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Intel's Xeon Shows Its Stuff in 7 Motherboards
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1. Introduction

Opteron-based systems, without the added boost of expensive DDR2 memory, have slowly begun to erode the Xeon architecture's hegemony in the workstation market. In AMD's Opteron 250 vs. Intel's Xeon 3.6 GHz in a Workstation Duel of the Elite , we detailed how the Opteron's performance championed that of the Xeon. But that was in September.

Meanwhile, Intel hasn't remained sitting still, and has skillfully revamped its Xeon architecture. As a result, the current chipset called E7525 has no problem outclassing the current Opteron chipsets VIA K8T800 Pro and AMD 8000. While the PCI Express enabled versions from NVIDIA and VIA will help to bring Opteron systems back into the premier league, they will not see launch before next year.

Concerning Xeon, ambitious users still today can pick motherboards based on Intel's 875P chipset. This device still is able to profit from its fast Dual DDR400 memory interface, while the E7525 usually needs to live with Dual DDR2-400. The latter may be faster at higher memory clock speeds, but loses ground at conventional speeds due to unfavorable latencies. Also, E7525 requires registered memory, while 875P can be equipped with unbuffered DIMMs, but up to a maximum of 4 GB only.

The Asus NCCH-DL and IWill's DH800 represent the 875P class in this review. The ambassadors of Intel's E7525 chipsets are the Asus NCT-D, Gigabyte's GA-9ITDW, the Intel SE7525GP2, the X6DA8-G2 by Supermicro and Tyan's S2676.

2. Xeon Chipsets Intel E7525 And Intel 875P

When the current Xeon Nocona core was introduced, Intel was able to stimulate interests of many motherboard makers with a FSB clock increase to 200 MHz (FSB800). Also, the current chipset family finally supports PCI Express both for graphics and I/O components, making the core logic products rather attractive today.

When it comes to professional chipsets, server and workstation versions are not too far away from each other. Thus the server chipsets E7520 and E7320 are based on the same architecture, while offering three x8 PCI Express ports rather than one x16 port for graphics and one x8 one for I/O components.

The 875P can definitely be called a peculiarity in the workstation market, as this chipset had already been introduced some 18 months ago, back when Intel launched its Pentium 4 processors running at FSB800. Luckily, the Pentium 4 and the Xeon are highly related to each other, making it relatively easy to operate Xeons using the 875P chipset. Reasons for taking this tack are obvious: the chipset memory controller's performance is superior by around 30% while the total chipset cost is about 50% less compared to the E7525 workstation chipset.

Of course, Intel was pretty well aware of this circumstance, which is why they launched the Southbridge alternative 6300ESB. This device offers all the basic features and adds two 64 Bit PCI slots on top of it. Eventually, motherboard makers can build a workstation product using two chipset components only. Asus and Intel today offer two motherboards, while Supermicro is offering an impressive amount of 10 different motherboards.

3. Nocona Platform Features

Cooler Installation Is Simple Now

With the launch of the Nocona processors, Intel also added several features to their platforms:

The CPU coolers are no longer mounted on the motherboard, but are screwed into a back plate on the chassis.

Here you can see the holes that are required for mounting the coolers properly.

The CPU coolers need to be clearly larger now, but do without the inconvenient retention mechanism. Instead of that, the heat sinks are directly attached to a back plate of the chassis, using holes in the motherboard. Now, it's barely possible to damage the motherboard during heat sink installation any more.

The fan header now has four pins and offers temperature based control.

The four-pin fan header finally allows for measuring the CPU temperature. Hence, the fan speed can be adjusted ideally in order to widely reduce unnecessary noise.

4. Cooler Installation Is Simple Now, Continued

Both Northbridge and Southbridge can still be operated without active cooling.

The chipset components have been developed in order to bear the heat burden of passive cooling. The Northbridge, for example, will be fine with the air flow of the processor fan only.

Controlling Voltage And Temperature

24 voltage regulators ensure optimum voltage supply for the Xeon processors.

Using two 3.6 GHz Xeon processors, the thermal loss can exceed 200 W with a current of 150 A. Intel had to accommodate the VRM specifications for the increased requirements, going from VRM version 9.0 to 10.1. In addition to these adjustments, the latest version also incorporates a protection mechanism for the voltage regulators.

The bi-directional PROCHOT signal (processor hot) forces the CPU to throttle the clock speed in order to reduce the thermal strain. Apart from that, we noted that most motherboard makers decided to provide their voltage regulators with heat sinks.

5. DDR2 Support With E7525

Registered DDR2 memory with ECC support by Infineon.

The introduction of DDR2 memory automatically involves some advantages for a motherboard's memory management. Thanks to the low voltage of only 1.8 V, the memory chips consume much less power and get less hot.

Some motherboards come with up to eight memory sockets.

In addition to that, each memory chip comes with its own termination circuit (so called on-die termination), which lowers resistance on the motherboard, giving the motherboard makers the option of installing more DIMM sockets. Here, Supermicro and Tyan decided to incorporate eight of them, while Gigabyte placed six DDR2 DIMM sockets on their respective workstation motherboard. As the production processes improved, too, the capacity per module is climbing as well. Eventually, systems with a large amount of memory do benefit most. While DDR1 memory is still supported, only few manufacturers actually make use of this option.

E7525 is technically able to either work with DDR2-400 or DDR400 memory
6. Demand Based Switching

Within the test bed, only the Intel motherboard was able to cope with Demand Based Switching. This feature allows for the Xeon processor to reduce the clock speed to a minimum of 2.8 GHz in order to decrease the thermal loss and power consumption. Only if performance is required, the processor will return to its provided clock speed.

DBS is only available for the 3.4 and 3.6 GHz versions of the Xeon processor, while the statements we received are ambiguous: According to Intel, D0 stepping Xeons should be ready for DBS, while Asus refers to the E0 stepping.

Defining the particular processor load at which the clock speed will be decreased/increased is left to the motherboard manufacturers. They provide these target conditions in the ACPI table.

SLI Is Possible!

The Supermicro motherboard offer a x16 and a x4 PCIe interface, while both of them mechanically use x16 connectors in order to allow for running NVIDIA SLI graphics solutions.

