Testing / comparing : Intel D975XBX2 / Asus P5B DX ***56K WARNING***

[malik22]

Chances for future Intel support are slim to none, and yes it will support Quadcore "Kentsfield" versions not the dual/quad "Penryn" versions.

The Asus P5W DH has support for 1333fsb cpu s why wont this one?

[screwtech02]

The Asus P5W DH has support for 1333fsb cpu s why wont this one?

Cause the greedy bastards need to sell ANOTHER motherboard man.......

[chuchu]

Can anyone please help me with an headset microphone problem?

I have a logitech headphone set which has jacks (not USB). It works just fine on my Dell laptop which I believe also uses Sigmatel drivers. However, on my desktop rig (see signature for specs), the best I can do is to get the earpieces to work but the microphone to just barely be audible.

I went to this site to download drivers:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...ional&lang=eng

Out of these drivers, the last one, being the Sigmatel HD driver got me the best results. However, the best results are as follows:

Using the jacks on the back of the motherboard, I get audio, but only a very weak microphone (i.e. low audibility) when I crank up the volume control for the rear microphone and engage microphone boost. When I switch to the front jacks, I get audio from the earpieces but no microphone usage whatsoever. So when I Skype someone, I can hear them, but they cannot hear me. Again, not the headset since it works just fine on my laptop. Font panel connector seems to be set up fine on the motherboard since there is only one way that it can go on and since I have audio.

I've tried uninstalling the various drivers, rebooting, and re-installing multiple times. Any ideas how to resolve this?

[Lyshen]

Not sure if anyone else ran into this type of problem. Would there be something wrong with the PCI slot?

When I installed my Creative Labs Xi-Fi into the computer, the top PCI slot. Everytime I tried installing the drivers the computer would lockup. Trying different versions of the driver would always end up with a lockup. Eventually I tried pulling the Xi-Fi card out and putting it into the lower PCI slot and the driver installed without any problems. Sounds strange, but no clue why.

As for other add-on cards, only have the Xi-Fi in the lower PCI slot and a PCIe video card.

Other then this minor issue, the MB is great.

[chicago312]

Can anyone please help me with an headset microphone problem?

I have a logitech headphone set which has jacks (not USB). It works just fine on my Dell laptop which I believe also uses Sigmatel drivers. However, on my desktop rig (see signature for specs), the best I can do is to get the earpieces to work but the microphone to just barely be audible.

I went to this site to download drivers:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...ional&lang=eng

Out of these drivers, the last one, being the Sigmatel HD driver got me the best results. However, the best results are as follows:

Using the jacks on the back of the motherboard, I get audio, but only a very weak microphone (i.e. low audibility) when I crank up the volume control for the rear microphone and engage microphone boost. When I switch to the front jacks, I get audio from the earpieces but no microphone usage whatsoever. So when I Skype someone, I can hear them, but they cannot hear me. Again, not the headset since it works just fine on my laptop. Font panel connector seems to be set up fine on the motherboard since there is only one way that it can go on and since I have audio.

I've tried uninstalling the various drivers, rebooting, and re-installing multiple times. Any ideas how to resolve this?

i have the same issue

seems that the Front Panel header is AC97 on most cases

try using the AC97 drivers..

[beantech]

I'm setting up a dual-boot XP Pro & Vista Ultimate (both fresh installs).
From what I read on this thread, AHCI is the best setting for sata drives (I have no IDEs). Is there a way to install the AHCI drivers (F6 during XP install) without having a floppy drive?

And Vista already has the AHCI drivers, so there is no need to do anything special when installing Vista...correct?

[malik22]

Does the badaxe2 have vdroop with quad cores?

[Skerlnik]

You guys are lucky with the new 2747 bios. I had to increase my vCore to 1.425 from 1.4125 to be stable

[Skerlnik]

Has anyone installed a Vigor Gaming Monsoon II CLT-M2I on the BX2?

My temps are much too high in my opinion. This Zalman is not nearly as effective as I'd hoped. I want to know if the Vigor will fit without blocking any RAM slots.

Regards,
Sker

[beantech]

I'm setting up a dual-boot XP Pro & Vista Ultimate (both fresh installs).
From what I read on this thread, AHCI is the best setting for sata drives (I have no IDEs). Is there a way to install the AHCI drivers (F6 during XP install) without having a floppy drive?

And Vista already has the AHCI drivers, so there is no need to do anything special when installing Vista...correct?

OK...did some more extensive searching of the thread and found a few things of note...

Someone mentioned that Vista has the AHCI driver built-in, but it must be enabled (KB922976 - which oddly does not seem to exist anymore).

As for XP, does it matter wether or not you install the AHCI drivers during the install (via F6) or after (via device manager)?

[gtj]

OK...did some more extensive searching of the thread and found a few things of note...

Someone mentioned that Vista has the AHCI driver built-in, but it must be enabled (KB922976 - which oddly does not seem to exist anymore).

As for XP, does it matter wether or not you install the AHCI drivers during the install (via F6) or after (via device manager)?

You don't need anything for Vista.

XP will need the F6 method or you won't be able to install.

