Asus P5WDG2-WS: Intel 975X goes to Work
by Gary Key on December 6, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: Intel 975X from Asus and Gigabyte
The Gigabyte GA-G1 975X is a member of the G1-Turbo product family, and as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the serious PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several overclocking features such as Robust Graphics Booster (dynamic video card overclocking system), C.I.A.2 (dynamic front side bus overclocking system with 5 presets), and M.I.B.2 (memory performance system based upon chipset types). The preview of the Gigabyte GA-G1 975X features can be found here.
The Asus P5WDG2-WS is a member of the new Main Station product family, and as such, is a fully featured board targeted towards the Workstation user. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOS (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard and a fanless heat dissipation system.
We will be comparing the thermal characteristics of both solutions in our next article. Asus and Gigabyte have shown significant reductions in board temperatures with their respective solutions in laboratory testing.
| Specification | Asus P5WDG2-WS | Gigabyte GA-G1 975x |
| CPU Interface | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors |
| Chipset | Intel 975X ICH7R | Intel 975X ICH7R |
| Pentium D Support (Dual-Core) |
820D, 830D, 840D, 840EE, (Presler Support Present) | 820D, 830D, 840D, 840EE, (Presler Support Present) |
| Front Side Bus | 1066 / 800 MHz | 1066 / 800 MHz |
| Front Side Bus Speeds | 100 - 450 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | 100 - 600 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Memory Speeds | Auto, DDR-2 400, 533, 667, 800, 711, 889, and 1067MHz | Auto, 1.50, 2.00, 2.0+, 2.50, 2.66, 3.00, 3.33, 4.00 |
| PCI Bus Speeds | Auto, To CPU, 33.33MHz | Auto, 33.3, 34.2, 35.2, 36.3, and 37.5MHz |
| PCI Express Bus Speeds | Auto, 90 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | Auto, 90 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Dynamic Overclocking | AI Overclocking - Auto, Manual, AI NOS, and Overclock Profiles up to 30% Hyper Path 3- Auto, Enabled, Disabled PEG Link Mode |
Robust Graphics Booster - Auto, Fast, Turbo C.I.A.2 - Disabled, Cruise, Sports, Racing, Turbo, Full Thrust M.I.B.2 - Auto, Enabled |
| Core Voltage | Auto, 1.2875V to 1.70000V (in 0.0125V increments) | Normal, 0.8375V to 1.6000V (in 0.0125V increments), 1.6500V, 1.7000V, 1.7500V |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 1.80V, 1.90V, 1.95V, 2.00V, 2.10V, 2.15V, 2.20V, 2.30V | Normal, +0.1V, +0.2V, +0.3V, +0.4V, +0.5V, +0.6V, +0.7V |
| PCI- E Voltage | Auto | Normal, +0.10V, +0.20V, +0.30V, +0.40V, +0.50V, +0.60V, +0.70V |
| FSB Overvoltage Control | Auto, 1.20V, 1.30V, 1.40V, 1.50V | Normal, +0.05V, +0.10V, +0.15V, +0.20V, +0.25V, +0.30V, +0.35V |
| Memory Slots | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, ECC, un-buffered memory | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, un-buffered memory |
| Expansion Slots | (2) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-X (2) x PCI 2.3 |
(2) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-E x4 (2) x PCI 2.3 |
| Onboard SATA | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II |
| Onboard IDE | Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 100/66/33 |
Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 100/66/33 ITE 8211F: (1) x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33 |
| SATA/IDE RAID | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology Marvell 88SE6141: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and JBOD configuration |
Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology |
| Onboard USB2.0 IEEE-1394 |
(8) USB2.0 ports (2) IEEE 1394a FireWire Ports by TI TSB43AB22 |
(8) USB2.0 ports (3) IEEE 1394a FireWire Ports by TI TSB43AB23 |
| Onboard LAN | Marvell 88E8062 Dual PCI-E x4 Gb LAN | Broadcom 5789KFB PCI-E Gb LAN |
| Onboard Audio | RealTek ALC882, 8-channel + 2-channel multi-streaming capable HD Audio codec Optical/Coaxial S/PDIF Out |
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit (CA0106-DAT LF), 8-channel capable, and DTS enabled codec. S/PDIF in/out port connectors included |
| Power Connectors | 24-pin ATX 4-pin 12V Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
24-pin ATX 4-pin 12V Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel 1 x Audio I/O 1 x IEEE 1394a 2 x RJ45 4 x USB |
1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Audio I/O 1 x RJ45 2 x USB |
| Other Features | AI Net2 CPU Lock Free Stack Cool 2 |
Turbojet Cooling Technology Multi-View Output C.R.S. - CMOS Reload Switch |
| BIOS | AMI 0109 (11/09/05) | AWARD F1 (11/18/05) |
The Gigabyte GA-G1 975X is a member of the G1-Turbo product family, and as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the serious PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several overclocking features such as Robust Graphics Booster (dynamic video card overclocking system), C.I.A.2 (dynamic front side bus overclocking system with 5 presets), and M.I.B.2 (memory performance system based upon chipset types). The preview of the Gigabyte GA-G1 975X features can be found here.