PCIe Vs. PCI-X

The introduction of PCI Express automatically lead to increased overall I/O performance on corresponding Xeon motherboards, as the chipset components are now communicating via PCI Express, too. Even the network interfaces are being transitioned to PCI Express now.

However, parallel PCI-X is not yet to be abandoned since almost all professional components available are based on PCI-X and won't be transitioned to PCI Express over night. Hence Intel decided to offer an adequate PCI-X bridge, called the 6700PXH.

7. Asus NCT-D (E7525) - It's Overkill, But It's Fast

NCT-D is Asus' Tumwater motherboard.

Board Revision: 1.06


BIOS Version: 1000 BETA 000 (09/14/2004)

Asus is addressing the low-cost workstation market with this motherboard and thus uses the 6300ESB Southbridge. Also, this board has been designed within standard ATX boundaries in order to allow for an operation in the high end desktop space, too.

The box is black and looks rather serious.

The voltage regulators have been equipped with heat sinks that measure 3 cm in height.

A 1 mm rubber pad ensures heat transition to the heat sinks.
8. Asus NCT-D (E7525), Continued

You can find more voltage regulators on the back side of the motherboard.

These are classic SMD components.

Since the voltage regulators on the back side of the motherboard are not cooled at all, we're wondering whether the heat sinks that adorn the front side regulators might serve only for looks. Also, the second block of fans does not have the same alignment than the first one.

The NCT-D's voltage regulators.

The motherboard pulls its energy over both a 24 pin and the 8 pin auxiliary power connector. While you don't necessarily need an EPS12V power supply, you should at least use one that offers an output of 400 W.

There are only four DIMM sockets on this motherboard.

Supporting a maximum memory module size of two gigabytes, Asus' Tumwater motherboard is capable of running up to eight GB of RAM.

9. Asus NCT-D (E7525), Continued

Broadcom names its latest PCIe GbE chip the BCM5751.

Since Asus decided against deploying the 6700PXH, there is an additional x4 PCIe slot left for future upgrades.

Asus decided to use the cheaper 6300ESB Southbridge.

The 6300ESB offers two 64 Bit PCI slots for the NCT-D. The Southbridge is operated via Intel's Hub 1.5 protocol at 266 MB/s which could cause a bottleneck after checking the number of additional components: There is an USB 2.0 controller from VIA, a Firewire chip and a SATA II controller with four ports (300 MB/s each). Using all these components simultaneously would exceed the 6300ESB's interface bandwidth.

The Texas Instrument chip is a 1394a part.
10. Asus NCT-D (E7525), Continued

Adaptec's AIC8130 is available since the end of September.

The additional SATA controller by Adaptec (AIC8130) comes with four ports and even is ready for Serial ATA II running at 300 MB/s on each port.

VIA's VT6212L has been added in order to provide four more USB 2.0 ports.


This is the NCT-D block diagram.

Asus decided to incorporate a digital audio output rather than a second serial port.

If you decide to use an analog speaker system for 5.1 sound, the mic and line-in jacks will get lost.

11. Asus NCT-D (E7525), Continued

Asus provides lots of additional stuff.

We found some mounting screws in the box that make it possible to install this motherboard into a desktop computer. Starting with the Xeon Nocona, the motherboard companies do not bundle their products with CPU coolers any more, since the FSB800 Xeons are shipped as boxed versions including CPU coolers.

Asus offers a server management utility that allows monitoring the system status using any IP network available.

When we started benchmarking, the memory bandwidth was only 2.6 GB/s. After updating the BIOS, the NCT-D improved to 3.3 GB/s, which is the best result among the E7525 motherboards.

At 103°C, the THERMTRIP signal was activated, which caused the system to shut down.
12. Asus NCCH-DL (875P)

The NCCH-DL by Asus uses the 875P Northbridge.

Board Revision: 1.02


BIOS Version: 1001 (06/21/2004)

Asus has already offered an 875P based motherboard for Xeons. The PC-DL hosts the Prestonia processors, while the FSB800 successor is called NCCH-DL. At around $300, this board can definitely be called affordable. Compared to desktop systems, there is no performance disadvantage left any more. Also, 875P guarantee a nice Overclocking margin.

This is not a joke: If the board shouldn't fit into the case, just snap off the borders.

The box in which the NCCH-DL came is pretty straightforward.

It's nice to see that Asus implemented the 4 pin fan headers. Thanks to that, the system will run pleasingly quiet most of the time.
13. Asus NCCH-DL (875P), Continued

Each CPU gets its own 8 phase voltage regulator.

Since there is not much space on the compact motherboard, some portions of the voltage regulating circuit had to be moved to the back side of the board.

Thanks to the familiar AGP interface, this motherboard looks interesting for high-end desktop applications, too.

This is the classic Dual DDR400 memory interface of Intel's 875P.

Thanks to the Canterwood chipset, unbuffered memory (non-registered) can be used and also limiting the memory size to 4 GB. However, this memory interface still works approximately 25% faster than Tumwater's DDR1 option.

14. Asus NCCH-DL (875P), Continued

Asus' Canterwood Nocona motherboard runs with the 6300ESB.

Promise's PDC20319 offers four additional Serial ATA ports and also supports RAID 0, 1 and 1+0.

Intel's 82546 is a Gigabit Ethernet chip family. This particular model is attached via the CSA interface of the 875P (Communications Streaming Interface).

The Firewire controller by TI offers two 1394a interfaces.
15. Asus NCCH-DL (875P), Continued

The aged sound codec by Analog Devices still today does a good job supporting 5.1 sound and digital outputs.

Asus' I/O backplane offers nice connectivity.

Customers will get the same add ons whether they decide to buy the NCT-D or the NCCH-DL.

When 77°C was reached, this motherboard would simply shut down without warning. Unfortunately, there is no option to change the temperature threshold.

16. Gigabyte GA-9ITDW (E7525)

Gigabyte's GA-9ITDW, revision 1.0.

Board Revision: 1.0


BIOS Version: F1E (09/14/2004)

The GA-9ITDW is focused on the high-end workstation segment, and thus comes with the 6700PXH Southbridge and an Ultra320 SCSI controller. However, our test sample was still a bit away from being final, which is why the fan control did not work yet. As a result, we had to sustain a considerable noise level while testing.

