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Intel D975XBX: Intel brings their Bad-Axe to Market

 by Gary Key on January 26, 2006 12:05 AM EST
34 Comments | Add A Comment
34 Comments
Audio Performance

We limited audio testing to the Rightmark 3D Sound version 2.2 CPU utilization test and tested with sound enabled to show the performance effects on several games. The Rightmark 3D Sound benchmark measures the overhead or CPU utilization required by a codec or hardware audio chip.

The Sigmatel STAC9221D codec on the Intel D975XBX board does not fully support 3D Hardware, EAX1, or EAX2 modes as the other on-board codecs do at this time. Consequently, its performance is highly dependent upon the CPU and gaming support will be limited to generic OpenAL or 2D modes.

Audio Performance - Empty CPU - 32 Buffers

Audio Performance - 2d Audio - 32 Buffers

Audio Performance - DirectSound 3D HW - 32 Buffers

Audio Performance - DirectSound 3D EAX2 - 32 Buffers

The Sigmatel STCAC9221D codec has extremely high CPU utilization rates in the 2D audio tests when utilizing 32 buffers, which is a minimum requirement in most of today's games. The BlueGears/HDA Mystique 7.1 Gold still has the highest overall utilization rates of the audio solutions tested. BlueGears has confirmed a new driver release that will offer improved performance in several areas. The Realtek R1.29 driver release has improved CPU utilization rates over previous releases. This driver set has been supplemented with the R1.30 release that will be tested shortly. The Sound Blaster X-FI has the lowest rates with the Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit solution on the Gigabyte board following closely. Let's find out how these results translate into real world numbers.

Game Audio Performance - BattleField 2

Game Audio Performance - Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Game Audio Performance - F.E.A.R. - Performance Test

Game Audio Performance - Serious Sam II - Branchester Demo

Game Audio Performance - Half-Life 2 - AT Jarred Demo C17

The audio performance numbers are interesting as the Sigmatel 9221D creates frame rate losses consistent with the other solutions even though the audio output is in 2D mode. This is primarily due to the design of the drivers and codec that rely heavily on the CPU to process the audio streams. Serious Sam II has an average loss of 45%, Half Life 2 at 26%, Splinter Cell at 12%, Battlefield 2 at 13%, and F.E.A.R. at 6%. The surprising number is the performance of the Sound Blaster X-FI in Serious Sam II with a 29% decrease in frame rates at this time. Serious Sam II sounded bright and tinny on the Sigmatel 9221D and did not offer an enjoyable game playing experience in Splinter Cell, HL2, BF2, or F.E.A.R. where 3D sound is a must. While the audio output quality of the Sigmatel 9221D still exceeds that of the Realtek ALC850 in games, it would not be our choice for a true gaming solution.

Obviously, if you are a serious gamer, then a dedicated sound card is still a requirement to ensure consistent frame rate averages across a wide variety of games. We noticed in our Battlefield 2, Serious Sam II, and Half Life 2 testing that the ALC882M solution would stutter in intensive scenes, creating frame rates in the low teens momentarily. We will be testing the Realtek R1.30 drivers in our next article to see if the minimal frame rates and stutter issues have been improved.

The included Intel Audio Studio software offers excellent configuration options in an impressive yet easy to use package. The Sigmatel 9221D audio solution displayed excellent sound characteristics in music, video, and DVD playback throughout our testing and should seriously be considered as the main audio component if gaming is not your priority. However, while the audio output quality in games was acceptable, the lack of basic EAX compatibility and performance degradation is not.

Ethernet Performance Final Words
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  • BigP - Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - link

    Im a self build Virgin - but I'm going in at the deep end. Intel's site makes their Dual Core stuff sound awsome!(a) Is it?(b)Should I look to spend my cash elsewhere when considering a motherboard/processor?

  • Gary Key - Saturday, July 15, 2006 - link

    This board is fine for stock performance and if you get rev-0304 it works very well with Core 2 Duo.

