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Over the next couple of weeks we will dive head first into reviewing motherboards supporting INTEL's newest processor line, the Core 2 Duo. Since it's release last month, INTEL's Core 2 Duo has developed quite a following for its impressive overall performance, vaulting INTEL back into the CPU wars.
Today we begin our Core 2 Duo motherboard coverage with a look at a familiar name in the enthusiast motherboard market....albeit not one INTEL fans are used to seeing, DFI. Before we move on to the focus of today's review, the DFI Infinity 975X, we had the opportunity to sit down for a short interview with Jacky Huang, General Manager for DFI San Jose, and get some thoughts about DFI's future and the motherboard market as a whole.
Prior to DFI, Jacky was the general manager for another important maker in the industry, ABIT, from 1997 to 2001. It was exactly the peak time for ABIT. In that period of time, not only did he successfully establish ABIT as an overclocking icon in the enthusiast market, a lot of unprecedented innovations created by him are still having influence in the market today. For example, he is the man behind the scene for the first commercial motherboard with RAID function, and this has changed the landscape for the future motherboard and chipset making as well as users’ behavior since then.
After joining DFI in 2002, he established the legendary LANParty series with the elite engineering team he brought from ABIT. With the accumulated expertise and the keen observation in the enthusiast market, the LANparty concept totally changed the image of DFI from an OEM style manufacturer to an enthusiast cult brand since its debut with the nForce II chipset. In these 4 years, we witnessed many masterpieces from DFI's LANParty line (especially the NF4 SLI platforms) and watched them become one of the most beloved platforms for both overclockers and gamers.
HL:DFI has spent almost all of its effort focusing on AMD based boards over the last two years, with INTEL really making great strides with the release of their Core 2 Duo processors, can we expect to see more INTEL based boards from DFI?Jacky Huang: Yes, definitely, as a matter of fact, DFI’s focus is not on any specific chipset maker, but we are trying to cater to our enthusiast users every platform with the best performance we can possibly get. That is why we have boards for both Intel and AMD, Nvidia and ATI.
Let’s take our current Intel line for instance. Followed by the 975 Infinity board just launched, we will have a slew of high performance LANparty boards, such as C55 for SLI and Kentsfield support, and also RD600 with Crossfire with an Oct time frame.
Jacky Huang: Yes, our team in Taiwan is now finalizing this project and fine tuning the overclocking function. I believe it will be available soon.
HL: DFI boards are really known for their extreme overclocking performance, as well as the most complex BIOS' anyone could dream up. Has there been any discussion about "dumbing down" the BIOS to aleviate problems for people who want DFI's great performance, but who are overwhelmed by BIOS settings?
Jacky Huang: I think this is a good question, and indeed we have numerous discussions over this topic internally. Though it is hard to reach a final verdict, our supreme goal is to find the balanced solution for both worlds.
On the other note, we will try to have more tutorial accesses such as FAQ and forum, to help the users who are new to the enthusiast playground. Though problem solving is where the fun is coming from, we will still try to provide more guidance and short cuts.
HL: Any thoughts on a portion of DFI street dedicated to a BIOS guide? Although Adrian's Rojak Pot has a great guide, one specifically targeting DFI boards would probably really help beginners.
Jacky Huang: Definitely, BIOS discussion have always been a sizzling topic in DFI Street, but sometimes, it is also difficult for a beginner to find an immediate answer. So I think a step-by-step beginner’s guide in the forum or our website will be very important. It will definitely encourage more users to step in the fun world of overclocking instead of being intimidated by long threads of discussions.
HL: Whats next for DFI?
Jacky Huang: Besides being known as the enthusiast board maker, DFI is also active in the Industrial market. DFI has been a long time major supplier of gambling machines and arcade games. We will continuously focus on these two directions since we have accumulated expertise and experiences in both fields.
Next year will be a fruitful year for DFI, viewing the roadmap from Intel, AMD, and even Microsoft's Vista, DFI will definitely have a slew of great products for our audiences.
HL: With companies like ASUS taking on Gigabyte's motherboard and video card developement, and ABIT getting the same treatment from ECS, do you feel that fewer actual board manufacturers will affect DFI's future? Also,do you feel that it will negatively affect consumers choices and board performance?
Jacky Huang: Since the enthusiast market is our focus, we have seen a very positive impact from the phenomena you mentioned. Every board from DFI, especially our LANparty and Infinity line, is carefully designed, tested and tortured by our dedicated team in house, which formed talented engineers who are also over clockers. It is different from those ODM/OEM products shooting for low production costs.