There are six DIMM sockets waiting to be equipped.

This board supports DDR2 memory up to a per-module capacity of one gigabyte. Using all six DIMM sockets results in a maximum stage of expansion of six GB.

The 6700PXH offers three PCI-X-Slots. The green one is shared with the onboard SCSI device.

An Adaptec 7902W Ultra320 chip decorates the 8-layer motherboard.
17. Gigabyte GA-9ITDW (E7525), Continued

The 6700PXH is being cooled by an active fan.

According to Intel, cooling the PCI-X bridge is no requirement. However, as this component is placed too close to the x16 PCIe slot, a huge heat sink would interfere with the graphics card, which ultimately forced Gigabyte to make use of a slim heat sink plus a little fan. We generally favor passive component cooling solutions as there are no mechanical parts that could get broken.

Apart from the two CPU fan headers, the Gigabyte does only have three additional connectors. Two of them are placed in order to deploy fans in the front part of a server case, the other one is for a rear-sided fan. While even desktop cases are ready for three or more fans today, more headers would be desirable. In addition to that, only the two CPU fan headers use the 4 pin design.

The voltage regulators are equipped with heat sinks.

Gigabyte uses classic SMD regulators.

Two 4 phase regulators supply the Xeon processors with the voltage needed. Their heat sinks will be ventilated by the air stream created by the CPU fans.

18. Gigabyte GA-9ITDW (E7525), Continued

Gigabyte allows for monitoring both processor's temperature as well as the values of the 6700PXH and both the SCSI and LAN chips. We set a threshold of 75°C for the Nocona processors, yet the motherboard did not notify us in any way after crossing this line. At 105°C, the processors would shut down the system themselves anyways, but there should be a way to notify the user before that critical temperature is reached.

The BIOS offers lots of features that ambitious users will appreciate.

Pressing CTRL+F1 will open a hidden BIOS menu that allows for altering CPU multiplier, memory parameters and Front Side Bus adjustment.

Broadcom's GbE chip is attached via PCI Express.

A look at Gigabyte's I/O backplane. Gigabyte does not provide the second COM port.

Gigabyte bundles lots of useful accessories.

Using a Gigabyte Beta BIOS in order to enable the fan control mechanism, the system suddenly worked considerably slower. As a result, we switched back to the F1E version.

Our test at high CPU load caused the processors to shut down the system at 105°C CPU temperature. Unfortunately, the motherboard would not warn the user before reaching the threshold.

19. Intel SE7525GP2 (I7525)

Intel's SE7525GP2.

Board Revision: 1.0


BIOS Version: P03 (06/22/2004)

Intel obviously placed emphasis on a versatile motherboard and implemented an ATI RageXL graphics chip onto the SE7525GP2 in order to make it suitable for both servers and workstation systems. However, the tremendous Northbridge heat sink will prevent this board from being installed into a 1U rack server.

The SE7525GP2 offers a x16 PCIe slot for graphics and an additional x4 port for future upgrades.

Intel has the most sophisticated retail box among the tested boards.

Although the RageXL is quite an old fellow, it is a reliable solution for displaying 2D.

The onboard graphics is equipped with 8 MB of dedicated memory. This is adequate for running up to 1600x1200 in 32 bits per pixel. Of course the ATI graphics unit may be used in order to run an additional display. Yet you should make sure that this one will only be used for 2D applications, since the chip is basically not capable of doing any 3D things.

20. Intel SE7525GP2 (I7525), Continued

The Intel board requires an EPS12V motherboard.

The power connector is equipped with a wide notch in order to lock the connector properly.

Intel uses innovative 8-phase voltage regulators.

Due to the new production process, the voltage regulators require less space and do not have to be placed at the back side of the motherboard.

There is no need to put heat sinks onto the voltage regulators.

There are no 4-pin fan headers on the Intel motherboard.
21. Intel SE7525GP2 (I7525), Continued

Intel's SE7525GP2 works with DDR400.

Even though Intel is focusing on DDR2 SDRAM, the motherboard we received for review works with DDR-400. Using a per-module capacity of two GB, a maximum of eight GB RAM can be added.

Intel chose to integrate its own 82541 Gigabit Ethernet chip, which is attached via PCI Express.

The SE7525 is available as a dual LAN version, too.

Status LEDs indicate the system status by turning orange, blue and red.

The backplane carries six LEDs responsible for displaying the system status.

There is a second COM port, but it has to be lead outside using an adapter that Intel provides. However, we missed a parallel port, since many professional workstation-level applications require dongles as a copy protection.

22. Intel SE7525GP2 (I7525), Continued

Intel provides SATA cables that have a length of 75 cm each.

Intel's Server Manager software 8.10 was not ready at the time we did the testing.

The driver CD wasn't ready either, so Intel provided a little note pointing that fact out.

The integrated console makes it possible to create a serial link to the system.

As this motherboard does not come with a parallel port, we could not run the Solidworks benchmark suite. In addition to that, we had to skip the CPU high load test, too, since we did not find any way to figure out what the current CPU temperature may be.

23. IWill DH800 (I875P) - Fast And Cheap

IWill's DH800.

Board Revision: 1.0


BIOS Version: 1.02 (07/12/2004)

The DH800 comes with a pretty reasonably feature set because IWill tries to hit a low price point. And they got what they want: This motherboard is the cheapest among the test bed.

The box is simple but nice.

IWill provides an EPS12V power connector, but a standard ATX power supply can still be used.

IWill provides 6-phase voltage regulators.

Due to the compact design of the DH800, some voltage regulators had to be moved to the back side of the board.
24. IWill DH800 (I875P), Continued

The DIMM sockets are colored differently. Thanks to the 875P chipset, this motherboard works with unbuffered non-ECC DDR400 memory. The latter is an option, though.

IWill deploys Intel's 6300ESB, but does not provide any additional mass storage controllers.

The Texas Instruments Firewire chip allows for 1394a ports.

IWill uses a CSA network chip from Intel. Using this link, the 6300ESB does not have to care about the network load.