The Asus P5WDG2-WS is a member of the new Main Station product family, and as such, is a fully featured board targeted towards the Workstation user. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOS (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard and a fanless heat dissipation system.
We will be comparing the thermal characteristics of both solutions in our next article. Asus and Gigabyte have shown significant reductions in board temperatures with their respective solutions in laboratory testing.
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Pirks - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
So data centers are built with floppies, COM mice and LPT printers. Great! Very nice that I don't run one, thank you for enlightening me.
FYI I've got ABIT AT7 mobo (the _ONLY_ legacy free mobo ever created) very cheap a couple of years ago and it was running all my 4-5 year old hardware like cheap USB kbd and old second hand USB mouse. And I still DON'T even consider wasting my money on Athlon 64 or any fancy PCIe stuff, and with all this I still sound Bleeding Edge Hardware Freak for you? Are you from a PC museum or what? Can you even find COM mice these days? I'm not buying anything that's above lower 30% of price range, so I won't even consider mainstream stuff these days. You seriously overestimate my financial abilities and more important my will to upgrade (I won't fix my PC unless it's broken)
XP SP2 here :P
I'd do that by patching my XP install CD or by using USB floppy (if it works, not sure about this), or if it doesn't work I'd replace my boot HDD with PATA one, given that it's not any slower than SATA these days :P So floppy is still not necessary WHILE every mobo out there includes PATA, and please note that I didn't include PATA in my Stupid Obsolete Interfaces list :) PATA is obsolete, yes, but it's still widely used everywhere (in almost every DVD burner, jeez, that's what I call LONGEVITY!) unlike LPT and COM and floppy and other museum stuff.
I'd say stick those LPT plugs onto the cheap "business" mobos, but please let us breathe fresher air with the "advanced", overclocker or whatever you call 'em mobos. There is a place for the old mobos with legacy stuff, but including them on those ubercool silver/gold advanced P4 975X or nForce4 SLI Ultra Extra boards? Do you seriously think the guy with dual 7800GTX setup uses COM mouse, LPT printer and other "data center" accessories? Hahahahahaaaa
Never tried that. I only run XP SP2 and never ever run into issues with its bootloader and my USB kbd, maybe 98/95 one has issues, dunno. Anyway, if you still use 95/98 then ok, you need COM and LPT as well.
It would be hard to persuade me someone still uses COM mice, their mechanics must be ground into dust by now :) And even if there are some ancient PDAs that don't have USB 1.x then there are USB-COM adapters, so COM is not needed too (btw there are USB-LPT adapters as well, for your data centers :P)
New computers are only 5% of the market? All these Dells, Compacs, HPs and many more, they are only 5%? OK, so 95% of the market are what? Retrofitted IBM PC XTs? Hahahahaaa...
Man you have no idea about my budget, really really! I run ABIT KW7, and looks like Socket A is my choice for at least 12 months from now if not more, depending on how things will turn out with Vista. You wanna know my top list of mobos I'd buy right now if I had the money? Number one - Chaintech S1689, dirt cheap 939 mobo, only 50 bucks or so, just stick cheapest Venice 3000 in there and fly away. Number two - ABIT AN8-V. Expensive bad boy, whole 80 bucks!... but it's from ABIT and so it's again ALMOST legacy free (damn I hate you floppy and PS/2!) so this one I'd take if I had BIG money to swap my old AGP video with some cheap PCIe 6600GT or somethin'... and you call me a Big Budget Guy. Hahahaaa... can't stop laughing, sorry :)
OK, if you really insist, I'd agree that legacy stuff has its place in PCs and will have place for many many years to come, but including these 20-year old COM and LPT plugs on the so called "advanced" nForce4 SLI Ultra Extra whatever boards? Hahahahahaaaa.... sorry again, just can't stop laughing...