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Six Dual Xeon Motherboards on the Cheap
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1. A Single Or Dual Platform?

A mainstream platform with lots of gigahertz that is based on a relatively-pricey Intel P4 or AMD Athlon64 doesn't always guarantee enough performance for professional-use applications such as CAD or OpenGL. These professional applications also demand enormous computing resources. The smarter choice is a dual-processor platform which, as we previously demonstrated in our introductory article Two Xeon CPUs Are Better Than One Intel P4 Extreme Platform , offers the requisite performance. Here, we look at and compare six dual Xeon motherboards and offer tips for choosing the right cooler and form factor.

The WTX Form Factor Is Costly, ATX Is Cheaper

The form factor is decisive, since only ATX boards fit in standard casings. A suitably larger case must be bought for the larger models in a WTX format.

That said, if you are forced to count pennies, you will want to consider an ATX dual-board, which Asus, MSI and Tyan supply. Performance freaks generally go for the WTX profile, which also involves the purchase of a tower and power supply.

Two trends can be observed:

On the one hand, there are boards for demanding users eager to exploit the full potential and features of their dual Xeon system. These models are equipped with 64 bit PCI slots, SCSI controllers and an integrated LAN interface. With a price tag of up to $550 (Tyan S2665UANF), these large boards are relatively expensive.

On the other hand, smaller boards are still available in an ATX format whose sole feature is two CPU sockets. These offer extremely good value. The MSI Master2-F, for example, can be had for as little as $240.

We have also taken a long and hard look at powerful active and passive coolers. With thermal power of 185 W, both processors indeed run hot.

2. Cool Head For 185 W Thermal Power

Xeon processors generally change hands in a "boxed" version and so always come complete with the corresponding cooler. The limited dimensions of the ATX format mean there is often little room for the two Socket 604s. The capacitors or coils are usually too close to the socket, leaving no room on the board for a conventional cooler. You may have to buy another cooler with smaller dimensions, which will also raise the total cost of the system somewhat.

The Coolermaster cooler is too wide for this board

These Coolermaster coolers do not fit on the Asus PP-DLW in ATX format. The capacitors are too close to the socket.

The Intel Boxed Cooler From Prestonia 2M

The new boxed cooler from Intel, which was especially designed for workstation motherboards, is included on processors from the Prestonia 2M series on. Three heat pipes rising vertically from a 6 mm thick copper plate ensure heat is dissipated. They are cooled in a tower (2 ¾" x 2 7/8" / 7 x 7.3 cm) consisting of 53 aluminum disks, which keeps the weight down to a mere 13.4 oz (380 grams). Use of these coolers is only possible in WTX casing, as both are air-cooled by a 4.75" (120 mm) fan. The coolers are fixed in place using retaining clips on the CPU retention modules. Their cooling capacity is excellent and the fan speed can be adjusted via the motherboard to counter unnecessary noise emission.

Intel's boxed cooler

The underside features a copper plate
3. EKL's Beta Stage Cooler

EKL provided us with its first beta version of the new Xeon coolers, the extreme thinness of which ensures easy use on an ATX-format dual board. They are produced in the usual disk form with copper bolts and weigh in at 13 oz (370 grams). A Papst fan spinning at 5,200 rpm sits on top of the cooler, which is mounted with retaining clips on the CPU retention modules. This design is advantageous because of the good airflow, which cools surrounding components such as the passive Northbridge cooler and fixed-voltage regulator as well.

The first beta version of the new Xeon cooler from EKL

The contact surface is copper

The Coolermaster EP3-S61FS: Especially For 1U Servers

The Xeon EP3-S61FS from Coolermaster was specially developed for servers with just one height unit. It is constructed from a single piece of copper and tips the scales at 500 grams. A thin, 1-cm fan spinning at 4,800 rpm creates the necessary airflow. This design takes up just 2.5 cm. It is mounted on the motherboard's backplane with four screws (including springs). The low cooling performance and high noise level are unfortunate, which is why this model is better suited for servers rather than workstations.

The Coolermaster cooler is made entirely of copper

The cooler base
4. Innovatek InnovaFlatFlow: Nickel And Copper

Along with Asetek and Koolance, Innovatek also sells a water cooler. The innovaFlatFlow XEON is constructed from a 3/16" (4 mm) thick plate of nickel-plated copper. On top of the plate is an attachment through which water is fed. It is mounted on the backplane with the spring screws. The water connections are angled and flexible, even though the whole unit is only 2" (5 cm) high. That makes it too big to fit in server racks with one height unit (1U = 1 ¾" or 44.45 mm). The cooler weighs 17.6 oz (500 grams) and costs around $90. Users therefore no longer have to do without a powerful and quiet cooling system just because they have a dual system. Overclocking the XEON CPU is no problem and scalability is good with the PC-DL based on the Intel 875 chipset from Asus. Cumulative thermal power of 185 W tops makes the use of two coolers advisable.

On the down side, this cooling solution comes at a hefty purchase price of up to $360. But, considering its possibilities, it's a price worth paying.

The innovaFlatFlow XEON from Innovatek

The cooler without the water attachment

Not many water coolers stand just 2" high

The nickel-plated copper surface of the innovaFlatFlow XEON
5. The Test Candidates In Detail

ASUS PP-DLW: 64 Bit PCI For The Desktop

Revision: 1.03
BIOS: 08.00.08 (10/09/03)

Asus sells just one motherboard with an E7505 chipset. The PP-DLW is designed in ATX format and aimed solely at the workstation market.

Asus' PP-DLW Workstation Motherboard

One thing that stands out is that Asus dispensed with extra components such as FireWire, IDE and an SCSI controller.

