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

[C'DaleRider]

OMFG..how old are you?

If you did all this research you would know OCing is not guaranteed....
I bought an Asus several yrs ago that was supposedly guaranteed to run and upcomging processor (AthonXP) guess what in the end it could not....
Intel developed this board before the e6x50 chips or quad cores...there where no promises(should a bios be released to support these chips yes IMHO)

it is not a high fsb board...but it is rock stable(better than my ICFX3200 and 965-S boards)

there are possibly some issues with slot 3 killing ram over 2.2v...beware

best mobo I have found on being rebootable after a bad overclock although having to play the jumper game is a pain

My ICFX3200 on adjusting one overclock (changed a fsb setting) just up and died...nothing brought the bios back..never figured what happened...talk poor QC( I went through 2 of these before I gave up on the overpriced piece of crap, but this my opinion only ..others did fine with the mobo)

As for GTJ...maybe he decided he had a life which was more important than this thread..he owes you, me and this thread nothing....

With that said...his info, input and guide are/were terrific....thanks GTJ

Thanks for your post, Neal. I, too, am wondering about either the chronological or mental age of the poster you quoted and responded to.

I do like how he uses a secret "unnamned Intel engineer" as his source for information.....as that holds any credibility at all. Heck, I could post the same crap....wouldn't make it truth or correct, but would sound good.

From my experiences with Intel boards, and I'm in the over-50 crowd and have been using Intel-made boards off and on so long I probably started using them before Rockmore could read or write his biased diatribes. I've found that Intel boards have always been rock solid and stable boards and have always been the most tolerant of boards as to being able to handle any and all memory modules thrown in them.

I'd contrast that to other motherboard manufacturers that are highly picky about any and all components connected to them.....DFI comes to mind in that respect. DFI is the extreme opposite of Intel boards.....highly overclockable and highly picky about what you put onto them. Personally, I'd gladly trade some overclocking speeds for stability and part tolerance.

BTW...nowhere have I ever seen Intel promise compatibility with the Penryn-based cpus on this board...ever. To slam them for not providing such is ludicrous.

Chipsets change as cpus are released.....has always been so and will always be so. The X975, Intel's first foray into allowing overclocking, has been a very successful and stable board, despite your little diatribe against it, Rockmore.

Personally, if you had to resort to using an electrical engineer to tweak your board on a daily basis for you, something I'd actually recommend against (not slamming EE's here, but what makes an EE any better at tweaking a motherboard's settings than anyone else?), changing them daily is just, again, silly and stupid.

BTW....I'd honestly invest in a better power supply. Your HiPer is just barely within spec for what ATI/AMD recommends for the X1950 Pro for +12V amperage minimums. And since HiPer uses single wires at the power supply and splits them into their three/four separate connections at the mb/video card connectors, there is the issue of increased voltage resistance from the connectors at the power supply vs. those modular units that use the same number of connections from power supply connector to mb/video card end of the cable. Maybe your EE friend can teach you about electrical resistance in wiring sometime and why HiPer's choice of how they wire their interconnecting cables increases electrical resistance as compared to other power supply makers, like Seasonic, Ultra, etc.

Another BTW....it's VS., not VRS.


And just one more question.....your avatar. Did you borrow it from someone or are you another user who got banned a while ago? I seem to remember that specific avatar being used by another member, no longer able to post here. Hmmmmm??

[mik77]

cut.......

BTW...nowhere have I ever seen Intel promise compatibility with the Penryn-based cpus on this board...ever. To slam them for not providing such is ludicrous.

......cut

This is true, but if Asus can support 1333fbs and penryn whit 975x why Intel can't? why buy an Intel Extreme motherboard when for the same money you could buy an Asus? If my badaxe2 will not support penryn this will be for sure my last intel motherboard.

[screwtech02]

I aggree, the fact that one manuf can support it on the chipset, and not "The" chipset manuf itself, is utter CRAP.....

