• D925XCV Desktop...
• • ServerSupply.com
  • $98.00
• • Hyper Microsystems
  • $59.00
• • Hyper Microsystems
  • $99.00

BIOS: CV92510A

Of course, Intel also has the appropriate motherboards with the latest chipsets: Two models with the 925X, five with the 915P and four with the 915G chipset. The D925XCV, with a Gigabit Ethernet and Firewire chip, is currently the top model.

In addition to four PCI slots, there are four x1 PCI Express ports and the obligatory x16 port for the graphics card. In order to be able to offer Firewire, Intel has equipped the board with an appropriate controller from Agere. One port is located on the back panel and the second shares a slot module with two USB ports. The sound system is compatible with HD audio, of course, and is based on a Realtek chip. To match this, a front panel is also supplied, which supplies the audio sockets as well as two USB ports and a Firewire port. There is also a full set of cables, a driver CD and RAID diskette as well as a detailed user manual in the box.

In order to be able to change all the BIOS settings, a jumper must be placed on the D925XCV beforehand. Intel has provided an additional Molex plug on the board for the power supply, in case the customer only has an "old" power unit with a 20-pin plug. Voltage transformer blow-outs (PCIe voltage), as was experienced on one of its rival's boards, can therefore be avoided.

The Intel board activated the emergency shutdown due to insufficient processor cooling at just over 100°C, as expected, although there were problems with two DiamondMax Plus 9 hard disks from Maxtor (80 GB SATA). Intel suspects that this was caused by the SATA bridges of the drives, though this problem did not occur with other boards which had practically the same SATA controller (ICH6).

Intel supplies Active Monitor as a monitoring tool, which can no longer be executed after de-installation and repeated installation - kernel32.dll-Error. The only solution in this case was to reinstall Windows XP.

The back panel offers all the usual connections, including digital connections for the sound system.

Thanks to this chip, the Intel board can fall back on up to two FireWire ports.

Intel uses a Gigabit Ethernet controller from Marvell, which is connected via the PCI Express.