SMD voltage regulator on the Asus board

Asus uses SMD components to power its Xeon processors. Since they use a three-phase controller, additional cooling is superfluous. One highlight is that users are free to operate the motherboard with an EPS12V or an ATX power supply unit. There are enough sockets on the board for three fans.

P64H2 Southbridge for parallel PCI-X slots

Thanks to the P64H2 Southbridge, four PCI-X slots are available on the workstation motherboard. In this arrangement, the "A", "B" and "C" slots work at 100 MHz, the "D" slot at 133 MHz.

The 82540EM LAN controller from Intel

The board is equipped with an Intel 82540EM Gigabit network chip, which exchanges data with the P64H2 Southbridge.

DDR memory slots

As far as system memory goes, Asus, like many of its competitors, dispenses with the registered protocol that permits the addition of 2 GB modules. Its maximum configuration is therefore 8 GB RAM.

6. ASUS PP-DLW, Continued

AD1885 sound chip based on the AC97 codec

The 1885 sound chip from Analog Devices only supports stereo sound.

4x The I/O panel on the PP-DLW

Four USB 2.0 ports, two serial COM ports, a parallel port, PS2 for mouse and keyboard, LAN and audio can all be connected to the I/O panel. Two further USB 2.0 connections and a game port are available through a slot shield.

A familiar messenger: the Asus Probe tool, pictured here with two CPU temperatures

Asus Probe provides information on the motherboard's temperatures, voltages and fan speed. A piezo loudspeaker warns of any breakdowns.

Forcibly slowed: just 1.06 GHz

The tests were conducted on two Xeon CPUs and involved engineering samples (ES) accessing a free multiplier.

The Asus board was the only one in the test that was not able to identify the processors correctly and insisted each time on booting the system with a multiplier of eight. This results in a CPU speed of 1066 MHz. Repeated queries to Asus brought no remedy. This prevented us from running the benchmark test with this board. Instead we measured stability at a reduced speed.

Remarkable addition: two Xeon CPU coolers

Asus furnishes its board with Xeon coolers made entirely of aluminum. BIOS updates can easily be run from Windows or the DOS command line. The Asus PP-DLW goes for around $340 in stores.

7. Intel SE7505VB2: Native Dual Solution

Intel has been a player on the motherboard market for quite some time. Besides its own chipset, there is also a matching mobo. The SE7505VB2 is intended to serve the server and workstation market equally.

Big board: Intel's E7505 motherboard goes by the name of SE7505VB2

Revision: F03
BIOS Version: 1.08 (01/08/04)

A prominent feature is that Intel has also integrated onboard graphics besides for the AGP-Pro slot that comes as standard. Together with the appropriate CPU coolers, the board' is no higher than 1 ¾" (44.45 mm). This means it can easily be used in a server rack of one height unit (1U). Unfortunately, the SE7505VB2 can only be operated using an EPS12V mains unit.

Onboard graphics: ATI Rage XL

VGA output on the I/O panel

The ATI Rage-XL graphics chip, which is connected to the ICH4 Southbridge via the PCI bus, has the wherewithal in the server administration arena to run under Windows Server 2003 or Linux. The graphics chip is clocked at 83 MHz and has an 8 MB memory, which runs at 125 MHz with 5 ns average access time. With the help of the onboard graphics and the operating systems' dual-monitor support, it's no problem to set up a second screen to enter parameters or monitor events. This makes work much more convenient.

8. Intel SE7505VB2, Continued

Many fixed-voltage regulators ensure stability

Intel provides each of its Xeon processors with a four-phase voltage regulator. Thus considerably less heat is generated than with a two- or three-phase regulator and it gets by entirely without a heat sink.

The P64H2 bridge controls the parallel PCI-X and PCI64 slots

The board is equipped with the P64H2 chip and has two PCI-X100 (A and B) and one PCI64 slot (C). It's a mystery to us why Intel does without a 133 MHz PCI-X interface in the server segment.

Intel relies on its very own 82540EM Gigabit LAN controller

The 82550PM is used for the 100-Mbit connection

Both LAN interfaces on the I/O shield

The board is fitted with Intel's 82550PM (100 Mbit) and the 82540EM (1 Gbit) network controllers. The 1-Gbit LAN chip is connected to the P64H2 Southbridge and runs in 32 bit mode at 66 MHz.

Two SATA ports for hard drives

3112A SATA controller from Silicon Image
9. Intel SE7505VB2, Continued

Alone among its fellow candidates in this test, Intel has given its board a SATA controller. The 3112A chip from Silicon Image has output connections for two drives. RAID 0 or 1 can be chosen as operating modes.

Even registered modules can be used in the DDR memory slots on the Intel board

As one of the few boards in the test, the SE7505VB2 can be run with registered memory. This opens up use of 2 GB modules up to a maximum memory of 8 GB. Alternatively, ECC mode can be activated.

Clearly labeled fan connections on the Intel board

The SE7505VB2 comes with four fan connections - which we consider generous to a fault. All are monitored by the system.

The I/O panel on the Intel board

Three USB 2.0 ports and the VGA output are accessible on the I/O shield. A further four USB ports figure on the board itself. Not exactly workstation-friendly: Intel does without sound and FireWire support.

One of a kind: console setting in the BIOS

The event console makes it possible to query the status of the operating computer at any time via the serial port.

Console query via the serial interface

A telnet console now enables remote operation of the Intel mobo. Image transfer is, however, limited to ASCII/ANSI codes. The SE7505VB2 sells for around $450. While it makes a flexible alternative for the server segment, it cannot be recommended for use as a workstation.

