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

[hawk1]

hi, ive been reading about the bad axe 2 for months now. ive read and reread this whole thread many times. i want to build a core 2 duo system so bad, still using an old athlon xp system, i think its time to upgrade. but ive been stuck as to what motherboard to get for the core 2 duo. my last motherboards have been asus, so natually i thought of goin with asus, and the p5w dh looked like the one. but after reading so many bad things about that board it scared me away. i just want a board thats goin to work and be stable, overclocking is not that important to me. i want to use this for gaming, first person shooters, like battlefield 2, 2142, and counter strike source, and i also do alot of photoshop and graphics. after reading up on the bad axe 2 it seemed like it was the way to go, but ive seen some things that concern me. the thing im worried about the most is the C1E thing. people say they disable it, but it really dosent turn off. and i dont like the idea of my cpu not running at full mhz. wouldnt this hurt performance? and another thing i seen was about the hdd light, but thats not really a issue. anyways i want a new computer really bad and now that the price have dropped on the e6600 i was all set to build, but im still stuck on what motherboard! i really like the features on the bad axe 2, and i think it looks sweet, but im worried about the above problem i mentioned. ok, im sorrry for such a loooong post, dont flame me!

[nealh]

hi, ive been reading about the bad axe 2 for months now. ive read and reread this whole thread many times. i want to build a core 2 duo system so bad, still using an old athlon xp system, i think its time to upgrade. but ive been stuck as to what motherboard to get for the core 2 duo. my last motherboards have been asus, so natually i thought of goin with asus, and the p5w dh looked like the one. but after reading so many bad things about that board it scared me away. i just want a board thats goin to work and be stable, overclocking is not that important to me. i want to use this for gaming, first person shooters, like battlefield 2, 2142, and counter strike source, and i also do alot of photoshop and graphics. after reading up on the bad axe 2 it seemed like it was the way to go, but ive seen some things that concern me. the thing im worried about the most is the C1E thing. people say they disable it, but it really dosent turn off. and i dont like the idea of my cpu not running at full mhz. wouldnt this hurt performance? and another thing i seen was about the hdd light, but thats not really a issue. anyways i want a new computer really bad and now that the price have dropped on the e6600 i was all set to build, but im still stuck on what motherboard! i really like the features on the bad axe 2, and i think it looks sweet, but im worried about the above problem i mentioned. ok, im sorrry for such a loooong post, dont flame me!

This is a very stable board..fast and reliable

in the thread there is a download that will turn of C1E all the time....

I have and can email it to you...or look for the post...

I cant recall the member who wrote it off hand

BTW..does anyone know if the Fuzion cpu waterblock fits without mods

[nop]

BTW..does anyone know if the Fuzion cpu waterblock fits without mods

yes.

[nealh]

yes.

Thanks..I have not seen you around in awhile

[Comp-Freak]

hi, ive been reading about the bad axe 2 for months now... [lot of text]

It's a very stable board. Hdd led staying on when 2nd sata controller is turned off is fixed for a while now with more recent bios versions.

I don't think you'll have any performace drop with C1E enabled, but as mentioned, there's a little trick to disable C1E during Windows bootup, by installing the .inf that you can find somewhere in this thread.

[Skerlnik]

Heck yes!!

I've just replaced my Zalman CNPS9500 heatsink with a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme mated with an Antec 75003 120mm fan. What a difference! I spent some time lapping the heatsink (a pain since it's ungainly!) and cpu with 400/600/800/1000 grain sandpaper since neither are ever flat. I also replaced the other two 120mm case fans with the same Antec's (79 cfm vs. 47 cfm).

Old temps with the Zalman:
51c ldle/68c load

New temps with the U-120:
41c idle/47c load!

CPU is running at 3ghz. I might turn up the FSB Happy day!

Regards,
Sker

[hawk1]

would that be something id have to do everytime manually, or would it do it by itself?

[nealh]

would that be something id have to do everytime manually, or would it do it by itself?

