edition 965 up to 4.26 GHz.
| Bios Voltage Settings | |
|---|---|
| FSB frequency | 133/200/266/333 MHz (+1%-30%) |
| CPU Core voltage | 1.2750 - 1.600 V |
| Memory voltage | 1.85 - 2.20 V |
| FSB Signal voltage | 1.271 - 1.395 V |
| Northbridge voltage | 1.525 - 1.725 V |

It is possible to increase the Northbridge and FSB voltages, as well as to alter all clock speeds.

The autostart program on the driver CD detects the required software.

Installation is unattended...

...however, the installation program caused problems after the initial software setup...

... and the installation manager crashed.

Intel's website has improved during the restructuring of the company. We reached download speeds of up to 90 kB/s.

The Desktop Control Center is Intel's interpretation of an overclocking solution for Windows, and it works pretty well.


You can change the memory timings using the DCC, but this will require you to restart the system.

Intel provides this stress test tool, which can be used to verify the stability of your overclocking settings.

The Performance Index helps you check whether overclocking is worthwhile.

Intel allows you to set one of three temperature zones, which will have an impact on fan speeds.
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Socket 775 Processors | Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 955
(Presler core, 65 nm, 3.46 GHz, 2 x 2 MB L2 Cache) |
| RAM | OCZ DDR2-800 Platinum Edition XTC
2x 512 MB DDR2-667 (333 MHz, CL 4.0-4-4-8) |
| Hard Drive I | Western Digital Raptor WD1500AD
150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 16 MB Cache, SATA/150 |
| DVD-ROM | Gigabyte GO-D1600C (16x) |
| Graphics Card | Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GTX Turbo Force
GV-NX78X256VP-B |
| Power Supply | Enermax EG485VE(W), ATX12V 2.01, 480 W |
| System Software & Drivers | |
| OS | Windows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2 |
| DirectX Version | 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) |
| Graphics Driver Nvidia | Nvidia ForceWare 84.21 |
| Intel Platform Driver | 7.2.2.1007 (2/27/2006) |

The memory modules were set to 333 MHz operation (DDR2-667) and set to CL 4.0-4-4-8 manually.
Benchmarks And Settings
| Benchmarks and Settings | |
|---|---|
| OpenGL | |
| Quake III Team Arena | Version 1.32
1280x1024 - 32 bit Timedemo1 / demo thg3 "custom timedemo" Graphics detail = High Quality |
| F.E.A.R | Version: 1.0 Retail
Video Mode: 1280x920 Computer: High Graphics Card: High Options/Performance/Test settings |
| Quake 4 | Version: 1.0.5 Beta (Dual-Core Patch)
Video Mode: 1280x1024 Timedemo demo4.demo 1 (load textures) |
| 3DMark06 | Version 1.0.2
1024x768 - 32 bit Graphics and CPU Default Benchmark |
| Video | |
| Pinnacle Studio 10 Plus | Version: 10.1.2.2150
from: 352x288 MPEG-2 41 MB to: 720x576 MPEG-2 95 MB Encoding and Transition Rendering to MPEG-2/DVD no Audio |
| DivX 6.2 | Version: 6.1 (4 Logical CPUs)
Profile: High Definition Profile Multipass, 3000 kbit/s Encoding mode: Insane Quality |
| XviD 1.1.0 | Version: 1.1.0 Beta 3
Encoding type: Twopass - Single pass Profile @ Level: DXN HT PAL Target size (kbytes): 570000 |
| Clone DVD | Version: 2.8.5.1
DVD-9 Terminator II SE Convert DVD-9 to DVD-4.7 |
| Audio | |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.97 Beta 2 (11-29-2005)
Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 74 min wave to mp3 160 kbps |
| Applications | |
| Winrar | Version 3.51
(303 MB, 47 Files, 2 Folders) Compression = Best Dictionary = 4096 kB |
| Autodesk 3D Studio Max | Version: 8.0
Characters "Dragon_Charater_rig" HTDV 1920 x 1080 |
| Synthetic | |
| PCMark05 Pro | Version: 1.1.0
CPU and Memory Tests |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2005 | Version 2005.7.10.60 SR2
CPU Test = MultiMedia / CPU Arithmetic Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
FSB

Memory Performance













Applications










Frequency Response

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

Asus P5WD2-E Premium (Realtek ALC881)

Asus P5WDG2-WS Premium (Realtek ALC882D)

Gigabyte G1975X (Audigy 2 SE CA0106)

Intel X975XBX (Sigmatel STAC9221D5)

MSI MS-7246 975 Platinum H (Realtek ALC883)

Foxconn 975X7AA (Realtek ALC882)

All six motherboards worked reliably during the three-week test period, and they performed more or less alike, although there were some slight differences that vary by application. From a hardware point of view, the boards come with all the features a power user might require and, again, you can only find differences in the details. We do not advise against any of these boards, but they each do have advantages and disadvantages that we would like to point out.
Both Asus motherboards performed well, building on the Asus tradition of delivering quality products. Both the P5WD2-E and the P5WDG2-WS run slightly overclocked, which is why they dominate several benchmark disciplines. We have to criticize the slow software downloads and mention the fact that other motherboard makers have closed ranks. Gigabyte, for example, offers more features and more equipment for less money. However, the P5WDG2-WS is the only workstation-type motherboard with two PCI-X slots and a comforting 8-phase voltage regulator.
Gigabyte's G1975X is not perfect either, although it comes with the most impressive feature set (and factory overclocking as well). The software package is somewhat out of date, and we had trouble installing the Creative Audigy drivers, although this sound processor is the most sophisticated in this roundup. Apart from that, the fancy cooling solution, while being noisy, does a very efficient job.
Foxconn slowly but surely is making its way from boring business-class motherboards to products that are appealing to the enthusiast. The software package and hardware features (including overclocking items) are comparable to what the competitors offer. However, we still found a few BIOS bugs, and would not want to rely on a rather simple 3-phase voltage regulator.
MSI's 975 Platinum H offers good software support and also have a nice Windows-based update mechanism. The board we got was a sample version, so the BIOS entry to alter the CPU core voltage is not missing in the final board revision. Also the ATX connector is changed to support power supplys without modifiying the connector.
Intel managed to compile the most attractive 975X package by unreservedly addressing the enthusiast, offering ease of use (especially with respect to BIOS updates) and providing powerful software tools. What's most surprising, though, is the comprehensive overclocking support, which matches the Asus and Gigabyte offerings, and includes a hardware stress test tool to verify stability of your settings. Finally, it is a no-noise product, and only some BIOS and software bugs prevent us from awarding it fully.