10. MSI Master2-FL (MS-9141): An Unfortunate Design At An Attractive Price

MSI produces motherboards with Intel's E7505 chipset in both ATX and WTX formats. Altogether, the manufacturer offers four models.

Chipset NB/SB Model Form Factor
E7505/P64H2 E7505 Master-LS2 (MS-9121-LS2) WTX
E7505/P64H2 E7505 Master-L (MS-9121-L) WTX
E7505 E7505 Master2-F (MS-9141-F) ATX
E7505 E7505 Master2-FL (MS-9141-FL) ATX

The boards in WTX design are distinguished by the short names LS2 and L, with the former signifying an additional SCSI controller. In ATX terminology, F stands for one and FL for two network controllers. In the case of two LAN controllers on one board, one is generally designed for 100 Mbit and the other for 1 Gbit. For this test, MSI sent us the E7505 Master2-FL and the E7505 Master-LS2 models. Let's turn first to the small ATX version.

Red all over: the E7505 MSI Master 2-FL

Revision: 1
BIOS Version: 1.1B7 (10/07/2003)

At first glance, the Master2-FL gives a somewhat lean impression. On closer examination, especially against the competition's product, a clear difference in design becomes apparent: MSI has positioned the ATX jack for the power supply to the right of the processor socket, resulting in a leftward shift of around a centimeter for some components such as AGP and PCI. Therefore, one slot had to go. More powerful graphics cards usually block the first PCI slot, as their sizable coolers take up a lot of room. Hence, in practice this board only has three usable slots for PCI cards. The MSI Master2-FL has no FireWire or IDE/SATA-RAID controller.

El cheapo: the AD1885 chip can just about manage dual-channel sound

In the picture: the I/O panel
11. MSI Master2-FL (MS-9141), Continued

There's no such thing as good and cheap: the AD1885 sound chip is only capable of producing two channels. It also sports no I/O onboard connectors. There is, however, a slot shield for USB 2.0 and sound. The cables from the shield are a little short, which prevent a connection via the AGP slot. If the user wants sound or a USB port, another PCI slot must be sacrificed. This means that many PCI slots are unusable in practice.

Passively cooled voltage regulator

On the MSI Master2-FL, power is supplied by two-phase regulators, each requiring an oversized heat sink.

With thermal power of up to 185 watts, both CPUs give off a lot of heat. We therefore judge the two fan connections to be a little lacking. MSI made unnecessary savings in this department.

Color-coded: DDR memory slots on the MSI board

The MSI Master2-FL gets by on regular unbuffered memory, which has a positive effect on the overall price of a Xeon system with the E7505 chipset.

Unusual in the workstation segment: MSI lets you choose your memory timings freely

MSI offers its users the option of setting memory timings in the BIOS themselves, and thus stepping up performance. Since the Xeon processors operate RAM at a max 133 MHz (DDR266), a timing of CL 2.0-2-2-5 is almost always possible. In our case, we were only able to persuade the board to operate stably with the timings CL 2.0-3-2-6.

Cleanly lined up: the 1-Gbit LAN chip on the left and its 100-Mbit counterpart on the right

Both LAN jacks on the I/O shield

With its 100-Mbit LAN 82551 and 1 GB LAN 82540 Intel chips, the Master2-FL is ideally suited for use as a router or a server. As the board does not feature a P64H2 Southbridge, both these LAN controllers are connected via the PCI interface. Data is exchanged between the ICH4 and the E7505 Northbridge at a maximum of 266 MB/sec. Together, both LAN chips eat up bandwidth of approx. 138 MB/sec, leaving little room for maneuver with the remaining available 128 MB/sec - consider the hard-drive controller for one. Using a dual-LAN design on an E7505 mobo without a P64H2 bridge makes little sense.

EPS12V jacks on the ATX board

MSI's board supports solely the EPS12V standard, making it impossible to use an ATX power supply.

The MSI tool allows for a great many settings

The barest minimum of features does not just justify a high price. MSI appears to have grasped this and is offers the Master2-FL for approximately $240.

12. MSI E7505 Master-LS2 (MS-9121): A Flexible All-rounder

The design of the WTX model is much more appealing. Its power connections are located next to the regulators, thus leaving plenty of room for AGP and PCI components.

The big WTX board from MSI, the Master-LS2

Revision: 1
BIOS Version: 1.2B3 (10/07/03)

This board is special. In the center of the E7505 Master-LS2 is a mini-PCI slot.

Special feature: the mini-PCI slot

This small interface lets you use cards in mini-PCI format. MSI offers four options:

  • MS-9518 with Adaptec AIC-7892B SCSI controller
  • MS-9514 with TI TSB43AB FireWire chips from Texas Instruments
  • MS-9513 with ATI Rage XL graphics chip

This WLAN module is an example of a mini-PCI card

By using a mini-PCI graphics card and suitable CPU coolers, this board can be installed in 1U server casings (height: 1 ¾", or 44.45 mm). The mini-VGA card has an 8 MB graphics memory and operates at a clock speed of 125 MHz. This is plenty for the work of an administrator under Windows Server 2003 or Linux. With the help of the dual-monitor support, a second screen can easily be set up to enter parameters or monitor events.

The P64H2 bridge controls the parallel PCI-X slots

The Master-LS2 comes complete with a P64H2 Southbridge and four 64 bit PCI slots. All slots allow a working clock speed of 100 MHz tops. The green slot can also be used for SLI Logic's MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card. More on this later.

13. MSI E7505 Master-LS2 (MS-9121), Continued

The Broadcom network controller makes it to 1 Gbit/s

The LS2 board is equipped with a Broadcom LAN controller. The BCM5703CKHB chip enables data transfer at 1 gigabit per second and is connected to P64H2 bridge by a 100 MHz PCI64 bus.

