915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us
by Wesley Fink on December 7, 2004 12:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12: Features and Layout
DFI has implemented Intel Speedstep in their recent BIOS updates to the LANParty UT 915P-T12.| DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12 Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott) |
| Chipset | Intel 915P/ICH6 |
| BUS Speeds | 200MHz to 380MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| DDR2 Speeds | Auto, 400, 533 |
| PCI Speeds | To CPU, 33.33, Auto |
| PCI Express Speeds | Auto, Fix 100-140 |
| Core Voltage | 0.8375V to 1.95V in 0.0125V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.8V to 2.5V in 0.1V increments |
| Northbridge Voltage | 1.5V to 1.8V in 0.1V increments |
| Memory Slots | Two 240-pin DDR2 Slots OR Two 184-pin DDR Slots (Can NOT be Used together) Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 2GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe x16 Slot 2 PCIe x1 slot 3 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/IDE RAID | 4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6 |
| Onboard IDE | One Standard ATA100/66 (2 drives) |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports 2 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by VIA VT6307 |
| Onboard LAN | 2 Gigabit LAN - Marvel 88E8053 PCIe and Marvel 88E8001 PCI |
| Onboard Audio | Karajan Module with Realtek ALC880 Codec with Independent Variable Sampling 8-Channel with SPDIF in/out |
| Tested BIOS | Award 9/20/2004 |
When DFI introduced the LANParty boards in early 2003, they were not a name with which many Enthusiasts were familiar. However, since that time, DFI has earned a solid reputation as a maker of some of the best-performing and most sought-after boards available in the Enthusiast market. Where the LANParty name is used for the top performing boards produced by DFI geared for the enthusiast, the LANParty UT name has recently come into play to identify LANParty board designed for great value. The idea behind LANParty UT is to provide all of the overclocking finesse for which DFI is known, but also to deliver it with fewer features and fewer accessories included to keep the price more reasonable.
For example, you will not normally see front-panel break-out boxes and a PC Transpo harness included with a LANParty UT board, but you will normally see these features on a LANParty board. However, some things are still included in the package that you might not expect. Things like round IDE and Floppy cables in stand-out colors are still included.
The heart of any LANParty board is the performance and overclocking, and here, the options available for the enthusiast will keep most users very happy. First, the LANParty can use either DDR or DDR2 memory. This flexible arrangement allows you to carry some favorite DDR to the DFI board or to use the new DDR2 memory. Just keep in mind that you can't use both DDR and DDR2 together. The fact that you can use either, but not both memory, also limits the maximum memory usable on the UT 915P-T12.
DFI included some very high-end features that many enthusiasts will welcome. There are two Gigabit LAN ports - one based on the faster PCI Express bus and a standard Gigabit LAN that resides on the slower PCI bus. DFI also included a separate Karajan audio card for improved audio. The Karajan card isolates the High-Definition audio to improve signal-to-noise ratio, removing the biggest complaint of on-board audio, which is excessive noise. IEEE Firewire ports are also featured on the UT 915P-T12, though they are standard 1394a ports instead of the new and faster 1394b variety.
With all this attention to high-end features, you may well wonder what DFI left out. One significant omission is using the ICH6 south bridge instead of ICH6R. This will matter to some, since Intel Matrix RAID is not available, but others will say the RAID provides no real performance improvement anyway. The 2nd item is a larger surprise, however. DFI has just the one ICE port provided by the 915 chipset. This is a surprise, since the DFI reaches its highest overclock levels with IDE drives. With that being the case, it is really short-sighted to have to share an IDE drive and optical disks on a board supporting just two IDE devices. There are plenty of good performing SATA ports on the DFI, but to get to the screaming overclock stage, you will have to use IDE.
With a DFI LANParty - even the UT variety - you expect to get a wide range of overclocking controls and tweaks in the BIOS. Noteworthy on the 915P-T12 is a memory voltage range to default 1.8V to 2.5V and a similar set of DDR options to 3.2V. These are unusually wide for a motherboard and make it easier to squeeze the most performance form your memory. The CPU voltage extends all the way to 1.95V with a stock 1.3875V Prescott. This kind of range is frankly dangerous in the wrong hands, but it is high enough to satisfy mostly enthusiasts who will use water and phase-change cooling for their Prescott.
DFI also continues CMOS reloaded, which was introduced with the second generation LANParty and Infinity boards. This feature allows you to save several different custom BIOS setups, so you can easily recall custom BIOS settings for a particular overclock or settings for a different OS. Overclockers and users who run multiple operating systems will really find CMOS Reloaded to be a useful feature.
The DFI is very well laid out for most cases. The 20/24 ATX and 4-pin 12V are at board edge locations, and the single IDE is a midline board-edge connector that is best mounted before dropping the board in your case. Audio connectors like CD-IN are on the Karajan card. There are also momentary on/off and reset switches, a LANParty trademark feature on the right edge of the board. The only connector that is poorly located is the floppy connector at the bottom of the board. If you are one who still uses a floppy, this location will be a stretch - particularly in a full tower case that is likely to be used with a board such as the UT 915P-T12. While they don't stand out in the photo, DFI also includes 4 diagnostic LEDs on the board and a list of codes in the manual. They are not as easy to use as the 2-digit LEDs, but they still provide very useful info if you are having any issues with board
As we have come to expect with LANParty boards in all flavors, DFI continues to innovate with their LANParty line of boards. The LANParty UT is clearly aimed at the computer Enthusiast who cares most about pure performance. The UT boards look fine in side-window cases, but they are not as brash and showy as the regular LANParty series. The LANParty boards wouldn't sell unless they also delivered top-notch Enthusiast-level performance along with whatever else they bring to the table. Fortunately, DFI continues to lavish most of their attention on how the LANParty boards actually perform.
