Intel D975XBX

PapaLaz.uk · 9 Jul 2006 at 22:15

well i grabbed a retail badaxe the other day, and an 805d to go with it. very impressed with the board (wanted stability over anything else).

bit wierd tho in that there are no overclocking options available to me at present (have flashed the latest bios). I can get to the advanced screen, as seen in various oc'ing screenshots, but it displays the two warning paragraphs of text but no options. I've read about the hardware "unlocking", but also have been told that certain rev chips and all XE chips will enable the oc'ing options in the bios.

quality board, just a bit gutted i had to go to a competitor of OCuk to get it (at least the spec and price i wanted). although looking at initial c2d prices, may have to get that elsewhere too (retailer nr me told me that on release day he'll have a 6600 in stock for £30-40 cheaper than OCuk price :eek:

)

LanceCrossfire · 9 Jul 2006 at 22:47

i had the same prob when i flashed the bios, and now the options dont appear

you can press button though and it does things

just cant see what your doing lol... i just reflashed to the previous bios release, it only allows a 30% burn in instead of the proposed 50% in the latest, but its good enough to get the 805 from 2.66 to 3.45ghz...

PapaLaz.uk · 9 Jul 2006 at 22:58

cheers for the reply - yeah thought it would have been since i did the bios, thing is i cant remember what the version it shipped with was... what version did you go back to ?

LanceCrossfire · 9 Jul 2006 at 23:11

this one on the top...

BIOS

PapaLaz.uk · 9 Jul 2006 at 23:19

yep, cheers, assumed that one and flashed it. worked a treat.

hopefully intel will do a fix in one of the next few updates.

LanceCrossfire · 9 Jul 2006 at 23:26

PapaLaz.uk said:
yep, cheers, assumed that one and flashed it. worked a treat.

hopefully intel will do a fix in one of the next few updates.

hope they sort it as this board seems to have a great deal of potential...

neologan · 10 Jul 2006 at 19:52

what about the DFI, is that retail?

i'd get the Asus but the BIOS not supporting Conroe from installation puts me off as there is no way for me to update it.

Stelly · 10 Jul 2006 at 20:57

neologan said:
what about the DFI, is that retail?

i'd get the Asus but the BIOS not supporting Conroe from installation puts me off as there is no way for me to update it.

DFI board is retail mate... well thats what I have been told

Stelly

neologan · 11 Jul 2006 at 09:48

damnit i'm really confused, i need to order a Conroe board today before 3 and i'm still stuck on which one, its between the Asus and the DFI, i think i'm just going to toss a coin.

OCUK really need a button where you buy a 975x "Conroe ready" lottery ticket and you don't know what you'll get till it arrives, that would solve my indecisiveness problem.

maddness · 11 Jul 2006 at 10:48

using the DFi has been pretty good, its just that the bios is annoying with so many meaningless options. Even though i still got a good solid 400x9 (3.6Ghz) on the 6600. I cant realy speak for the asus but there are a few with niggles / random problems here and XS.

Although i like how the Asus is fully featured, and im sure the bios would be user friendly.

maddness · 11 Jul 2006 at 10:49

neologan said:
what about the DFI, is that retail?

i'd get the Asus but the BIOS not supporting Conroe from installation puts me off as there is no way for me to update it.

DFi is retail

neologan · 11 Jul 2006 at 11:07

1-3 days on the DFI, just my luck!

Bennah · 11 Jul 2006 at 14:24

neologan said:
what about the DFI, is that retail?

i'd get the Asus but the BIOS not supporting Conroe from installation puts me off as there is no way for me to update it.

Do you have an ES Conroe?

Maybe with the retail versions the bios flashed with the Asus boards will support Conroe.

Jay_t · 11 Jul 2006 at 16:45

I read that there is a new revision of this board coming out.

http://intel.pcnalert.com/content/eolpcn/PCN106391-00.pdf

Wonder if this will change anything. :confused:

dafloppyone · 11 Jul 2006 at 17:43

Description of Change to the Customer:
1. Updating BIOS to version 1304.
2. Adding new SPI BIOS chip vendor option for ATMEL.
3. Updating the lead-free label.
Customer Impact of Change and Recommended Action:
It is recommended that customers evaluate this new BIOS to ensure a
smooth transition. Detailed BIOS release notes can be viewed from:
http://developer.intel.com/products/motherboard/d975xbx/tools.htm
The changes have been thoroughly evaluated to ensure that there is no
quality, reliability or functional implications to our customers.

looks like the change thats already happened

Things change I've changed · 12 Jul 2006 at 06:56

As we now know a few people have had thier beloved BadAxe mobo's die, mainly, these were boards that were put under extreme o/c conditions and/or hardware modded, now while searching around the net I found a post that I think holds some merit as to why some of these boards have been dying, in this post he was replying to someone that recommended using a "Zalman CNPS9500-AT Aero Flower" cpu cooler with a BadAxe m/b,

Use of this type of heatsink is a common mistake. It produces airflow in only one direction, parallel to the board, and does not properly cool the voltage regulators. Here's a fragment from page 75 of the Intel® Desktop Board D975XBX Technical Product Specification:

"Use a processor heatsink that provides omni-directional airflow (similar to the type shown in Figure 27) to maintain required airflow across the processor voltage regulator area."

(Figure 27 shows the stock unit.)

So... the CPU is almost certainly well-cooled by the Zalman, but perhaps not the power section?

The supplied heatsink/fan unit works very well and is fairly quiet.

Hope this has some bearing on your situation,
cheers,
emgarf

(BTW, I like Zalman in general... I'm using a CNPS7700 on another system with a P4 3.4C... didn't find an appropriate Zalman for the D975XBX / Pentium D950 combo in my main PC, but as mentioned above, the Intel HS/fan is pretty good.)

after reading this post I am now re-evaluating my initial idea of getting a "Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler" and going with my original plan of getting a "ThermalRight SI-120" that should better cool the voltage regulators.

PapaLaz.uk · 12 Jul 2006 at 08:50

Thx for sharing that - interesting find.

I'm running mine now with the Ninja+, and yes it's keeping the 805D nice and cool, but the other 2 temp zones have risen and seem to stay in the 40's.

Think you could be right, maybe time to invest in an XP/Si120 with a few YSTech 120mm fans (for case too).

Skiddley · 12 Jul 2006 at 10:56

neologan said:
OCUK really need a button where you buy a 975x "Conroe ready" lottery ticket and you don't know what you'll get till it arrives, that would solve my indecisiveness problem.

They'd just sell you the most expensive one every time

*runs*

silversurfer · 12 Jul 2006 at 15:02

PapaLaz.uk said:
Thx for sharing that - interesting find.

I'm running mine now with the Ninja+, and yes it's keeping the 805D nice and cool, but the other 2 temp zones have risen and seem to stay in the 40's.

Think you could be right, maybe time to invest in an XP/Si120 with a few YSTech 120mm fans (for case too).

The ninja would still be fine with more fans added around the motherboard. If I see any area getting too hot I just add another fan running at 7v by it and its solved, its looks cluttered but its simple.

easyrider · 12 Jul 2006 at 15:56

After having the bad axe and now have the DFI I prefer the DFI TBH,
Its easier to overclock and the bios is just better than the intel bios IMO.

It seems a stable mobo too and does not behave as oddly as the badaxe it replaced.

The intel monitoring software was buggy and odd things would happen using speedfan to with the badaxe.

Having an easier time of things with the DFI