975x chipset questions

[muss08]

is the 975x chipset the latest to support core 2 duo processors? why is it better than the p965? and are there any good 975x motherboards out there? ive read some reviews and they all seem to be plagued with bios problems or doa or instability

 

[jeff_2087]

Some 975x boards support Core 2. It really isn't better than the 965, its supposedly the enthusiast chipset, but there really isn't significant performance difference and it's more expensive. The best two 975x boards I know of are the Intel Bad Axe 2 and the Asus P5W DH Deluxe.

 

[InteliotInside]

The 975X chipset supports proper ATI CrossFire features and they're usually more feature packed.

 

[SuperFly03]

is the 975x chipset the latest to support core 2 duo processors? why is it better than the p965? and are there any good 975x motherboards out there? ive read some reviews and they all seem to be plagued with bios problems or doa or instability

P965 is newer than the 975X and achieves a higher FSB than the 975X chipset but the 975x comes with support for CF and the 965 doesn't. The 975 required a bios update to be C2D compatible and some will never support C2D, most do though.

 

[darkstar782]

Pfft higher FSB my ass

450MHz isn't bad

The P5W DH has a horrible memory issue where it hits an FSB wall around ~390 unless you enable SPD timings though, so I prefer to run like This (have to drop to 390 to avoid the memory issue, and I like to have a little CPU headroom, its Orthos/Prime95 stable at 3.9GHz)

Yes, I have seen 500MHz on some P965 boards, but:

a) my CPU is holding me short on that, it wont go over 450MHz FSB in my friends nForce 680i board either.

b) now that the e4300 is out, FSBs over 450MHz are not needed, and there is no reason to buy an e6300.

 

[SuperFly03]

Pfft higher FSB my ass

450MHz isn't bad

The P5W DH has a horrible memory issue where it hits an FSB wall around ~390 unless you enable SPD timings though, so I prefer to run like This (have to drop to 390 to avoid the memory issue, and I like to have a little CPU headroom, its Orthos/Prime95 stable at 3.9GHz)

Yes, I have seen 500MHz on some P965 boards, but:

a) my CPU is holding me short on that, it wont go over 450MHz FSB in my friends nForce 680i board either.

b) now that the e4300 is out, FSBs over 450MHz are not needed, and there is no reason to buy an e6300.

Of course there are memory issues. From ~365-399 all 965 chipsets have memory issues. Some are more pronounced than others. Some throw errors, some just act funny.

I am not saying the 975x sucks... just that the 965 is newer and achieves higher FSB than the 975, that is it.

Kick it up to 405 FSB and I bet your memory issues will disappear.

With an E4300 you may not need 450 FSB, but I still plan on hitting 450+ on an E4300. If you get an E4300 with a 965 chipset you are bound to hit that gray area between 365 and 400 and probably cause issues.

Now what I did not show on this latest graph is that from 360fsb to 399fsb the memory was VERY unstable, infact scrolling errors in memtest were the norm in all tests, not just test 5. This proves under the 1067 strap the 965 chipset is hitting the same clock speed limitations as the 975 chipset, the only difference is the board actually still tries to run, on all the 975 boards i have tested once the chipset hits its max clock the boards just give up.

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