.inf file does it auto with windows boot....I am using and it works great

[Surgeon]

the thing im worried about the most is the C1E thing

C1E isn't a bad thing, (honestly, it's really a *great* thing) but it's confusing to a lot of people...

The simpliest explaination is to think of it as kinda like a cruise-control on a car. If a car is running along a flat road with the cruise-control set then it only needs a small amount of power to maintain that speed, so the cruise-control eases back on the the engine to provide better gas mileage. When the car starts up a hill the cruise-control automatically applies additional power.

The C1E kinda does the same thing, as it acts like a two-speed cruise-control of sorts. When the computer is idling with the cpu usage under 2-3% or so the C1E drops the cpu's mutiplier down to "slow-speed" mode. This allows the cpu to both run cooler and require less power from the system's power-supply. As soon as the cpu demand rises, it instantly kicks back to "full-speed" mode. This speed transition happens in millionths of a second, so it's not even noticable that it's doing any speed changes unless you're running some type of cpu monitoring software.

You mention that you run Photoshop. That's a perfect example of why C1E is such a great feature. When you're loading, saving, zooming, or actively editing an image the cpu is running at it's full-speed. When you "stare" at the image for several seconds while trying to decide what to do next, the cpu kicks down to slow-speed to save on your cooling & energy bills.

Basically, C1E allows you to have all the benefits of a high-speed processor combined with the reduced cooling and power requirements of a slower one...

But, if it really bothers you and you feel that you should always drive you car with it's engine running at 6000RPM constantly, then as others have said there is a simple file you can add to Windows that will do exactly that...

-Surgeon-

And as far as the BX2 motherboard in general, it's been the most stable system I've ever owned... Even with a mildly overclocked E6600 running @ 3.25GHz it's absolutely rock solid!

[Raptor.1]

C1E isn't a bad thing, (honestly, it's really a *great* thing) but it's confusing to a lot of people...

The simpliest explaination is to think of it as kinda like a cruise-control on a car. If a car is running along a flat road with the cruise-control set then it only needs a small amount of power to maintain that speed, so the cruise-control eases back on the the engine to provide better gas mileage. When the car starts up a hill the cruise-control automatically applies additional power.

The C1E kinda does the same thing, as it acts like a two-speed cruise-control of sorts. When the computer is idling with the cpu usage under 2-3% or so the C1E drops the cpu's mutiplier down to "slow-speed" mode. This allows the cpu to both run cooler and require less power from the system's power-supply. As soon as the cpu demand rises, it instantly kicks back to "full-speed" mode. This speed transition happens in millionths of a second, so it's not even noticable that it's doing any speed changes unless you're running some type of cpu monitoring software.

You mention that you run Photoshop. That's a perfect example of why C1E is such a great feature. When you're loading, saving, zooming, or actively editing an image the cpu is running at it's full-speed. When you "stare" at the image for several seconds while trying to decide what to do next, the cpu kicks down to slow-speed to save on your cooling & energy bills.

Basically, C1E allows you to have all the benefits of a high-speed processor combined with the reduced cooling and power requirements of a slower one...

But, if it really bothers and you feel that you should always drive you car with it's engine running at 6000RPM constantly, then as others have said there is a simple file you can add to Windows that will do exactly that...

-Surgeon-

And as far as the BX2 motherboard in general, it's been the most stable system I've ever owned... Even with a mildly overclocked E6600 running @ 3.25GHz it's absolutely rock solid!

Well said~ that is a great description as to how C1E works. I personally love it on, with it off I am somewhere between 10C-15C hotter. I run at 3.4GHz and I am stable as a rock either way but the temps say it all for me. If you decide to overclock with C1E off then find your sweet spot and after that I would recommend turning it back on and you will be in great shape after that.

[chaotic646]

I am getting ready to upgrade from XP to Vista from Windows so I can keep all my files/settings - is there any known issues I can expect? I'm worried that it may mess with my Marvell Raid.