Unfortunately, IWill does not provide for the 4-pin fan headers.
25. IWill DH800 (I875P), Continued

Although the AD1980 codec is not particularly new, it easily offers 5.1 surround sound connectivity.

There is no overheat protection. We switched off the board at 95°C when testing at high loads.

Good to see that IWill offers lots of overclocking options.

Instead of placing two COM ports into the backplane, IWill decided to offer only one of them and uses the spare space for rear speakers connectors and an optical digital output.

IWill ships an aluminum plate in order to mount the coolers even though a desktop chassis is used.

We found lots of accessories.

After inserting four 512 MB DDR400 DIMMs by Corsair, the motherboard did not want to boot any more. Using Infineon modules solved this problem.

26. SuperMicro X6DA8-G2 (I7525)

The X6DA8-G2 by Supermicro.

Board Revision: 1.1


BIOS Version: 1.1 (08/14/2004)

We received one of the flagship motherboards of Supermicro's E7525 product family. The X6DA8-G2 uses the 6700PXH and Intel's ICH5R Southbridge. In addition to that, the manufacturer placed an Ultra320 chip onto the 8-layer board.

Thanks to a smart motherboard design, the north bridge, the memory and the voltage regulators are automatically ventilated by the CPU fans' air streams. This may be one reason for the high price of approximately $680. If that is too much for you, check out Supermicro's website where 10 different E7525 boards are available.

This board requires an EPS12V power supply (ATX 2.02).

The little buddy next to the 8-pin auxiliary power connector is a SM-bus connector for the power supply. Thanks to it, the motherboard is able to monitor the power supply status - as long as the PSU supports this feature, too.

Two 6-phase regulators provide voltage for both Xeon processors.

Supermicro was smart enough to design the voltage regulating circuits very flexibly. If required by a customer, another phase may easily be added.

Since all components are ventilated by CPU fan air streams, there is no need for extensive cooling solutions.

27. SuperMicro X6DA8-G2 (I7525), Continued

Eight memory sockets allow for a maximum memory equipment of 32 GB.

When DDR2-400 is used, eight two GB DIMMs can be deployed in order to provide 16 GB RAM.

A total of eight fan headers using the advanced 4-pin headers are available on the X6DA8-G2.

The two CPU and six system fan headers can be monitored and controlled by the motherboard.

Using the 6700PXH bridge, this board offers a second physical x16 connector, running in x4 mode.

Both x16 slots (one running x16 mode, the other one running x4) have been placed in order to allow for NVIDIA's SLI mode to be used.

28. SuperMicro X6DA8-G2 (I7525), Continued

Intel's 82546 is a dual GbE chip for PCI Express.

Due to the fact that all 24 PCI Express lanes are used (the x16 for regular PCIe graphics, the second one for attaching the 6700PXH and the third x4 one for secondary graphics), the network chip is attached via PCI-X.

The board comes with Adaptec's 7902W SCSI controller.

The SCSI controller can be upgraded to RAID 5 capabilities using a RAID Zero board.

29. SuperMicro X6DA8-G2 (I7525), Continued

The IPMI remote board is based on Java.

Thanks to the IPMI interface (Intelligent Platform Management Interface), a remote control board can be installed. These are pretty cheap and are based on Java, enabling easy system monitoring and restarting without any OS dependencies.

An ALC650 codec by Realtek takes care of audio.

The BIOS console allows for the administrator to access the system using a COM port.

All fans are detected and controlled in Supermicro's BIOS.

The display including keyboard control can be transferred to another system (usually Linux) at resolutions of up to 800x600. Supermicro also implemented the so-called Woostock technology that makes the system monitoring IRQs. Should one be locked, the system can be automatically restarted after a given time frame.

30. SuperMicro X6DA8-G2 (I7525), Continued

We missed digital audio outputs.

Since Supermicro decided to submit a whole workstation system for review, we did not have more to photograph than the manual and the driver disk.


There are 52 disks and 12 manuals that provide software for almost all environments one can imagine. Drivers include Linux Suse and Redhat, Windows, Netware, DOS and Open Unix / LinuxWare.


Thanks to the Super Doctor III, the system is monitored via software while administrators will get access over any available IP networks.

If the selected temperature (the minimum is 85°C) is exceeded, an audio warning will be triggered, while the system is automatically halted. As soon as the temperature level drops below the threshold, the system will continue working as if nothing happened.

31. Tyan Thunder S2676 (i7525)

The Thunder i7525

Board Revision: TC45F


BIOS: 1.03 (08/17/2004)

The American manufacturer Tyan is aiming pretty high and tries to emphasize quality and features. The Thunder i7525 or S2676 is a good example of the company's ambitions as its components are cleverly situated in order to receive optimal cooling by the CPU fans. Based on the 6700PXH and an ICH5R, it comes with a nice feature set. In addition to that, Tyan provides a Ultra320 SCSI chip. However, $600 is not particularly an attractive offer.

This is a clear message.

An EPS12V is not necessary. Any powerful standard ATX power supply will be good enough.

The basically good impression of this board is slightly reduced by the fact that the maximum memory module size validated is 1 GB. According to Tyan, using 2 GB DIMMs would be possible, but remains a future feature.

32. Tyan Thunder S2676 (i7525), Continued

The most powerful PCI-X slot is red (133 MHz).

The green slot is ready for expanding the onboard Adaptec 7902W by a RAID Zero module.

Up to 16 devices can be attached to the Adaptec chip. Adding a RAID Zero board will bring RAID 5 features and a 64 MB cache into play.

Broadcom's BCM5751 takes care of network connectivity via PCIe.

Unfortunately, Analog Devices' AD1981B does only support stereo sound.

Although Tyan fancies Quality, there are no 4-pin fan headers available. Also, two system fan headers are definitely not enough for a professional product.
33. Tyan Thunder S2676 (i7525), Continued

The S2676 has one 1394a port.

Tyan's back panel in detail.

Unfortunately, there is no overheat protection. The system did not even shut down after receiving the CPUs THERMTRIP signal. This, at the latest, should force any motherboard to shut down. In a real-world situation, the CPUs could have easily been damaged.

We found all the cables that we expected to find.