The LS2 has room for four registered modules

The large WTX boards from MSI only support registered memory modules with a maximum size of 2 GB. This results in a limit on memory expansion of 8 GB. The ECC protocol is also supported.

The "big" MSI board also lets you change memory timings

Ultra 320 SCSI controller from LSI Logic

Up to 15 SCSI drives can be connected to the LSI53C1030 SCSI Ultra 320 controller from LSI Logic, with a max interface speed of 320 MB/s. You can fix how the SCSI controller cannot handle any RAID modes directly by adding an extra card. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 from the same manufacturer can only be run from the green PCI-X slot and extends the card's capabilities with RAID 0, 1 and 5 functionality, which also reduces the load on the CPU. Other features are a cache of 64 MB and the ability to boot the system from a RAID array.

Not much sound: cheapo AD1885 chip with AC97 codec

The MSI Master-LS2 comes with the AD1885 sound chip from Analog Devices. It has only one stereo output.

BIOS monitoring gone wild

The BIOS is capable of monitoring up to seven fans. The two USB 2.0 ports are not exactly abundant for a workstation board. If you like going to a lot of bother, you can add two more via an optional slot shield on the board. To top it all, it has connections for a total of four casing fans. The MSI E7505 Master-LS2 (MS-9121) is available in retail outlets for $470.

14. Tyan Tiger I7505 (S2668AN): Small But Select

Tyan sent us two boards at once for this comparison test: the Tiger i7505 S2668AN in ATX and the Thunder i7505 (S2665UANF) in WTX format.

Chipset NB/SB Model Form Factor
E7505/P64H2 Thunder i7505 S2665ANF WTX
E7505/P64H2 Thunder i7505 S2665UANF WTX
E7505 Tiger i7505 S2668AN ATX
E7505 Tiger i7505 S2668ANR ATX

Tyan also differentiates its models by a suffix in the product name. All boards in the E7505 family are labeled with the letters "A" for audio and "N" for network. The boards in the large WTX format have a FireWire (1394) chip and so their names are preceded by the letter "F." In the same vein, there's an SCSI controller with the suffix "U" and an IDE/SATA RAID with an "R." Tyan, like MSI, thus offers four variations of the E7505 mobo. We'll take a look at the smaller representative of its E7505 boards, the Tiger i7505 S2668ANR, first.

A small ATX board awash with components

Revision: unknown
BIOS Version: 1.03 (12/10/03)

The Tiger i7505 (S2668ANR) from Tyan leaves a grandiose impression. The two CPU sockets on this model take up less space than on the comparable MSI board, resulting in a gain of 3/8" on the left side. This is put to good use in the form a fifth PCI slot.

24-pin WTX power plug

8-pin plug to power the CPU and additional AUX PWR plug

With its three power connections, the Tiger i7505 gets its juice from both the 24- and 8-pin plugs and an additional 4-pin AUX PWR plug.

The large heat sink on the voltage regulators

The voltage regulator in detail
15. Tyan Tiger I7505 (S2668AN), Continued

Two individual two-phase regulators saddled with large heat sinks supply the two Socket 604s with power.

Memory socket on the 2668AN

The Tiger i7505 gets by on conventional unbuffered memory and additionally offers support for the ECC protocol. This means that registered modules cannot be used. Tyan lets you fine-tune its memory timings, but, in contrast to the ATX board from MSI, works at fast CL 2.0-2-2-5 settings.

Tyan relies on the 82540EM Gigabit controller, too

Tyan dispenses with dual LAN on both its WTX and ATX boards. Because there is no P64H2, the Intel 82540EM LAN chip is connected via the ICH4 Southbridge.

There's room for a Promise SATA RAID controller on the Tyan board as well

With the Promise PDC20378 SATA RAID controller, the board has two additional IDE and two SATA connections that can be switched to RAID 0, 1 or 1+0. Since the controller exchanges its data through the same ICH4 interface as the Gigabit LAN chip, the connection with the E7505 Northbridge comes under no uncertain pressure. A RAID array at 40 MB/s and a LAN chip at a maximum 128 MB/s do not leave much room on the bus for extra PCI cards.

Realtek ALC650 manages 6-channel audio

Tyan equips its Tiger i7505 (S2668AN) with a Realtek sound chip. The ALC65x sound processor supports 6-channel audio that passes via the I/O onboard connections, enabling workstation system users to enjoy DVDs in 5.1 audio.

A casing fan connection on the ATX board from Tyan
16. Tyan Tiger I7505 (S2668AN), Continued

With four connections, the board is amply proportioned to accommodate four fans. However, only three are monitored in BIOS in addition to connector J44.

I/O panel on Tyan's S2668AN

The Tiger i7505 has connections for four USB 2.0 devices.

Saves troubleshooting time: the Port80 display on the board

The error codes are described in the user guide

A Port80 display informs the user of system problems as they occur with an error code. All codes are listed in the user guide along with details. This helps users locate problems quicker.

Game port onboard, although it leaves through a slot shield

Older game controllers and keyboards for music editing can be connected via the game port.

Tyan's monitoring tool, which can also be queried and controlled via the network

Tyan is asking $250 for the Tiger i7505 (S2668AN), which is a bargain in view of the generous standard features.

17. Tyan Thunder I7505 (S2665UANF): Super Features For A High Price

The Thunder i7505 (S2665UANF) is the largest member of the E7505 family and is a Tyan product.

Tyan's biggest model, the S2665UANF in WTX format

Revision: unknown
BIOS Version: 1.11A.2665 (03/19/03)

Because of its wealth of components in the large WTX form factor, the board will only fit into a WTX tower. This makes it possible to power it with an EPS12V unit.