[gtj]

I am getting ready to upgrade from XP to Vista from Windows so I can keep all my files/settings - is there any known issues I can expect? I'm worried that it may mess with my Marvell Raid.

Uninstall all of the sound drivers before upgrading then let vista install it's default ones. After theu pgrade, you can install the latest sound drivers but you don't need to unless you use the front panel jacks.

Unless you're installed on the marvell, I'd remove those dirvers as well and disconnect the drives to be safe. Don't change the config in BIOS though. After vista installs, again get the latest marvell drivers from the web site and install them. I've had no issues with the marvell running raid-10 under vista.

[chaotic646]

My current OS is installed on the Marvell. Also I dont use the onboard sound.

[nealh]

C1E isn't a bad thing, (honestly, it's really a *great* thing) but it's confusing to a lot of people...

The simpliest explaination is to think of it as kinda like a cruise-control on a car. If a car is running along a flat road with the cruise-control set then it only needs a small amount of power to maintain that speed, so the cruise-control eases back on the the engine to provide better gas mileage. When the car starts up a hill the cruise-control automatically applies additional power.

The C1E kinda does the same thing, as it acts like a two-speed cruise-control of sorts. When the computer is idling with the cpu usage under 2-3% or so the C1E drops the cpu's mutiplier down to "slow-speed" mode. This allows the cpu to both run cooler and require less power from the system's power-supply. As soon as the cpu demand rises, it instantly kicks back to "full-speed" mode. This speed transition happens in millionths of a second, so it's not even noticable that it's doing any speed changes unless you're running some type of cpu monitoring software.

You mention that you run Photoshop. That's a perfect example of why C1E is such a great feature. When you're loading, saving, zooming, or actively editing an image the cpu is running at it's full-speed. When you "stare" at the image for several seconds while trying to decide what to do next, the cpu kicks down to slow-speed to save on your cooling & energy bills.

Basically, C1E allows you to have all the benefits of a high-speed processor combined with the reduced cooling and power requirements of a slower one...

But, if it really bothers you and you feel that you should always drive you car with it's engine running at 6000RPM constantly, then as others have said there is a simple file you can add to Windows that will do exactly that...

-Surgeon-

And as far as the BX2 motherboard in general, it's been the most stable system I've ever owned... Even with a mildly overclocked E6600 running @ 3.25GHz it's absolutely rock solid!

Problem is is you disable EIST vcore is unchanged..yes clock speed is lower...but vcore is the same...so unless both are enabled I doubt there is much of any savings...and here at XS most will turn off at least EIST..if not both

[gtj]

My current OS is installed on the Marvell. Also I dont use the onboard sound.

Can you move the drive to the Intel controller temporarily to do the upgrade?

Alternatively, if you upgrade the Marvell drivers to the latest version, you SHOULD be able to do the upgrade in place. I think I tried that scenario a few months ago and it worked but I won't swear to it. My test machine is tied up so unfortunately I can't try it again right now. If you try this, make sure you make a new F6 marvell diskette or copy the drivers to a usb key in case vista needs them.

[chaotic646]

I couldnt get it to work so I just did a fresh Vista install. Is Vista a LOT harder on video cards than XP? The fan on my card stays on high now even when Im not doing anything and just on my desktop. Its very loud and on XP would only come on while gaming.

[Lome]

I couldnt get it to work so I just did a fresh Vista install. Is Vista a LOT harder on video cards than XP? The fan on my card stays on high now even when Im not doing anything and just on my desktop. Its very loud and on XP would only come on while gaming.

yes vista will use all your video cards ram aswell as directx if you have glass tuned on


disable c1e with small driver:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...06#post2130706

[gtj]

I couldnt get it to work so I just did a fresh Vista install. Is Vista a LOT harder on video cards than XP? The fan on my card stays on high now even when Im not doing anything and just on my desktop. Its very loud and on XP would only come on while gaming.

IIRC there's a bug in the vista video drivers. Make sure you have all the updates and try the manufacturer's drivers.