Tyan is not lucky in this review, since the memory bandwidth did not exceed 1.2 GB/s. In addition to that, we had trouble using our Infineon DIMMs. These could not be solved within this article's time frame.

34. Test Setup

Intel Processors (Socket 604)
200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR2-400) Xeon Nocona 3.6 GHz (3600 MHz 12-16/1024 kB)
Memory
Intel 875P
(Socket 604)
4 x 512 MB, DDR400 (200 MHz)
Corsair CMX512-3200LL XMS3205v1.2
Timings : CL 2.0-2-2-5
Voltage : 2.5 V
Intel E7525
(Socket 604)
4 x 512 MB, DDR2-400 (200 MHz)
Infineon HYS72T64000GR-5-A
Timings : CL 3.0-3-3-11
Voltage : 1.8 V
Common Hardware
Graphic Card PCIe NVIDIA/PNY Quadro FX3400
GPU : NV45GL (350 MHz)
Memory : 256 MB G-DDR3 (450 MHz)
Sound Card Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space
96.00 kHz sample rate
Hard Drive Promise FastTrak S150 TX2plus (Bios : 1.00.0.37)
2 x SATA Maxtor 6Y080M013530B (Raid 0)
80 GB, 8 MB Cache, 7200 rpm
DVD/CD-ROM MSI MS-8216D 16x DVD
Software
Intel Chipset 6.0.1.1002 (05/07/2004)
NVIDIA Graphics
AGP and PCIE
Detonator 61.76
DirectX Version : 9c
OS Windows XP Professional, Build 5.1.2600, Service Pack 2 (2860)

In order to put the motherboards into a realistic environment, they had to pass the SPEC suite including Solidworks 2003 and 3DStudio MAX. Both require about half an hour.

All motherboards were tested using NVIDIA’s Quadro FX-3400, based on NV45GL and GDDR3 memory.

For the two 875P motherboards, we had to use the Quadro FX-3000, which is an AGP part based on NV35 GL and DDR1 memory. Currently, there is no faster AGP graphics card available for professional graphics.

35. Test Setup, Continued

The SP762-TS is a power supply that is ready for a maximum power of 760 Watts. That should certainly be enough for all imaginable setups.

We used a RAID 0 array in order to avoid storage subsystem bottlenecks.

Running two Maxtor 80 GB SATA drives in a RAID 0 setup, we easily hit sequential transfer rates of 100 MB/s. We used a Promise FastTrak S150 TX2 Plus that is able to run at 66 MHz PCI clock.

The registered DDR2 memory by Infineon is ready for ECC, too. We did not enable this feature for the benchmarks.

We equipped all boards with 2 GB of RAM (4 x 512 MB).
36. Benchmarks And Settings
SPECapc Applications
SPECapc Solidworks 2003 Service Pack 5.1
SPEC Benchmark Mode
SPECapc 3DSMAX 6 Service Pack 1
MAXtreme 6.00.07.00 Driver
SPEC Benchmark Mode
SPECopc Viewperf Version 8.01
1280 x 1024 - 32 Bit
SPEC Benchmark Mode
Video
Mainconcept MPEG Encoder Version: 1.4.2
1.2 GB DV to MPEG II
(720x576, Audio) converting
Auto Gordian Knot
DivX 5.2 Pro
XviD 1.01
Version: 1.51
Audio = AC3 6ch
Custom size = 100 MB
Resolution settings = Fixed width
Codec = XviD and DivX 5
Audio = CBR MP3, kbps 192
TMPGEnc Plus 3.0 Express
Pegasys
Version 3.0.4.24
1.2 GB DV to MPEG I
Size: 720x480 (DVD NTSC)
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (192 kbit)
Applications
Newtek Lightwave Version 8.0
Render First Frame = 1
Render Last Frame = 60
Render Frame Step = 1
Rendering Bench
"variations.lws"
Show Rendering in Progress = 320x240
Ray Trace Shadows / Reflection = on
Ray Trace Transparency / Reflection = on
Depth Butter AA = on
Multithreading = 8 Threads
Cinema 4D XL 8 Version 8.503
Maxon Computer Rendering in 1280 x 1024, "ship_dirt"
3D Studio Max 6.0 Characters "Dragon_Charater_rig"
Discreet Pixel: 1024 x 768
Rendering Single
Synthetic
SiSoftware Sandra 2004 Version SP2 2004.10.9.133 (BETA TEST)
CPU Test = MultiMedia / CPU Arithmetic
Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Audio
Media Encoder 9 Version: 9.00.00.2980
Microsoft 436 MB AVI File convert to WMV
Windows Media server (streaming)
37. Benchmark Results

SPECapc

38. SPECapc, Continued

39. SPECapc, Continued

40. SPECapc, Continued

41. Video

42. Applications

43. Synthetic

44. Audio

45. Conclusion

After a vast number of benchmarks and several tests, there were winners and losers. The devil is in the detail of each candidate's strengths and weaknesses.

The Asus NCT-D is one of the first boards equipped with a SATA-II controller. On top of that, it offers many additional components. Altogether the price for the board is still a bit too high. However, if you are willing to pay the price, you will get the fastest board of this review.

The second Asus board, the NCCH-DL, is an enhanced version of PC-DL. Hence, it offers all of the advantages of its predecessor, such as excellent memory bandwidth or the fact that registered memory is not required. But it also inherits the disadvantages: PCI Express or more than 4 GB RAM are not available. It is the accessories, the equipment and the price that make the board interesting for high end desktops as well. However, one flaw remains: This board will not turn off automatically in case the CPUs overheat.

Gigabyte does not offer a lot of features with its 9ITDW. Due to the unfortunate fact that the fan control was still under development, it was almost impossible to do the test without using some ear muffs. Also, the monitoring tools for the operating system where not fully developed yet. Apparently, Gigabyte picked up on that by now. Lastly, users that still have some PCI-X cards can make a good deal GA-9ITDW. Finally, Gigabyte offers the better cost-performance ratio.

Thanks to the onboard graphics, Intel's SE7525GP2 is equally useful for servers and workstations. Being the only E7525 board using DDR400 memory, it makes deploying large amounts of RAM a pretty affordable affair. Unfortunately, it is not possible to control the fans via the latest 4-pin headers, even though this is highly propagated by Intel.