EPS12V plug and 6-pin power supply for AGP Pro

8-pin plug to power the CPUs

The 6-pin power supply is only needed when an AGP Pro graphics card is installed that supplies additional voltage along another route. But these cards are in any case few and far between in channels.

Voltage regulator on the WTX board

The large aluminum sheeting to cool the fixed-voltage regulator is the first thing that stands out. The two Xeon sockets are powered by a three-phase regulator.

The P64H2 bridge looks after the PCI-X/PCI-64 slots
18. Tyan Thunder I7505 (S2665UANF), Continued

The Thunder i7505 is equipped with the P64H2 Southbridge, giving the user three PCI-X slots for powerful cards such as a SCSI 320 controller or 10 GB network components. The slot marked "A" in the picture is designed for PCI-X 133 MHz, the ones marked "B" and "C" for is for 100 MHz. With the help of jumper J30 on the board, slot A can be switched to PCI-2.2-compatible mode. Jumper J31 switches both slots "B" and "C" to this mode.

Adaptec 7902W controller and one of the two SCSI connections

Via the Adaptec 7902 SCSI controller, the board offers connections for 15 SCSI drives. It has two channels and works at a maximum interface speed of 320 MB/s. Added to that, the drives can be operated with "HostRAID" support in RAID 0 or 1 modes. The SCSI controller is connected to the PCI 64 interface on the P64H2 Southbridge. The controller shares this interface with the "B" and "C" PCI slots and the LAN chip. Hence, all components must run in the same compatibility mode. The 7902 is able to exchange its data at 133 MHz but, due to its connection on the PCI 64, is restricted to 100 MHz.

Intel's 82540EM Gigabit chip features here, too

With the 82540EM chip from Intel, the board has Gigabit network functionality. The LAN controller is equipped with a PCI 64 interface working at a bus clock speed of 33 MHz or 66 MHz and coupled with the fast P64H2 Southbridge.

FireWire controller from Texas Instruments

A FireWire port is also included on the board

The 1394 FireWire chip from Texas Instruments ensures fast data exchange between internal and external peripherals. It is located on the PCI 2.3 interface of the ICH4 Southbridge.

AD1981A: sound from Analog Devices

Cinch output for digital sound
19. Tyan Thunder I7505 (S2665UANF), Continued

The Thunder i7505 provides 48-kHz stereo sound with its AD1981A sound processor from Analog Devices. A digital SPDIF output is included.

Room for four DDR memory modules

Tyan has not allowed for a registered protocol on its big WTX E7505 board. It can be run with normal unbuffered memory modules. The board thus supports a maximum module size of 1 GB per memory slot.

Port for connecting an LCD display

The board's I/O panel with FireWire, LAN, 4x USB, PS/2, parallel, analog and digital sound, and COM interface

The board has additional connections for five fans, 4 USB 2.0 ports and onboard audio inputs for CD and line-in.

Monitoring tool: control via LAN possible as well

This tiny SMD resistor lives dangerously: if you're not careful, it can break off while the retention module is mounted.

Although Tyan hasn't skimped on components for the Thunder i7505 (S2665UANF), in view of the competition, its $550 price tag is more than a little steep.

20. How We Tested

To visualize the huge performance differences between the boards, we turned to the fastest member of the Xeon DP class. We used the 3.06 GHz Xeon without L3 cache to have a reasonably priced desktop system with which to compare. RAM with registered support was provided by Mushkin modules (SPD : CL2.0 3-2-X) and Corsair storage (SPD : CL2.0 3-2-6) for the unbuffered variety.

Corsair’s unbuffered memory

Mushkin’s registered/ECC memory

The fastest possible memory timings are always used in testing, with stable operation a must. Since the choice of BIOS settings for some boards is on the conservative side, the SPD timings in this case are read and set from the motherboard itself.

An ATI Radeon 9800 XT with 256 MB set us up with the right graphics capability. To ensure that there was enough data for video encoding, a RAID 0 with two SATA 80 GB Maxtor hard drives connected via a Promise SATA RAID controller was used.

As test software, we only used programs that are SMP- (Symmetric Multi Processing) or HT- (HyperThreading) capable.

21. Hardware Test Configuration
Intel Processors (Socket 604)
133 MHz FSB (DUAL DDR266) Intel Xeon 3.06 GHz (3066 MHz, 12-8/512/1024 kB)
Memory
DDR400 (200 MHz) 2 x 512 MB / 5ns / 64 Bit (Corsair)
CMX512-3200LL (CL 2.0-3-2-6)
DDR400 (200 MHz) 2 x 512 MB / 5ns / 64 Bit (Mushkin) REG ECC
MS64D64020U-5 (CL 2.0-3-2-6)
Common Hardware
Sound Card Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space
96.00 kHz sample rate
Graphics Card Asus A9800XT/TVD, Rev. 1.01
GPU : ATI Radeon 9800XT, 412 MHz Chip Clock
Memory : 256 MB DDR-SDRAM, 365 MHz Chip Clock
Hard Drive FastTrak S150 TX2plus (Bios : 1.00.0.30)
2 x SATA Maxtor 6Y080M0 (Raid 0)
80 GB / 8 MB Cache / 7200 rpm
DVD/CD-ROM MSI MS-8216 16x DVD
Software
Chipset Chipset Installation Utility Ver. 5.1.1.1002
IAA RAID Edition 3.5.3
Grpahics ATI Catalyst XP 4.3 (Driver 6.14.10.6430)
Promise RAID 1.00.0.37
DirectX Version : 9b
OS Windows XP, Build 2600 SP1 (English)
Software Test Configuration