[nealh]

yes vista will use all your video cards ram aswell as directx if you have glass tuned on


disable c1e with small driver:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...06#post2130706

Lome..thanks for this utility ...works great

[hawk1]

will that little disable c1e driver work with XP Pro 32 bit? if it does then im gonna order my bad axe 2 and 6600

[hawk1]

oh and does it stay even after you reboot?

[Lome]

will that little disable c1e driver work with XP Pro 32 bit? if it does then im gonna order my bad axe 2 and 6600

yes

oh and does it stay even after you reboot?

yes, stays untill you delete the sys file in system drivers folder

[chaotic646]

IIRC there's a bug in the vista video drivers. Make sure you have all the updates and try the manufacturer's drivers.

I went to the evga site and found this -

"If you own a GeForce MX Series product then you are REQUIRED to use the built-in driver provided with VISTA when you perform your installation. (DO NOT TRY TO DOWNLOAD A NEWER DRIVER)"

yes vista will use all your video cards ram aswell as directx if you have glass tuned on

Well apparently its not just glass. I had to disable glass and the vista sidebar to get my video card fan to slow down. That sucks because I really liked the sidebar feature.

[Lome]

i think the option under advanced system properties that would revert vista back to xp style un-accelerated gui is called "Enable desktop composition"
just above enable glass option

[Surgeon]

Problem is is you disable EIST vcore is unchanged..yes clock speed is lower...but vcore is the same...

Actually C1E *does* decrease the vcore when it switches down to the low-speed multiplier, which is why the cpu draws less power and runs cooler...

To better understand C1E one must first have a basic understanding of how the Windows operating system itself works. Windows is a totally event-driven operating system. What this means is that it's normal state is to do absolutely *nothing*, ie, it just sits there like it's totally dead waiting for some type of stimulus to respond to. This stimulus may be a key being pressed, a mouse click, a timer event or some other type of hardware event that needs attention.

A good way to think of Windows is that it's like a telephone sitting on a desk. A large percentage of the time it just sits there waiting for an incoming call, or for you to pick up the handset and start dialing.

When Windows is in it's "I'm waiting for something to respond to" idle state, it executes a HLT instruction. It's this HLT instruction that activates the C1E mode to drop the cpu multiplier down to slow-speed mode and reduce it's cpu voltage level. Since the cpu is drawing less power it naturally runs a lot cooler. Since C1E works via the common HLT instruction, this makes it totally transparent to the o/s and no special support mechanism is necessary for it to work...

EIST (Enhanced SpeedStep) is a different form of cpu speed/voltage control altogether. Unlike C1E, which is only a two-speed idle/active control, EIST has multiple speeds/voltage levels. However, EIST doesn't work via the built-in HLT instruction. Instead, it must be invoked via the ACPI interface and the o/s must have an EIST support mechanism in place to specify what speed changes to make and when to make them.

These are some techreport excerpts that explain the C1E and EIST (Enhanced SpeedStep) in more detail...

• C1E enhanced halt state -- Introduced in the Pentium 4 500J-series processors, the C1E halt state replaces the old C1 halt state used on the Pentium 4 and most other x86 CPUs. The C1 halt state is invoked when the operating system's idle process issues a HLT command. (Windows does this constantly when not under a full load.) Entering halt state, which is a lower-power state, will cut a CPU's power consumption and heat production. Intel's new C1E halt state is also invoked by the HLT command, but it turns down the entire CPU's clock frequency (via multiplier control) and voltage in order to work its mojo. This more robust halt state requires significantly less power than the old C1 implementation.
  
• EIST (Enhanced SpeedStep) -- SpeedStep also modulates the CPU clock speed and voltage according to load, but it is invoked via another mechanism. The operating system must be aware of SpeedStep, as must the system BIOS, and then the OS can request frequency changes via ACPI. SpeedStep is more granular than C1E halt, because it offers multiple rungs up and down the ladder between the maximum and minimum CPU multiplier and voltage levels.

-Surgeon-