IWill offers a Xeon motherboard based on Canterwood for a price that is hard to beat. At the same time, this board offers very good overclocking options. With a mounting plate for the CPU cooler that comes included; this product could also be used in desktop chassis. Regrettably, it is not as easy to get the board everywhere as is the case with better-known manufacturers.

With its unbeaten feature set, Supermicro's X6DA8-G2 is definitely meant for professional usage and therefore eclipses all other boards that we tested. It's a unique combination of eight controllable fans, LSI RAID Zero option, Dual Gigabit LAN, IPMI option, SM bus PSU monitoring and the theoretical possibility of extending the memory up to 16 GB. While this board is the most expensive out of the bunch, it truly deserves our recommendation thanks to its flawless performance.

The S2676 fits into the same price range as the Supermicro board, but misses several of its goals. We missed the 4-pin fan headers; while a maximum of 8 GB RAM is not above average. Also, the CPU temperature monitoring did not work properly.

46. Feature Table
Manufacturer Asus Asus Gigabyte Intel
Internet Website www.asus.com.tw www.asus.com.tw www.gigabyte.com.tw www.intel.com
Model NCT-D NCCH-DL GA-9ITDW SE7525GP2
Revision 1.06 1.02 1.0 1.0
BIOS Version 1000 BETA 000 (09/14/2004) 1001 (06/21/2004) F1 E(06/17/2004) P03 (06/22/2004)
Form Factor / Size 26.8 cm x 30.5 cm 26.0 cm x 31.5 cm 30.5 cm x 33.0 cm 30.5 cm x 26.7 cm
Power Connector 24-pin ATX, 8-pin ATX 24-pin ATX, 8-pin ATX 24-pin ATX, 8-pin ATX, 4-pin ATX 24-pin SSI, 8-pin SSI, 5-pin SSI
Chipset
CPU Support Dual XEON Socket 604 (Nocona) Dual Xeon Socket 604 (Nocona) Dual XEON Socket 604 (nocona) Dual XEON Socket 604 (nocona)
CPU Clock (2200/2000 MHz) 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%) 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%) 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%) 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%)
FSB Clock (200 MHz) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%)
Northbridge Intel E7525 Intel 82875P Intel E7525 Intel E7525
Southbridge I Intel 6300ESB Intel 6300ESB Intel ICH5 (FW82801ER) Intel 6300ESB (FW80001ESB)
Southbridge II N/A N/A Intel 6700 PXH N/A
Clock-Chip ICS952618BF ICS9D81088F ICS932S208DG
Memory
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM DDR SDRAM DDR2 SDRAM DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed(s) 400 266/333/400 400 266 / 333
Memory Modes Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Memory Timings by SPD by SPD CL 3.0-3-3-7 (SPD) CL 2.5-3-3 & 2.0-2-2 & 2.0-3-3 (SPD)
Memory Sockets 4 4 6 4
Maximum RAM 8 GB 4 GB 16 GB 8 GB
ECC / Registered Memory yes/yes yes/no yes/yes yes/yes
System Components
Piezo PC Speaker yes yes yes no (onboard buzzer)
PCIE Card Lock yes no yes yes
North-/Southbridge Fans no no yes (6700 PXH) no
4-Pin CPU FAN Headers yes (2 x CPU) yes (2 x CPU) yes (2 x CPU) 3-pin fan headers x 2
FAN Headers 2 x CPU, 4 x System 2 x CPU, 4 x System 2 x CPU, 3 x System 2 x CPU, 6 x system
Voltage Regulators 2 x 4-Phase 2 x 4-Phase
I/O Components
Mass Storage Controller Intel 6300ESB Intel 6300ESB Intel ICH5 (FW82801ER) Intel 6300ESB (FW80001ESB)
Storage Ports Raid
2 x SATA 150, 2 x Ultra ATA 100
Raid
2 x SATA 150, 2 x Ultra ATA 100
Raid
2 x SATA 150, 4 x Ultra ATA 100
Raid
2 x SATA 150, 4 x Ultra ATA 101
Secondary Mass Storage Controller Adaptec AIC-8130 (NCT-D(A)) Promise 20319 Adaptec None
RAID Support 1, 0, 1+0 1, 0, 1+0 7902W (Ultra 320)
1, 0, 1+0
Secondary Storage Ports 4 x SATA 300 (NCT-D(A)) 4 x SATA 150 no
Floppy Controller yes yes yes yes
Primary Network Controller Broadcom BCM5751 (Gbit, PCIe) Intel 82547GI (Gbit, PCI-X) Broadcom BCM5751 (Gbit, PCIe) Intel 82548PI
Secondary Network Controller no no no no
Parallel 1 1 1 0
Serial (integrated / additional) 1 1 1/1 1/1
USB Ports (integrated / additional) 4/4 4/0 4/2 2/2
Firewire TI 1394 TI 1394 Texas Instruments TI 1394a none
Ports (integrated / additional) TSB43AB22A
1/1
TSB43AB22A
1/1
TSB43AB23
1/0
Game Port 1 (Slot) 1 (Slot) 0 0
IR Connector 0 0 0 0
Expansion Components
PCI Express (16 lines) 1 1 x AGP Pro 8x 1 1
PCI Express (1 lines) 1 (PCI E - 4 lines) 0 0 0
PCI Slots (32 Bit) 1 x 32 bit/ 33 MHz (PCI2.3) 2 x 32 bit/ 33 MHz 2 x 32 bit (PCI 2.3) 2 x 32 bit (PCI 2.3)
PCI 64 0 0 2 x 64 Bit/64~100 MHz 0