[hawk1]

hi i just received my BX2 today, but after inspecting it i found its a rev504. should i send it back and hope for a rev505 next time? or is rev504 ok? i seen that long post on the last page by Rockmore where he says something about Quality control and stuff, and now im worried if i picked the wrong borad. after readin up on this board for months now, and asking lots of questions i picked this one over Asus, hope i didnt make a bad choice my cpu wont be here till thursday, went with the e6600.

[chuchu]

hawk1, I have rev 504 and am rock solid stable.

By the way, can anyone offer comments on whether I should upgrade my bios? Here is the text of my post #4118:

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for your comments and recommendations on whether I should upgrade my bios and if so, which version should I use.

Currently using 2674 as you can see from my sig. I recall reading a while back that maybe the subsequent version gave perhaps 100mhz better OC results.

Just looking at recent posts I see a few complaints on 2700.

As far as my rig is concerned, I am running rock sold stable with 2674. The only complaint I have is that I experienced audio problems using a headset with the front audio jacks when I skype. Intel support had no good answer for me except to clear CMOS, uninstall audio drivers, update Bios, clear event log, and reinstall audio drivers. By the way, I have not bothered to follow through on that, and it might be easier just to get a new USB headset to replace the audio jack version I currently have.

So anyways, with the above in mind, and also given that I value stability, I would appreciate comments and recommendations on (a) whether I should upgrade my bios at all, and (b) if so, which version do you recommend?

Thanks a bunch.

[Rockmore]

Geeze... threatened geeks in the ignorence of their lack of knowledge, contacts, and ability to accept fact and reality... SCARY.

What we posted, again with over 10 months of information, research, knowledge, and use, is fact. ESPECIALLY about Intel at the coprorate level and it's historic ruse to the paying consumer end-user, especially in regards to the d975xbx2. It was posted to ASSIST those of you that need it, not for challenges and and rude comments from those threatened by their own jealosy or personal problems.

Will respond to a few comments though:

- The 420v modular Hyper we chose specifically OVER more hyped and expensive and marketed PS's is MORE THAN adaquare, and has MORE THAN enough amps on the 12v rails than needed. A good example is the Asus x1950 pro which markets and states that it needs "a full 30 volts on the 12v rail", which is inccorect and way out of the specs for any mid-level ard in it's class. QUALITY is what counts in any power supply, and we did a ton of research and company contacts BEFORE deciding on it. Ironically it is also English made, like our Crucial Ballistix sticks. What the statistics and demographics show is than most enthusists and plain old ignorent PC geeks think they have to have a 700w or 800w or more PS because they are running a overpriced 8800 video card etc. Couldn't be farther from the truth. Quality and putiry is what counts and always has been. PLUS the worldwide impact on non-renewable energy use doubbling electrcity usage for power consumption on the billions of home and business PC's just to get off and enjoyment... scary.

-No problems what-so-ever on running the two sticks of Crucial Ballistix's
at stock 2.2v in ANY slot, especially the third slot- If you would notice, our final stable tweak is 4-4-4-12 at 2.16v (not the stock 5-5-5-15 at 2.2v). Again we intentionally went with their DDR2 1000 PC8000 sticks insted of the stock 667 standard, as if anyone knows about memory these days (especially when it comes the the junk Corsair has been putting out over the past year) most stick by any manufacturer specs are completely false amd misleading to the consumer. Crucial's DDR2 1000 PC8000 are basically "quarenteed 667" sticks...

- We couldn't agree more, AND ALREADY STATED in our original post, the example of Intel's yet again ruse to the end-user consumer about the d975xbx2's fsb1333 non-compability and standard. Obviously a lot of you 'readers' didn't even take a minute to go to the link we provided on this proven fact. YES, some boards from Asus using the same 975 chipset fully support the EE E0 1333 processors, and has nothing to do with Intel's chipset. It, again, was Intel's ruse and intent to sucker the end-user consumer into thinking (and heavily marketing) that the d875xbx2 MOTHERBOARD (not the 975 chipset) would be fully uopgradable and compatible with thier new (then future) releases and standards (the 1333fsb). Intel's whole heavy market push showing the Penryn specs and previews were used everywhere Intel went on a FULLY MODIFIED d975xbx2's. Yet, of course, Intel would not and will not give what the "modifications" were are to those of us who heavily invested in the Bad Axe 2, and expecting it to be 100% compatible with any 1333fsb standard.