Biostar P4TGP 775: Overclocking and Stress Testing
DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12: Overclocking and Stress Testing
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Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Sorry Didn't see your reply before I posted Wesley.Sure there is some value to be had but not "outstanding". I still don't agree with you but I guess my mind is made up. Intel needs to come out with something new before I go back.
As a roundup it was very good reading tough. I can't wait for the next AMD roundup to hit AnandTech.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#12"The P5GD2 is an expensive motherboard, at about $240 on the web, but you can get almost all the same features in the P5GD2 Deluxe for about $50 less."
Thats expensive to me. Compare that to the 134.99 for the 939 Gold Editors Choice winner "MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum"
But thats not the point. If the 915P was substantially cheaper then a 939 system you might call it value for money but is it not. Mind you a 939 board is generally not cheap either but at least it delivers in comparison.
The CPU used in the review that hardly beat the much cheaper 3500+ had a max overclock of 14% and I bet you would find it hard to reach that high without the CPU overheating and start throttling http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=2345...
LGA775 CPUs does not offer great overclocking headroom compared to the much cheaper earlier Intel platforms or AMD for that matter. Sure they still overclock but nothing that we haven't seen before at higher cost and temperature. Again not what I would call outstanding.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - We just ran the 3500+ benchmarks in the same configuration this morning, and we do agree that the 3500+ is a particularly good value in performance for the dollar. However, the larger picture of prices of AMD CPUs compared to Intel show the Intel processors are a good, if not outstanding, value.Our conclusion was based on Anand's value analysis in the 3.46EE/1066 launch review at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?... There he compared the 3800+ at over $600 to a Intel 560 3.6GHz at about $450 and found the 3800+ the winner but probably not a big enough winner to justify the price premium for the 3800+. At that time, there was no 570 (3.8GHz) and the 3.6 was the fastest Intel CPU unless you considered the $1000+ Xeon-based EE processors. Price changes continue, and with them the value relationships do change.
A quick check of prices today shows
Intel 520(2.8GHz)- $160 AMD 2800+(754) - $128
Intel 530(3.0GHz)- $180 AMD A64 3000+ - $152
Intel 540(3.2GHz)- $220 AMD A64 3200+ - $194
Intel 550(3.4GHz)- $282 AMD A64 3400+ - $269
Intel 560(3.6GHz)- $455 AMD A64 3500+ - $270
Intel 570(3.8GHz)- $795 AMD A64 3800+ - $630
AMD A64 4000+ - $716
AMD A64 FX55 - $812
With current prices we would have to agree that there is really no great value advantage to Intel any more. But there is good value in the Intel processors from 2.8GHz (520) to 3.6GHz (560). Certainly the 4000+, at $80 less than the 570 and faster performance, and the FX55 at about the same price as 570 and significantly faster in most benchmarks, are better value at the top. But we still stand by Intel being good value in the middle.
deathwalker - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
"outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar" ?????????? at $240 for a Mobo?..I guess I need to retake Economics 101...Bah...Intel just continues to shot themselves in the foot. A side note not related to this review..Dell must be deep inside of Intel's pocketbook with there contiued refusal to market AMD based products.danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - 915P motherboards are not expensive. They are equal or cheaper in price than socket 939 A64 motherboards.LGA775 CPUs offer great overclocking headroom if paired with the right board. Intel CPUs have traditionally have had more OCing headroom than AMD chips. That still holds true, for the most part, today. Especially when talking about the low-end chips, like the 2.8GHz.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
I'm sorry but I don't see the "outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar"Expensive Motherboards and CPUs with little overclocking headroom compared to the Athlon 64 competition. How does that translate to excellent value and performance? even the much cheaper 3500 comes out on top on most benchmarks.
Sure there are niche markets where the Intel platform excels but for the big majority of us AMD is where its at right now.
I don't think this review is in sync with your conclusion so either list some valid arguments for your point (Since its not there in the benchmarks) or edit the conclusion.
danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wesley, thanks for including tests from a more comparable AMD CPU. Listening to your readers is always appreciated.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#4,#5,#6 - The Athlon 64 results with the FX55 were included for Reference, and not direct comparison. However you do make a good point.The closest A64 we had in the lab to a 3.6GHz 560 was the 3500+ based on the 90nm process. This should provide an advantage to the Intel 560. Since there are complaints here the FX55 is too high end, these new tests tilted toward Intel should balance the playing field. The 3500+ costs about $265 and the Intel 560 (3.6GHz) is about $455, so the 560 is about 70% more expensive than the 3500+.
The added 3500+ benchmarks were also an opportunity to test with the SAME ATI X800XT PCIe we used in benchmarking the 915 boards. Enjoy!
Color codes have been updated and there are now 3500+ results on the Gigabyte nForce4 with the ATI X800XT PCIe in all benchmarks.
Original plans were to include the Intel 570 in this roundup, but much of the testing was already done when the Intel 3.8GHz CPU was launched. This Intel 3.8 is priced at around $800, which is very close to the FX55. You can see how it compares to the FX55 in performance in Anand's launch article at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...
CrystalBay - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
It's a pity that all these 4 dimm slot, dual channelMB's have such a rough time doing it. Imagine trying
to run 4 1GB dimms in DC, this goes for ddr1 as well 2.
Glassmaster - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Now that Northwood and 865/875 are on the way out, only a fool would buy Intel.Glassmaster.