PCI-X (1.0a) 2 x 64 bit/ 66 MHz 2 x 64 bit/ 66 MHz 1 x 64 Bit/ 133 MHz 2 x 64 bit/ 66 MHz
Features
Chassis Intrusion Detection yes yes yes yes
Temperature Monitoring CPU 1+2, MB CPU 1+2, MB CPU 1+2, SCSI, PXH, LAN CPU 1+2
Fan Monitoring CPU 1+2, Front 1+2, Rear 1+2 CPU 1+2, Front 1+2, Rear 1+2 CPU 1+2, SYSTEM 1+2+3 CPU 1+2, System 1+2+3+4+5+6
Smart/Manual Fan Control yes yes no no
Voltage Monitoring CPU 1+2, 3,3V, 5V, 5VSB V, VBAT, 12V CPU 1+2, 3,3V, 5VCC V, 5VSB V, VBAT, 12V "CPU 1+2, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, +1.8V, +5VSB, Battery, FSB VTT, DDR2 VTT, +3.3VSB" CPU 1+2, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, +1.8V, +5VSB, +1.5V, -12V, FSB VTT, MCH VTT
Power-Up on... Keyboard, Mouse, Ring, LAN, PME, RTC Alert USB, PCI, Modem, Keyboard, Hotkey, RTC Alert, Mouse, LAN "Schedule, Keyboard, Mouse, LAN, Modem, USB" Keyboard, mouse, LAN, Modem, USB
Power-Up after Power Loss off, on, last state off, on, last state off, on, Former-Sts off, on
Other Features ASUS Post Reporter
ASUS Q-Fan2
ASUS EZ Flash
ASUS CrashFree BIOS2
ASUS My Logo 2
ASUS Instant Music
ASUS Post Reporter
ASUS Q-Fan
ASUS EZ Flash
ASUS My Logo 2
no 1 x8 PCI-E connector (wired x4)
On-Board Audio
Type ADI ADI Realtek none
Chip AD1980 AD1980 ALC655
Surround Support 5.1 Channel Audio 5.1 Channel Audio 5.1 Channel Audio
Jackets Mic-In, Line-In, Line-Out, SPDIF-Out Mic-In, Line-In, Line-Out MIC-In, Line-In, Line-Out (front ch.), Line-Out (F-SUR), Line-Out (Center & Subwoofer), Line-Our (R-SUR) none
onBoard Connectors SPDIF-Out CD-In, AUX-in none
BIOS Details
Type AMI Phoenix/Award Phoenix/Award AMI
Version / Date 1000 BETA 000 (09/14/2004) 1001 (06/21/2004) F1E (09/14/2004) P03 (06/22/2004)
Update via DOS, EZ Flash DOS, EZ Flash DOS, BIOS (3.5" Disk), Windows Windows, Linux, DOS, USB, Floppy
Special Features EZ Flash BIOS EZ Flash BIOS
overclocking recovery ASUS C.P.R. ASUS C.P.R. yes no
Configuration
Setup via BIOS BIOS BIOS BIOS
FSB Frequency Range / Steps 100 MHz - 400 MHz / 1 MHz 100 MHz - 400 MHz / 1 MHz always FIX 200 MHz fix 200 MHz
Memory Frequencies 400 MHz 266/333/400 MHz 400 MHz 266 / 333 MHz auto
PCIE Frequencies auto - auto auto
Asynchronous - Memory: FSB auto auto
Asynchronous - PCI/PCIE: FSB auto auto
CPU Voltage adjustable adjustable auto auto
Memory Voltage adjustable adjustable auto auto
Chipset Voltage adjustable (PCIe) adjustable (AGP) auto auto
Additional Information
Model Variations NCT-D(A)
with Adaptec AIC-8130 onboard SATA II Controller/ ZCR optional
NCCH-DR
Rackmountversion with integrated VGA (ATI Rage XL), second Gbit LAN
????
all Add-Ons from the Motherboard BOX
Book 1 x Board 1 x Board 1 x Board On CD
Board I/O-Shid yes yes yes yes
Cables 6 x SATA 150
3 x SATA Powercable
3 x Floppy(1)/Ultra ATA(2)
3 x Floppy(1)/Ultra ATA(2)
6 x SATA 150
3 x SATA Powercable
Bag of Jumpercaps
1 x UDMA 133
2 x SATA 150
1 x Floppy
1 x SCSI 4 Port + Terminator
1 x UDMA 133
2 x SATA 150
1 x Floppy
1 x Serial
Slots 1 x Serialportmodul
1 x USB + Gameportmodul
1 x 1Port 1394 Modul
1 x Gameportcable
1 x SPDIF Out Modul with cable
1 x 1Port 1394 Modul
no no
Add on 1 x CPU Heatsink supportkit 1 x CPU Heatsink supportkit no
Included Software 1 x Driver CD
1 x ASWM Servermanagement Software
1 x Driver CD
1 x ASWM Servermanagement Software
1 x Driver CD 1 x Driver and Documentation CD
System Management CD
47. Features, Continued
Manufacturer Iwill Supermicro Tyan
Internet Website www.iwill.net www.supermicro.com www.tyan.com
Model DH800 X6DA8-G2 S2676
Revision 1.0 1.1 TC45F
BIOS Version 1.02 (07(/12/2004) 1.1 (08/14/2004) 1.03 (08/17/2004)
Form Factor / Size 26.5 cm x 30.5 cm 33.1 cm x 33.2 cm 33.0 cm x 30.5 cm
Power Connector 24 pin and 8pin EPS12V or ATX 24 pin ATX PWR, 12V 8 pin, 12V 4 pin PWR Connector 24 pin SSI, 8 pin SSI
Chipset
CPU Support Dual XEON Socket 604 (nocona) Dual XEON Socket 604 (nocona) Dual Xeon Socket 604 (Nocona)
CPU Clock (2200/2000 MHz) 3600 MHz 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%) 3600.2 MHz (+/- 0.00%)
FSB Clock (200 MHz) Up to 250 MHz (for version 1.1) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%) 200.0 MHz (0/- 0.00%)
Northbridge Intel 875P Intel E7525 Intel E7525
Southbridge I Intel 6300ESB (HR) ICH5R Intel ICH5 (FW82801ER)
Southbridge II Winbond W83627THF PXH+82546 GB Intel 6700 PXH
Clock-Chip ICS952618BF ICS 9DB108AF
Memory