Benchmarks And Settings

OpenGL
Quake III Team Arena Version 1.32
1024x768 - 32 bit
Timedemo1 / demo thg3
"custom timedemo"
Graphics detail = Normal
DirectX 9a
3DMark 2003 Version 3.4.0
Graphics and CPU Default Benchmark
1024 x 786 - 32 bit
Video
Mainconcept MPEG Encoder Version 1.4.1
1.2 GB DV to MPEG II
(720x576, Audio) converting
Pinnacle Studio 9 Version : 9.0.0
Rendering - DVD Compatible
no Audio
Windows Media Encoder 9 Version : 9.00.00.2980
436 MB AVI File conversion to WMV
Windows Media Server (Streaming)
Microsoft Movie Maker Version 2.0.3312.0
416 MB DV to WMV
TMPGEnc Plus Version 2.521
1.2 GB DV to MPEG I
(720x576, Audio) converting
audio
magix mp3 maker 2004 diamond Version 4.11 Build 19593
65 minutes/44.100 KHz wave file (688,4 MB)
Format : MP3 High Quality
Syntrillum Cool Edit Pro Version 2.1
Amplitude Normalizing
2.6 GB Wave Audio file
Applications
Discreet 3D Studio Max 6.0 Characters "Dragon_Charater_rig"
Rendering Single, 1024x768
Winrar Version 3.30
238 MB, 246 Files
Compression = Best
Dictionary = 4096 MB
Newtek Lightwave Version 7.5c - Build 572
Render First Frame = 1
Render Last Frame = 60
Render Frame Step = 1
Rendering Bench "variation.lws"
Show Rendering in Progress = 320x240
Ray Trace Shadows, Reflection, Refraction,
Transparency = on
Multithreading = 8 Threads
Maxon Cinema 4D XL 8 Version 8.503
Rendering in 1024x768, "ship_dirt"
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Version 2003 (Enterprise Architect)
Visual C++ : compiling Emule 0.42b
LIUtilities WinBackup Version 1.84
650 MB Wave file
Encryption : 256 Bit DES, Password "test"
Synthetische Benchmarks
PCMark 2004 Pro Build 1.1.0
CPU and Memory Tests
SiSoftware Sandra 2004 Version 2004.10.9.89
CPU Test : CPU Multimedia / CPU Arithmetic
Memory Test : Memory Bandwidth Benchmark
22. Performance Results