HL: Over the past 16 months, motherboard prices have skyrocketed, back then a top of the line board might cost you $170....now we're on the verge of $300 boards. Why?
Jacky Huang: Given the technology dominating this industry in the past 16 months, the high price tag seems to be a must...such as dual core, SLI, DDR2...everything with the implication of "double". Even though, not necessarily the cost should be 2 folded, the “double” trend does push the total cost to another level.
On top of that, for enthusiast boards especially, more and more high performance parts are being used for extreme results, such as heat pipe and better caps...so all of these factors push the price tag up another notch.
HL: What do you feel is the next major development in regards to motherboard technology?
Jacky Huang: The motherboard is a platform provider, so our job is to try our best to keep abreast with all new CPU, GPU and memory technologies and create a best platform accordingly.
As to us, we will try to do a little more than just let your PC work...That is always what we try to do.
HL: When it comes to design, how hard is it to get everything figured out between a chipset maker, a CPU maker, and a motherboard maker? I realize you are given a reference design, but how much leeway are you given to customize and/or optimize your boards?
Jacky Huang: That's too big a question to answer right here, and I can only say something from the motherboard makers' prospective. In short, our effort as a motherboard maker is to make a platform compatible and work great with as many components as possible. It is a lot more than just duplicating the reference design into production line. The development process involves testing components across the board, trial and error, and simulation, especially in regards to overclocking. Only with these jobs done, then can we focus and differentiate ourselves from our competitors who may also be using the same chipsets.
I'd like to thank Jacky for setting aside a little time from his busy schedule to answer our questions. A couple of things you should make note of from his quotes are that DFI does plan on releasing a LANParty version supporting Core 2 Duo CPUs, and that DFI does see people having issues with their BIOS', and in fact is working on simplifying them to broaden their market.
When INTEL introduced their Core 2 Duo processors, those that rushed to buy them were greeted by a major problem; finding motherboards that supported INTEL's newest CPUs. While boards supporting Core 2 Duo processors have trickled onto the market, its a real chore trying to find the right board.
Today, HardwareLogic looks at one board that supports Core 2 Duo processors, the DFI Infinity 975X motherboard. While DFI's enthusiast reputation was built around their NF4 LANParty boards, the Infinity 975X looks to firmly establish DFI as a powerhouse on the INTEL side of things. Though the Infinity line is DFI's budget offering, don't let that fool you, as the Infinity boards we've tested over the last year have never left us disappointed when it came to performance.
| CPU SUPPORT | INTEL LGA 775 socket
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| CHIPSET | Intel® 975X Express Chipset
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| MEMORY |
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| EXPANSION SLOTS |
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| STORAGE |
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| AUDIO |
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| LAN |
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| REAR I/O PANEL |
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| INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS & HEADERS |
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| SYSTEM BIOS |
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| FORM FACTOR |
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| WARRANTY |
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| PRICE |
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True to the "Infinity" moniker, the DFI 975X's bundle is as basic as it gets.
- Installation and User manuals
- Driver CD with DFI's Smart Guardian software
- Floppy dosks featuring RAID drivers for the INTEL 975 and JMB360 chips
- IDE and Floppy cables
- SATA interface and 4-pin molex to SATA power cable adapter
- I/O shield
While no one will confuse this bundle with those from DFI's LANParty series boards, you do get everything you need to get the DFI Infinity 975X up and running. While some may look at the bundle and colors DFI used and feel disappointed compared to the LANparty boards, the DFI Infinity 975X is like every other Infinity series board produced by DFI, meaning no bells and whistles, at least as far as the bling goes.
Lets move on to the board itself.
For the most part, the DFI Infinity 975X has an unremarkable layout. I say for the most part because a few things really stood out at me as I gave the board my inspection. First, the placement of the 24-pin and 8-pin power connectors will undoubtedly draw a fair share of complaints. I personally don't see the placement as a problem - good cable management will prevent cables from interfering with the CPU cooler or case air flow.
The second thing that stood out to me was the board's cooling. DFI boards are a favorite of enthusiasts for their overclocking potential, and the Infinity series, though built with the budget user in mind, are no exception. It really surprised me to see the poor quality of chipset cooler used on the northbridge chipset. While other prominent companies are using heat pipe technology to cool the chipsets, DFI chose as basic a cooler as possible. During my testing and overclocking experiences, the northbridge chipset idled in the mid 50's (Celcius), and reached 64C under load. One thing you can do to improve the chipset performance (other than buying an aftermarket cooler) is to lap the coolers base and replace the thermal pad with a good thermal paste like Arctic Silver 5, or Cermaique.