Memory Type DDR Unbuffered Memory ECC or Non-ECC DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Speed(s) 400/333/266 400 400
Memory Modes Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel
Memory Timings by SPD CL 3.0-3-3-7 (SPD) CL 3.0-3-3-7 (SPD)
Memory Sockets 4 8 6
Maximum RAM 4 GB 16 GB 8 GB
ECC / Registered Memory yes/no yes/yes yes/yes
System Components
Piezo PC Speaker no no yes
PCIE Card Lock no no
North-/Southbridge Fans no/no passiv no/no
4 pin CPU FAN Headers no yes/8x 4 pin Header 2 x CPU (PWM) no
FAN Headers 2 x CPU, 3 x System 2 x CPU, 6 x System 2 x CPU, 2 x System
Voltage Regulators 2 x 4-Phase 2 x 8-Phase
I/O Components
Mass Storage Controller Intel 6300ESB (HR) ICH5R Intel ICH5 (FW82801ER)
Storage Ports 2 x SATA 150, 4 x Ultra ATA 101
Adaptec HOST RAID 0, 1
Raid
2x SATA, 2 x Ultra ATA 100
Raid
Secondary Mass Storage Controller no Adaptec Adaptec
RAID Support Dual Channel 7902 (Ultra 320)
1, 0, 1+0 (13 Drives) Supports up to 15 Ultra320 devices per channel on a standard cable configuration up to 12 meters
7902W (Ultra 320)
1, 0, 1+0
Secondary Storage Portsno
Floppy Controller yes yes yes
Primary Network Controller Intel CSA Gigabit Ethernet Controller 82546 GB Dual Gigabit Broadcom BCM5751 (Gbit, PCIe)
Secondary Network Controller 4 (see above) no
Parallel 1 1 1
Serial (integrated / additional) 1 2 1
USB Ports (integrated / additional) 4/0 4x rear ports/4x header 4/0
Firewire Texas Instruments TI 1395a 0 Texas Instruments TI 1395a
Ports (integrated / additional) TSB43AB22A
1/1
TSB43AB22A
1/1
Game Port 1 (Slot) 0 0
IR Connector 1 0 1
Expansion Components
PCI Express (16 lines) 1 x AGP Pro 8x 1 x (16x), 1(x4) using (x16 slot) 1
PCI Express (1 lines) 0 0
PCI Slots (32 Bit) 1 1 2 x 32 bit (PCI 2.3)
PCI 64 2 x 32 bit (PCI 2.1/2.2) 2 2 x 64 Bit/ 64~100 MHz
PCI-X (1.0a) 2 x 64 Bit/ 66 MHz 1 1 x 64 Bit/ 133 MHz
Features
Chassis Intrusion Detection yes yes yes
Temperature Monitoring CPU 1+2 CPU 1+2, SCSI, PXH, LAN CPU 1+2, Front, Rear
Fan Monitoring CPU 1+2, FAN 1+2 CPU 1+2, SYSTEM 1-6 CPU 1+2, Front, Rear, PSU
Smart/Manual Fan Control no no no
Voltage Monitoring CPU 1+2, +3.3V, +5V, +12V "CPU 1+2, +3.3V, +5V, +12V, +1.8V, +5VSB, Battery, FSB VTT, DDR2 VTT, +3.3VSB" "CPU 1+2, 12V VRM0 + 1 CPU VTT, 3.3VSB, 3.3V, 5V, -12V, 12V, Battery"
Power-Up on... USB, PCI, Modem, Keyboard, Hotkey, RTC Alert, Mouse, LAN "Schedule, Keyboard, Mouse, LAN, Modem, USB" USB, PCI, Modem, Keyboard, Hotkey, RTC Alert, Mouse, LAN
Power-Up after Power Loss off, on, last state off, on, Former-Sts on
Other Features n/a IPMI 2.0 Supprt n/a
On-Board Audio
Type Analog Device Realtek Analog Device
Chip AD1980 ALC655 AD1981B
Surround Support 5.1 Channel Audio 5.1 Channel Audio 5.1 Channel Audio
Jackets MIC-In, Line-In, Line-Out; S/PDIF Out MIC-In, Line-In, Line-Out (front ch.), Line-Out (F-SUR), Line-Out (Center & Subwoofer), Line-Our (R-SUR) MIC-In, Line-In, Line-Out; S/PDIF Out
onBoard Connectors CD-In, AUX-in CD-In, AUX-in CD-In, AUX-in
BIOS Details
Type AMI Phoenix Phoenix/Award
Version / Date 1.02 (07(/12/2004) 1.1 (08/14/2004) 1.03 (08/17/2004)
Update via DOS DOS, BIOS (3.5" Disk) DOS
Special Features n/a n/a
overclocking recovery Iwill Smart Setting no
Configuration
Setup via yes BIOS yes
FSB Frequency Range / Steps 1 MHz steeping up to 300 or higher always FIX 200 MHz -
Memory Frequencies 266/333/400 MHz 400 MHz 400 MHz
PCIE Frequencies - auto auto
Asynchronous - Memory: FSB auto auto
Asynchronous - PCI/PCIE: FSB a)66/33/100 b)72/36/100 c)40/80/100 auto auto
CPU Voltage 1.1000 ~ 1.6000 step 0.0125 auto auto
Memory Voltage CPU=4:5/1:1/6:5 auto auto
Chipset Voltage 2.6/2.7/2.8/2.9 auto auto
Additional Information
Model Variations 10 Variations
all Add-Ons from the Motherboard BOX
Book DH800 User's Manual 1 x Board/ 1 x Ultra SCSI 320 Manual 1 x Board
Board I/O-Shid Yes yes yes
Cables SATA Cable+ SATA Power Cable
Floopy disk driver cable
ATA-66/100 IDE Cable
1 x ATX Floppy Cable
1 x LVD, Ultra 320 SCSI Cable
1 x ATA 100/66 Cable
2 x SATA 150 Cable
1 x UDMA 133
1 x SATA 150
1 x Floppy
1 x SCSI 2 Port + Terminator
1 x 2 Port Power Cable
Slots 3 Jumper caps
Two heat sink retention module
IWILL Iron Plate
Two Hat Spring
Add on IPMI 2.0 card can be ordered 1 x Quick reference Sticker
Included Software CD (contains drivers and utilities) 1 x Driver CD and SuperO DoctorIII Monitoring 1 x Driver CD
1 x RAID Driver Disk