OpenGL-Benchmarks

Quake3 Team Arena

DirectX 9a Benchmarks

3D Mark 2003

23. Video Benchmarks
Main Concept 1.4.1

Pinnacle Studio 9

MS Windows Media Encoder 9

24. Video Benchmarks, Continued
MS Windows Movie Maker 2.0

TMpgEnc Plus

Audio

Magix Mp3Maker 2004 Diamond

Cool Edit Pro 2.1

25. Application Benchmarks
3D Studio Max 6.0

Newtek Lightwave 7.5c

Cinema 4D XL R 8.503

26. Application Benchmarks, Continued
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003

LiUtilities WinBackup 1.78

Synthetic Benchmarks

PC Mark 2004

27. Synthetic Benchmarks, Continued
SiSoft Sandra 2004 Pro

28. Features Table
Manufacturer Tyan Tyan MSI
Model S2668 S2665 MS-9141 (E7505 Master2)
Revision n.a. n.a. 1
BIOS Version 1.03 1.11A.2665 (03/19/03) 1.1B7 (10/07/03)
Form Factor / Size ATX / 30.5 cm x 24.5 cm WTX / 30.5 cm x 33.0 cm ATX / 30.5 cm x 24.5 cm
Power Conector WTX, PWR12V, AUX PWR WTX, PWR12V WTX, PWR12V
Chipset
CPU Support Dual XEON Socket 604 Dual XEON Socket 604 Dual XEON Socket 604
CPU Clock (3200 MHz) 3065.9 MHz 3065.9 MHz 3066.8 MHz
FSB Clock (133 MHz) 133.3 MHz 133.3 MHz 133.3 MHz
Northbridge IE7505 IE7505 IE7505
Southbridge ICH4 (FW82801DB) ICH4 (FW82801DB) ICH4 (FW82801DB)
Clockchip ICS 9325203AF ICS 9325203AF CY615510
Memory
Memory Type DDR-SDRAM DDR-SDRAM DDR-SDRAM
Memory Speed(s) 200/266 200/266 200/266
Memory Modes Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Memory Timings 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD) 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD) 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD)
Memory Sockets 4 4 4
Maximum RAM 4096 MB 4096 MB 4096 MB
ECC / Registered Memory yes / no yes / no yes / no
System Components
Piezo PC Speaker yes yes yes
AGP Card Lock no no no
Northbridge Fan no no no
FAN Headers 2 x CPU, 3 x System 2 x CPU, 3 x System 2 x CPU, 1 x System
Voltage Regulators 2 x 2-Phase 2 x 3-Phase 2 x 2-Phase
I/O Components
Mass Storage Controller Intel FW82801DB Intel FW82801DB Intel FW82801DB
Storage Ports 4x UltraATA/133 4x UltraATA/133 4x UltraATA/133
Secondary Mass Storage Controller Promise PDC20378 Adaptec 7902 no
Secondary Storage Ports 2x SATA-150 / 2x Ultra ATA/133 dual channel Ultra160/320 no
RAID Support RAID Mode 0, 1, 0+1 Intel RAIDOS no
Floppy Controller yes yes yes
Primary Network Controller Intel 82540EM, 1000 Mbit/s Intel 82540EM, 1000 Mbit/s Intel 82540EM, 1000 Mbit/s
Secondary Network Controller Intel 82551QM 10/100 Mbit/s Intel 82551QM 10/100 Mbit/s Intel 82551QM 10/100 Mbit/s
Parallel / Serial 1 / 2 1 / 1 1 / 2
USB Ports (integrated / additional) 4 / 2 4 / 2 4 / 2
Firewire no TI TSB43AB22 no
Game Port yes no yes
IR Connector yes (externalal port) yes (externalal port) yes (externalal port)
I/O Components II
I/O Controller no Intel P64H2 no
Expansion Components
PCI 5x 32 Bit PCI 2.3 2x 32 Bit PCI 2.3 4x 32 Bit PCI 2.3
PCI 64 no 2x 100/66 MHz no
PCI-X no 1x 133/100/66 MHz no
AGP AGP 3.0 Pro (8X) AGP 3.0 Pro (8X) AGP 3.0 Pro (8X)
ACR / AMR / CNR no / no / no no / no / no no / no / no
Features
Chassis Intrusion Detection no no yes
Temperature Monitoring 2 x CPU 2 x CPU, 1 x System 2 x CPU, 1 x System
Fan Monitoring 2 x CPU, 1 x System 2 x CPU, 2 x System 2 x CPU, 1 x System
Smart/Manual Fan Control no no no
Voltage Monitoring 1x Core, +5V, +12V, -12V
Battery, Memory
1x Core, +3.3V, +5V
+12V, stand by
1x Core, +2.5V, +3.3V, +5V
+12V, -12V, 3x 3.3V, Battery
Power-Up on... Schedule, LAN, Modem Schedule, LAN, Modem Schedule, LAN, Modem
Power-Up after Power Loss yes yes yes
Other Features - - -
On-Board Audio
Type AC97 2.2 AC97 2.2 AC97 2.2
Chip Realtek ALC650 Analog Devices AD1981A Analog Devices AD1885
Surround Support 6 Channel 2 Channel 2 Channel
Jackets Line-In, Line-Out, Mic Line-In, Line-Out, Mic, SPDIF-out Line-In, Line-Out, Mic
Connectors CD-In, AUX-In CD-In, AUX-In CD-In, AUX-In
BIOS Details
Type Phoenix Phoenix Award/Phoenix
Version / Date 1.03 1.11A.2665 (03/19/03) 1.1B7 (10/07/2003)
Update via DOS DOS DOS, Windows
Special Features Event Log Event Log
Configuration
Setup via Bios Bios BIOS
FSB Frequency Range / Steps 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto)
Memory Frequencies 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto)
Asynchronous Memory Clock no no no
AGP Clock - - -
CPU Voltage - - -
Memory Voltage - - -
Chipset Voltage - - -
AGP Voltage - - -
Other Features Enable/Disable HT Enable/Disable HT Enable/Disable HT
Additional Information
Model Variations
Notes
Add-Ons
Included Motherboard Tools PORT80 no
Included Software 3x Disk Promise Treiber
1x Treiber CD
1x Disk Promise Treiber
1x Treiber CD
1x Treiber CD
Cables 2x UDMA 100
1x Floppy
2x SATA cables
1x UDMA 100
1x Floppy
1 x SCSI (2 Port + Terminator)
1x UDMA 100
1x Floppy
1 x Slot bracket
- 1x AUX
- 1x Mic
- 1x Line-in
Additional Add-Ons 1x User guide
1 x Board sticker
1 x ATX I/O shield
4x Retention module
2x Backplane
1x User guide
1 x Board sticker
1 x ATX I/O shield
4x Retention module
2x Backplane
1 x ATX I/O shield
4x Retention module
2x Backplane
29. Features Table, Continued
Manufacturer MSI Intel Asus
Model MS-9121 (E7505 Master-LS2) SE7505VB2 PP-DLW
Revision 1 F03 1.03
BIOS Version 1.2B3 (10/07/03) 1.08 (01/08/04) 08.00.08 (10/09/03)
Form Factor / Size WTX / 30.8 cm x 33.0 cm WTX / 30.5 cm x 33.0 cm ATX / 26.6 cm x 30.5 cm
Power Conector WTX, PWR12V WTX, PWR12V WTX, PWR12V
Chipset
CPU Support Dual XEON Socket 604 Dual XEON Socket 604 Dual XEON Socket 604
CPU Clock (3200 MHz) 3066.8 MHz 3056.5 MHz 1066.4 MHz
FSB Clock (133 MHz) 133.3 MHz 132.9 MHz 133.3 MHz
Northbridge IE7505 IE7505 IE7505
Southbridge ICH4 (FW82801DB) ICH4 (FW82801DB) ICH4 (FW82801DB)
Clockchip CY8329PVC ICS932S203AF ICS950227AF
Memory
Memory Type DDR-SDRAM DDR-SDRAM DDR-SDRAM
Memory Speed(s) 200/266 200/266 200/266
Memory Modes Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Memory Timings 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD) 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD) 2.0-3-2-6 (SPD)
Memory Sockets 4 4 4
Maximum RAM 4096 MB 4096 MB 4096 MB
ECC / Registered Memory yes / no yes / yes yes / no
System Components
Piezo PC Speaker yes yes yes
AGP Card Lock no no no
Northbridge Fan no no no
FAN Headers 2 x CPU, 5 x System 2 x CPU, 4 x System 2 x CPU, 3 x System
Voltage Regulators 2 x 2-Phase 2 x 4-Phase 2 x 3-Phase
I/O Components
Mass Storage Controller Intel FW82801DB Intel FW82801DB Intel FW82801DB
Storage Ports 4x UltraATA/133 4x UltraATA/133 4x UltraATA/133
Secondary Mass Storage Controller LSI 53C1030 Silicon Image Sil3112AC no
Secondary Storage Ports dual channel Ultra160/320 2x SATA-150 no
RAID Support RAID RAID Mode 0, 1, 0+1 no
Floppy Controller yes yes yes
Primary Network Controller Broadcom 5703CIKHB, 1000 Mbit/s Intel 82540EM, 1000 Mbit/s Intel 82540EM, 1000 Mbit/s
Secondary Network Controller no Intel 82551QM 10/100 Mbit/s no
Parallel / Serial 1 / 2 1 / 2 (1x external) 1 / 2
USB Ports (integrated / additional) 2 / 0 3 / 2 4
Firewire no no no
Game Port no no yes
IR Connector yes (externalal port) yes (externalal port) yes (externalal port)
I/O Components II
I/O Controller Intel P64H2 Intel P64H2 Intel P64H2
Expansion Components
PCI 1 x 32 Bit PCI 2.3 2x 32 Bit PCI 2.3 1x 32 Bit PCI 2.3
PCI 64 3x 100 MHz 1x 66 MHz 3x 66/100 MHz
PCI-X 1x 100 MHz 2x 100/66 MHz 1x 133/100 MHz
AGP AGP 3.0 Pro (8X) AGP 3.0 Pro (8X) AGP 3.0 Pro (8X)
ACR / AMR / CNR no / no / no no / no / no no / no / no
Features
Chassis Intrusion Detection yes yes yes
Temperature Monitoring 2 x CPU, 1 x System 2 x CPU, 1 x System 2 x CPU, 2 x System
Fan Monitoring 2 x CPU, 5 x System 2 x CPU, 4 x System 2 x CPU, 3 x System
Smart/Manual Fan Control yes no no
Voltage Monitoring 1x Core, +1.26V, +3.3V, +5V
+12V, -12V, SB, 3.3V, Battery
1x Core, 12V,5V,3.3V
2.5V,1.8V,3V,AUX 5V
1x Core, 12V,5V,3.3V
Power-Up on... Schedule, LAN, Modem LAN, Modem Schedule, LAN, Modem
Power-Up after Power Loss yes yes yes
Other Features - - -
On-Board Audio
Type AC97 2.2 no AC97 2.2
Chip Analog Devices AD1885 no Analog Devices AD1885
Surround Support 2 Channel no 2 Channel
Jackets Line-In, Line-Out, Mic no Line-In, Line-Out, Mic
Connectors CD-In no CD-In, AUX-In
BIOS Details
Type Award/Phoenix Phoenix AMI
Version / Date 1.2B3 (10/07/03) V1.08 08/01/2004 08.00.08 (10/09/03)
Update via DOS, Windows DOS DOS, Windows
Special Features Event Log
Configuration
Setup via BIOS BIOS BIOS, Jumper
FSB Frequency Range / Steps 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto) 100 - 155 MHz / 1 MHz
Memory Frequencies 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto) 100/133 (Auto)
Asynchronous Memory Clock no - -
AGP Clock - - -
CPU Voltage - - -
Memory Voltage - - -
Chipset Voltage - - -
AGP Voltage - - -
Other Features Enable/Disable HT Enable/Disable L3 and HT Enable/Disable HT
Additional Information
Model Variations
Notes
Add-Ons
Included Motherboard Tools ATI Rage XL 8 MB
Included Software 1x Treiber CD
Cables 1x Floppy round cable
1x UDMA 100
2x SATA 150
1x COM cable
Additional Add-Ons 1x Online User guide
4x Retention module
1x ATX I/O shield
1x Quick Start Guide
30. Conclusion