- The poster who mentioned his concerns over the rev 504 vrs rev 505 (YES IT IS VRS ac. I.E. the latin and American English short for VERSES plural, not VR or VS whatever that hillbilly incorrect usage is...), I wouldn't worry about it now. Intel's basic attempts at Bios revisions have semi-corrected a lot of problems, and busting your tail to try and find a rev 505 from a Etailer is not worth the trouble anymore, ESPECIALLY if you have no plans to upgrade in the next two years or so. The d975xbx2 is nor "written in stone" for what it will and will not do, rev 504 and 505. The ONLY concerns now are quality control on all the boards themselves (see original post). and the lack of therein. Again the x38 boards they will shortley shove on us all WILL BE WORSE from manufacturing than anything Intel has done historically before.

- The self-proclaimed old fart over 50 poster: lol lol... scar eeee. For one there gramps, our avitar comes soley from us and from our only posts and registration ever on this forum. It is a 1911 handgun gif from another hobby many of our peers and friends share (legally sport shooting). From all of the kid's girly pin-up and other strage avitars, we though we would use that one, to show some adulthood and humor all at once. We will user whatever we want for an avitar there gramps- you know what you can do with your attitude and skeptism. Again, if you would fo read the original posts, it took since feb of this year to even register on this site from the kids who run the XtremeSystems boards... So no no one has ever been "banned or kicked off" Geeze...lol... miss your midol or prune juice this week?!? Our engineering contact WITHIN INTEL is a long time college buddy, and also uses whatever 1st or 5th admendment annonimity he, OR WE, wants to. It's his and our privledge, and his association in regards to the Whistle Blowers Act also applies in whatever journalistic approch he, OR WE desire when it comes to Intel's rusing the consumer public. The d975xbx2 happens to fit all those crteria, and our personal educated experencies with it, exactly.

Also the fact that one of us is a 20 year vet with a masters in Electrical Engeneering give us full credibility on the problems and issues with this board itself, and out weighs your fat thumb plunking and threatened responses and opinions on what we post about it, with confirmed credibility. Many enthuisists here who DONT have the education or experience can benefit more from our facts, demographics, experiences, and proven issues with Intel, expecially with the d875xbx2, than mere 5 minute exposure problems posted in one sentence gripes. You run along now...

Lastly, in regards to GTJ, and the expense and time "he" or it has done with this board, dissapearing and failing on any future experiences and facts gives up a lot of creditibility of any previous posts. The page "he" or it went to the trouble to create, and then just leaving it out-of-date, is very dissapointing to a lot of readers/posters. The promised CPU (and other) compatibility at the bottom of his page has been a empty brick for six or more months. Educated posters like us are taking up some of the slack. especially since this HUGE thread main topic of concern has been fsb1333 and other compatibility, for the back 5 weeks... so GTJ if youre out there, let some of your readers know youre OK, and update the page you made about the d975xbx2!

[Rockmore]

REV: Our typo on the X1950 pro and HYPER power supply was 30v on a 12 v rail- MENT TO SAY 30A (amps) on a 12 v rail.

[gtj]

Clearly I missed a little.

Rockmore...I'm sorry you spend $2500 based on the "BS" in my guide. Maybe you could do me and the community a favor by pointing out the errors and omissions so I can correct them. Or maybe you could create your own guide.

As nealh pointed out (thank you) I do have a life and had to make a choice between continuing to participate here and participating in other activities such as earning a living. The fact that the same questions get asked is neither unexpected nor toublesome. New people come through here all the time and you do have 1 good point...this thread is huge. Maybe someone could create a Wiki that could be maintained by the community. Any volunteers?