  • FOXY25 - Sunday, February 4, 2007 - link

    hi that are my system setting. My system sometimes make complete restart and i dont know why. I have change entire board with another and nothing. Do y think that could be in memory i have 2x DDR2 1024 MB at 800 Mhz Kingmax. thanks for answer.Foxy


    ====== Board ======
    Manufacturer Intel Corporation
    Product Name D975XBX
    Version AAD27094-306
    Serial Number BQBX645001ND
    BIOS Version BX97510J.86A.1476.2007.0119.1334
    BIOS ROM Size 512 KB
    BIOS Release Date 19.1.2007

    ====== Processor ======
    Manufacturer Intel(R) Corporation
    Processor Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2,13GHz (2 Cores)
    Bus Speed 1067 MHz
    Processor Speed 2,133 GHz
    Stepping 6
    Form Factor Other
    Hyper-Threading Technology Status Not Supported

    ====== Cache ======
    L1 Cache Data Cache 32 KB, Code Cache 32 KB Per Processor Core
    L2 Cache 2048 KB Unified Cache (2048 KB Cache Per 2 Cores)

    ====== Memory ======
    Error Correction Single-bit ECC
    Maximum System Memory 4 GB
    Memory Slots 4

    ---- CHAN A DIMM 0 ----
    Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 0
    Current Memory Type DDR2
    Installed Size No Module Installed

    ---- CHAN A DIMM 1 ----
    Socket Designation CHAN A DIMM 1
    Current Memory Type DDR2
    Installed Size 1024 MB
    Memory Speed 800 MHz

    ---- CHAN B DIMM 0 ----
    Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 0
    Current Memory Type DDR2
    Installed Size No Module Installed

    ---- CHAN B DIMM 1 ----
    Socket Designation CHAN B DIMM 1
    Current Memory Type DDR2
    Installed Size 1024 MB
    Memory Speed 800 MHz

    ====== Onboard Devices ======
    #Device Type Ethernet
    Device Description Intel (R) 82562 Ethernet Device
    Device Status Enabled
    #Device Type Sound
    Device Description Intel(R) Azalia Audio Device
    Device Status Disabled
    #Device Type Other
    Device Description Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID Controller
    Device Status Disabled
    #Device Type Other
    Device Description Texas Instruments TSB82AA2 1394A/B Controller
    Device Status Disabled

    ====== Hard Drive ======
    #Model ST3320620AS
    Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
    Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
    S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
    Size 298,09 GB
    #Model ST380811AS
    Max. Transfer Mode UDMA 6 (ATA/133)
    Active Transfer Mode UDMA 5 (ATA/100)
    S.M.A.R.T. Status Enabled
    Size 74,53 GB

  • JarrettV - Thursday, February 23, 2006 - link

    Does this board support dolby digital live in the sigmatel audio chipset? I'm looking to replace my old SoundStorm setup.

    Also, does Intel High Definition = Dolby Digital Live support?

  • neilfeier - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link

    Unlike most users of this motherboard that want to use the dual x8 PCIe slots for graphics, I want to use them for benchmarking a pair of x4 data acquisition boards we are developing. I want to test max rates to and from memory, as well as peer-to-peer transfers between the two boards (assuming the MCH allows this).

    So my question is: Do you think I can I put a x16 or x8 PCIe graphics card in the third x4 PCIe slot hanging off the south bridge? I don't care about graphics performance too much, I just want a dual monitor card that will work in that slot and leave the main two slots free.

    And ideas on this would be helpful. Thanks!

  • Gary Key - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - link

    I will try it this weekend and report back.

  • neilfeier - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    Thanks Gary, I anxiously await the results of your experiment.

    Neil

  • Gary Key - Thursday, March 9, 2006 - link

    Hi Neil,

    I had video working in this slot. I updated to the new bios release today and will test the performance in a couple of days.

    Thanks,
    Gary

  • Gary Key - Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - link

    Neil,

    Performance is average but it works.

    Gary

  • Missing Ghost - Monday, January 30, 2006 - link

    quote:
    The x16 interface supports full duplex transfers up to 8 GBytes/second in x16 operation and single-ended transfers are supported up to 4 GBytes/second in x8 operation.

    error! That's not how pcie works! pcie is always full duplex, and never single-ended!
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