The PP-DLW from Asus is the only ATX motherboard in the test field to offer slots for PCI-64 components. There was no sign, however, of extras such as a RAID controller or dual LAN. It is disappointing that Asus still seems unable to produce a BIOS version for ES processors, which excluded the board from the benchmark tests. Because of the P64H2 bridge, the board, priced at $340, has an excellent price-performance ratio.

With its SE7505VB2 , Intel relies on extravagant features such as dual LAN, additional onboard graphics and a SATA RAID controller. It makes a flexible addition in both the workstation and server environments. Its main selling point is the option of querying the motherboard's working status via the serial interface. At $450, it represents only a reasonable price/performance ratio, however.

The small MSI Master2-F (MS-9141) failed to convince in this test. Because of the bad arrangement of components, you might only be able to use two PCI interfaces. The rest of the board's features isn't too hot, either. With a price tag of $240, it may be the cheapest candidate in our test field, but users should be prepared to make some compromises in return.

The big MSI candidate, the Master-LS2 (MS-9121) , is quite another kettle of fish. It is a true all-rounder that offers lots of room for expansion. For one thing, the functions of the onboard SCSI controller can be extended with a MegaRAID card; for another, the mini-PCI interface can be upgraded with an onboard graphics card, etc. This makes use in the workstation and server area unproblematic. At $470, it is the best-priced WTX board in the field. MSI is awarded the Editor's Choice for its Master-LS2.

Tyan's Tiger i7505 (S2668AN) offers a range of features such as SATA/IDE RAID, 6-channel audio, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 5 PCI slots, a game port and a Port80 diagnostic display. It scores the best price/performance ratio with a price tag of $250. Its generous features makes the Tiger i7505 a very deserving Editor's Choice in the ATX category.

Tyan's WTX version, the Thunder i7505 (S2665UANF) , is well equipped with its SCSI controller, two FireWire ports and four USB 2.0 ports. Its highlight is the connector for an LCD display. Tyan sells this board for $550, which of course goes way over the top, price-wise.