[Supertim0r]

I've had a total of 8 XBX2 from rev 502 to 506 over the past few months. Only one of my mobo died but it was under special cooling and it was heavily vmodded. Can't tell what you're doing wrong with your board, maybe you're just as unlucky as me with asus mobo. I also have no time to update the thread/pics and all. Sometime life > overclocking

Good to see you GTJ

[scorpion]

gtj good welcome back,and thanks

[Xilikon]

Rockmore, since when Hiper (you spelled it wrong btw) PSU are very reliable ?? Those are known to be crappy bling boxes.

Real good powersupplies would be Seasonic, PCP&C, Fortron and Corsair. I wouldn't touch any Hiper with a 10-foot pole and it's strange you spend lots on money on your rig and skimp on the PSU...

I won't answer any of your comments, especially the forced obsolence of the board. It make sense when we know Intel will release the DX38BT board to replace the D975XBX2 to better support the new Penryn. Mine runs well but is already at his limits with my Q6600 so running at 1333 may not be comfortable for Intel engineers. If you are not happy with Intel's strategies, why buy this board ??

[gtj]

Good to see you GTJ

gtj good welcome back,and thanks

Thanks!

[horatiub]

gtj, question:

for a few months, I was stable at 3.4Ghz with the CPU at 1.375V ,FSB and MCH voltage at 1.4 respectively 1.6. Now, I have just ran Orthos blend, and after an hour , it crashes. I went up all the way to 1.45V for the CPU and after less than 2hrs, it crashed again.

Is it possible that over time the CPU will need more power? I mean, it was stable before and now all of a sudden is not.

I have the E6600, 2GHZ G-Skills, 7600GT, 1 Sata HD. My power supply is a Seasonic S12 420W. I hope that is powerful enough.

Any ideas ?

[Velatra]

It's funny. I thought Rockmore's posts were rather rude, but nonetheless he managed to reawaken the thread :-).

[Xilikon]

gtj, question:

for a few months, I was stable at 3.4Ghz with the CPU at 1.375V ,FSB and MCH voltage at 1.4 respectively 1.6. Now, I have just ran Orthos blend, and after an hour , it crashes. I went up all the way to 1.45V for the CPU and after less than 2hrs, it crashed again.

Is it possible that over time the CPU will need more power? I mean, it was stable before and now all of a sudden is not.

I have the E6600, 2GHZ G-Skills, 7600GT, 1 Sata HD. My power supply is a Seasonic S12 420W. I hope that is powerful enough.

Any ideas ?

Look at the core temps and see if it get increased since last time ?

[SiGfever]

I personally have learned a lot from gtj's post and I commend him on the time and thoroughness of his post.

[gtj]

gtj, question:

for a few months, I was stable at 3.4Ghz with the CPU at 1.375V ,FSB and MCH voltage at 1.4 respectively 1.6. Now, I have just ran Orthos blend, and after an hour , it crashes. I went up all the way to 1.45V for the CPU and after less than 2hrs, it crashed again.

Is it possible that over time the CPU will need more power? I mean, it was stable before and now all of a sudden is not.

I have the E6600, 2GHZ G-Skills, 7600GT, 1 Sata HD. My power supply is a Seasonic S12 420W. I hope that is powerful enough.

Any ideas ?

If your machine is otherwise stable, I wouldn't worry about Orthos. My "ernie" machine couldn't pass a 30 minute Orthos but hasn't locked up or otherwise had a problem in months and I push my machines pretty hard.

Having said that, your vcore is pretty low so you have plenty of room to increase. If the Orthos fail bugs you, try increasing vcore in small steps (watching your temps of course) and see how much voltage you need to be stable.

Knowing your memory settings and what the Orthos error message was will help also.

With only 1 drive (and a CD/DVD I assume) a 420 should be OK.

It's funny. I thought Rockmore's posts were rather rude, but nonetheless he managed to reawaken the thread :-).

[horatiub]

Look at the core temps and see if it get increased since last time ?

If your machine is otherwise stable, I wouldn't worry about Orthos. My "ernie" machine couldn't pass a 30 minute Orthos but hasn't locked up or otherwise had a problem in months and I push my machines pretty hard.

Having said that, your vcore is pretty low so you have plenty of room to increase. If the Orthos fail bugs you, try increasing vcore in small steps (watching your temps of course) and see how much voltage you need to be stable.