I was able to mount a variety of aftermarket cooling solutions without incident (to include a Zalman CNPS9500, Scythe Mine, Thermalright Ultra-120, and Thermaltake Big Typhoon). As much as I hate INTEL's heat sink mounting system, the DFI Infinity 975X had absolutely no problems with any of the coolers I tried.
Lets move on to some of the board's features.
INTEL's 975 chipset has been around for the better part of a year now, so there's really nothing new here, but what is exciting is the support for INTEL's newest badass processors, the Core 2 Duo. Most users will be expecting top notch overclocking combining the Core 2 Duo processors and a DFI motherboard, and I doubt they'll be disappointed
The Infinity 975X features six phase PWM, which regulates and optimizes power to the system. While some may complain that it isn't eight phase like other high end boards, remember that the new super energy efficient Conroe processors only require three phase PWM.
The DFI Infinity 975X features four 240 pin DDR2 DIMM slots that support up to 8GB of system memory in dual channel mode using either both white or both blue DIMM slots. During my testing I saw no performance difference between either pair of dual channel slots.
The NB chipset uses a very basic aluminum heatsink. During my testing and prolonged usage, the NB chipset ran extremely warm, idling at 50C+ at stock operating voltages and frequencies, and rising into the mid 60's C during my overclocking.
DFI chose an interesting chipset cooler for the SB, a ceramic heatsink I've never seen before. While I had no way of accurately measuring the chipset temperature, it was warm, but not hot to the touch.
The DFI Infinity features a pair of x16 PCI-E slots, single PCI-E X1 and X4 slots, and two PCI slots. When equipped with a pair of ATI Crossfire capable cards, the PCI-E X16 slots operate in x8 mode.
The layout of the PCI-E X16 slots are such that dual slot cooling solutions in Crosffire mode will block one of the PCI slots, leaving you with but one. However the PCI-E X4 slot is far enough removed from the top X16 slot that it poses no problems.
Besides the single IDE PC100 connector located next to the DIMM slots, the DFI 975X includes four SATA 3.0GB/s natively controlled through the ICH7R southbridge chipset. This provides RAID0,1, 0+1, and RAID5 capabilities. The Infinity 975X also includes a e-SATA (external) connector, supported by the J-Micron JMB360 chip.
The bottom right corner of the board is where you'll find the typical assortment of front panel connectors, USB and IEEE-1394 connectors, the BIOS chip, battery, and CMOS jumper. The DFI Infinity 975X includes the on board power and reset switches tyoically found on DFI boards, as well as an onboard speaker.
For onboard sound DFI chose the Realtek ALC882 High Definition audio CODEC. While most overclockers don't care about or use onboard sound, the Realtek 7.1 HD audio CODEC is in fact a very good solution which should be more than adequate for those planning on gaming or those who use their systems for multimedia.
As to ethernet connectivity, the DFI Infinity 975X utilizes the Realtek RTL8111B PCIE Gigabit LAN.
The rear panel includes a pair of PS/2 connections for your mouse and keyboard, a Parellel port, and audio jacks (to include optical and S/PDIF ports) for the onboard sound. You'll also find 4 USB 2.0 ports, and single IEEE 1394, e-SATA, and Gigabit ethernet ports.
Aside from my issues with the chipset cooling, I found the external ports to be a bit lacking, providing only four USB connectors is quite disappointing, and to an extent so is the inclusion of a single ethernet port. All in all, the board looks to be a decent offering from a company that hasn't offered much to the INTEL crowd in quite awhile, and fairly small issues aside, provides everything most users will need.
The DFI Infinity 975X utilizes the AWARD BIOS, prior to testing we updated the BIOS to the latest found on the DFI site, 9-13. I'd also like to point out that DFI is the latest company to really embrace the WinFlash utility. While "old school" enthusiast don't trust WinFlash, I had absolutely no problem with it at all....and find it to be a good solution for those unfamiliar with BIOS flashing.
Instead of covering 10 pages of BIOS pictures, that are the exact same for every review, we focus only on the screen or settings that most users will typically use. DFI's major settings are found in the Genie BIOS screen, here you'll find all the clock speed and voltage settings you need, as well as a sub-menu for the DRAM settings.
| Settings | Values |
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CPU VTT |
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| CPU VID Offset |
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| DRAM Voltage |
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| Memory Dividers |
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Basic settings aside, DFI boards are famous for an incredible array of settings which can be tweaked to gain every ounce of performance possible out of your board.....as usual, the DFI Infinity 975X features the most comprehensive list of memory settings you'll find anywhere.