Also, if you're even thinking about using RAID in the future, set it to RAID now instead of AHCI. Again, Vista doesn't need anything to install but you should install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager after the install is complete. XP still needs the F6 method.

[beantech]

Thanks for the clarification gtj...

I didn't include a floppy in this build so it looks like I'll have to grab one out of one of the old rigs to do the install.

Out of curiosity, what if I had already done the xp install with the drive set to IDE and then updated the drivers to AHCI in device manager?
Would that approach have been any better/worse than installing with AHCI enabled via F6?
I wouldn't think so, since the end result is the same in each scenario: AHCI is enabled.

[chicago312]

Thanks for the clarification gtj...

I didn't include a floppy in this build so it looks like I'll have to grab one out of one of the old rigs to do the install.

Out of curiosity, what if I had already done the xp install with the drive set to IDE and then updated the drivers to AHCI in device manager?
Would that approach have been any better/worse than installing with AHCI enabled via F6?
I wouldn't think so, since the end result is the same in each scenario: AHCI is enabled.

u could Slipstream your XP installation...

[Circaflex]

Not sure if anyone else ran into this type of problem. Would there be something wrong with the PCI slot?

When I installed my Creative Labs Xi-Fi into the computer, the top PCI slot. Everytime I tried installing the drivers the computer would lockup. Trying different versions of the driver would always end up with a lockup. Eventually I tried pulling the Xi-Fi card out and putting it into the lower PCI slot and the driver installed without any problems. Sounds strange, but no clue why.

As for other add-on cards, only have the Xi-Fi in the lower PCI slot and a PCIe video card.

Other then this minor issue, the MB is great.

yea it happened to me, the drivers couldnt find the x-fi which was wierd, so i moved it down and bam it worked, really strange.

[abig]

Hi,
can some please tell me how to get the front and rear case fans to work at full speed?
I disabled case fan monitor in the bios but it still working at low speed (I can adjust it with IDCC but I want it to be permanent )
thanks for any input

[aicjofs]

Does the badaxe2 have vdroop with quad cores?

Not much. Most I saw was .02v droop when running at 3.8Ghz and 1.575V at full load.

[nealh]

Not much. Most I saw was .02v droop when running at 3.8Ghz and 1.575V at full load.

FWIW..with my dual core and powerslope on I have essentially no vdroop under load..like 0.0 to 0.01(measured by DMM)

[aicjofs]

FWIW..with my dual core and powerslope on I have essentially no vdroop under load..like 0.0 to 0.01(measured by DMM)

Yep, solid voltage regulation on this baby.

That's why I said the most I saw was .02, typically .01 sometimes none.

[nealh]

Yep, solid voltage regulation on this baby.

That's why I said the most I saw was .02, typically .01 sometimes none.

I understand but I have a dual core..not sure if quad core makes and difference on vdroop

[pisles2]

Hi,
can some please tell me how to get the front and rear case fans to work at full speed?
I disabled case fan monitor in the bios but it still working at low speed (I can adjust it with IDCC but I want it to be permanent )
thanks for any input

I noticed that the ability to diable MB control of the case fans attached to the fan headers (so the fans would default to full speed) stopped working with a BIOS revision in the Jan-Feb timeframe - forget exactly which version it was. The functionality of this BIOS setting has not been restored in subsequent BIOS updates. It did work as advertised in the first few BIOS versions (Nov-Dec) I had used.

[ArcticOC]

I my BadAss

[K3Fallout]

Hi, I'm a newb and since this will be my first build ever, I want to clarify. It comes with 2 cds no? Is it necessary to install them? I'd like the whole 'when and where' explanation on it since I couldn't really figure it out

[azzido]

Hi, I'm a newb and since this will be my first build ever, I want to clarify. It comes with 2 cds no? Is it necessary to install them? I'd like the whole 'when and where' explanation on it since I couldn't really figure it out

I would recommend you to download the latest drivers from Intel website

http://www.intel.com/products/mother...ols.htm#ddbios

You will need to install:

Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility - mainboard drivers [required]
Intel® PRO Network LAN Connection Driver - integrated LAN drivers [optional]
Intel Matrix Storage Manager - Intel RAID drivers [optional]
RAID: Marvell - Marvell controller RAID drivers [optional]
Audio: Sigmatel* 92XX Driver - Intergrated audio drivers [optional]

If you don't use integrated audio or lan you can disable it in bios and don't install corresponding drivers.

[K3Fallout]

Thanks. So I'm assuming after POST and managing to boot into windows, I install all that? With the exception of the RAID drivers and whatnot.

[devilsadvocate]

Hello... I happened to get myself an S975XBX2 (I'd asked for a D.. , but apparantly my computer guy didnt know the difference and it turns out that getting ones hands on a 975x based motherboard in india isnt the easiest thing to do in any case). Now that I have it, though, I was wondering what the differences between the two are (besides the 5.1 channel audio instead of 7.1, and the inability to overclock the S.. ), and if it would be possible, perhaps sometime in the future with bios upgrades perhaps, to overclock even on the S975xbx2. I have a E6600.

Thanks