Knowing your memory settings and what the Orthos error message was will help also.

With only 1 drive (and a CD/DVD I assume) a 420 should be OK.

Xilikon, the temperature did increase, with light internet browsing, I'm in between 48-51. It was lower before

gtj,
my memory settings are at 5-5-5-15 with the voltage set at 2.08

The vcore is at 1.45 right now and after 2 hrs, Orthos crashes.

[kpax]

Xilikon, the temperature did increase, with light internet browsing, I'm in between 48-51. It was lower before

gtj,
my memory settings are at 5-5-5-15 with the voltage set at 2.08

The vcore is at 1.45 right now and after 2 hrs, Orthos crashes.

I had similar problems (see http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=146884) but the problems were caused by the RAM temps. I could make Orthos crash even faster by using the RAM stress option in Orthos. CPU had nothing to do with it.

[horatiub]

I had similar problems (see http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=146884) but the problems were caused by the RAM temps. I could make Orthos crash even faster by using the RAM stress option in Orthos. CPU had nothing to do with it.

it's funny that I never had this problem before, I even have the big Tuniq Tower on top of the CPU

[kpax]

Me neither, until my apartment temps went up to 27-28C. Check your mobo temps with speedfan (4.32 supports badaxe 2) or Everest (i don't use Intel tools anymore as they tend to generate conflicts). You want to keep those temps under 50 if possible... In my case Orthos would crash when the mobo temp would reach 60C. Because of the lack of ventilation it would not cool down quickly enough which would make the next Orthos runs to fail sooner.

[uberwurst]

... No wonder ... users have so many memory compatibility problems with stock DDR2 667 sticks. The Bad Axe 2 with ANY revision or Bios version runs at BASIC compatibility speeds with our better memory, and no overclocked stock latencies 667 memory 'barely" works...

I had a rev505 board fry my TeamXtreem DDR2 667 kit (memory errors to the point of total instability), at stock settings.

I returned the motherboard thinking that could be the problem. I got another fresh rev505 and the memory still didn't work. I went ahead and got an RMA from TeamXtreem and got another pair, only to have them fried again on my second motherboard. I had to RMA, for a second time, the TeamXtreem RAM, and now I'm running them under-spec to avoid instability.

Because of this, I have come to accept that I made a poor choice with this motherboard, despite all the cheerleading going on here and elsewhere.

Rockmore, your information is important because people like me feel like the odd ones out amidst all the cheerleading going on. Unfortunately your forceful and emotional tone is too inciting, too immature to be take seriously, even by someone like me who wants to believe you.

[wa2000]

I had a rev505 board fry my TeamXtreem DDR2 667 kit (memory errors to the point of total instability), at stock settings.

I returned the motherboard thinking that could be the problem. I got another fresh rev505 and the memory still didn't work. I went ahead and got an RMA from TeamXtreem and got another pair, only to have them fried again on my second motherboard. I had to RMA, for a second time, the TeamXtreem RAM, and now I'm running them under-spec to avoid instability.

Because of this, I have come to accept that I made a poor choice with this motherboard, despite all the cheerleading going on here and elsewhere.

Rockmore, your information is important because people like me feel like the odd ones out amidst all the cheerleading going on. Unfortunately your forceful and emotional tone is too inciting, too immature to be take seriously, even by someone like me who wants to believe you.

When your memory failed, are they in memory slot 1 and 3(blue)?

Because memory slot 3 frying memory is a well known problem.

[uberwurst]

When your memory failed, are they in memory slot 1 and 3(blue)?

Because memory slot 3 frying memory is a well known problem.

Yes it was.. both sticks were fried however

Is there another way to run it dual channel?

how well known can it be... it doesn't come up in google with any of the obvious keywords

[scorpion]

gtj, whats your secert on not frieing ram, i tried 4gs and like most post it fried my ram to.one other thing when running the e6600,i could overclock very easly to 3.8 but with the new q6600 iam having problems at 3.4 any sugg. thanks scorpion