A couple of features missing from the DFI BIOS are ones I really appreciated about DFI's NF4 boards, CMOS Reloaded, a utility that helps you recover from bad settings, and the built in memtest utility. The early BIOS versions did ship with an OC Failure setting that dropped the boards FSB to a stable setting if you pushed it too far, but that utility disappeard after the 7-31 BIOS version. Another issue that might or might not be addressed in a later BIOS is the chipset strap, which is currently limited to 1066. This would alllow for further manipulation of the CPU and memory performance, without pushing the NB chipset past its optimal operating range. Adding a 1333 strap would probably alleviate a lot of the high end overclocking issues that users are reporting, but as of post time for this article, there had been no mention as to plans to release an update addressing this issue.
All in all the BIOS is what I've come to expect from DFI.....every possible setting and tweak you could ever imagine, a fantastic option for those experienced in such things, but on the flip side an overwhelming odessy for those just getting started. As always, a good rule of thumb is to familiarize yourself with the different setting, a good place to start is Adrian's Rojak Pot and his BIOS Optimization Guide. From there, take your time and make small, safe adjustments. If you run into any problems, head over to DFI-Street and check out their support forums dedicated to this board.
One thing the new Core 2 Duo processors have shown during their short existence is incredible overclocking potential. Pair that with an enthusiast-minded company like DFI, and good things are bound to happen, right?
While we aren't trying to break any overclocking records, my goal during my overclocking testing was to first find the best all around overclock I could achieve with the DFI Infinity 975X motherboard, not just the highest FSB, but a combination of FSB and memory speeds.
Keep in mind that we are using a fairly common air cooled solution in the Zalman CNPS9500AT. Coupled with some fairly modest voltage sttings, my goal is simply to show you what you should typically expect from this board. With settings I see as safe for 24/7 operation, and testing for the best combined overall performance, I was able to hit 2.49 GHz. Anything over 356 FSB failed stress testing after 10-15 minutes. Not a bad OC at all, not the best, but plenty good considering the target audience of the Infinity 975X.
Next, we dropped the memory divider to 1:1 and pushed on. Surprisingly, I was only able to push the board to 373FSB, not bad, but not in line with some of the results others are seeing from other Core 2 Duo based boards. Let me also add that my results are fairly typical from what I've seen on DFI's support forums. Something to keep in mind is that the guys over at DFI Street have really shown some great results with this board....with some pretty heavy tweaking of course.....which has always been a requirement for owners of DFI boards. If you plan on buying this board, or already own it, a great place to start is the DFI Street support forums, notably their overclocking database, where you'll find different configurations users and staff have found to get the best possible performance from their boards.
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| Cooling |
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| Operating System |
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| BIOS |
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We've changed our benchmarking suite at HL, which we'll cover more in an article next week. While we'll continue to include component specific benchmarks, as well as benchmarks typically used by users of all experience levels, we are going to focus on benchmarks that feature applications used by average people, every day.
PC World WorldBench 5.0
WorldBench is an applications-based benchmark that automatically installs a series of programs on your computer and then runs various tests to see how those apps perform on your system. WorldBench 5 uses real applications running real-world tasks to assess a PC's overall performance. This edition adds much more varied testing, including multitasking and task-switching tests, more strenuous 3D graphics marks, and audio and video encoding designed to stress today's more powerful systems.
DVD Shrink 3.2
DVD Shrink is a free software application used to backup DVD discs. You can use this software in conjunction with DVD burning software of your choice, to make a backup copy of any DVD video disc. For testing hardware components, I use Pink Floyd's "The Wall" with all setting set to maximum quality.
Sisoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic
SiSoft Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) 2007 Professional Edition is a 32 and 64-bit Windows system analyser that includes benchmarking, testing and listing modules. For testing processors we use Sandra's CPU Arithmetic benchmark.
Everest Ultimate Edition 2006
EVEREST Ultimate Edition is system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. For testing processors we use Everest's CPU Photoworxx benchmark.
Cinebench 2003
The tool is set to deliver accurate benchmarks by testing not only a computer's raw processing speed but also all other areas that affect system performance such as OpenGL, multithreading, multiprocessors and Intel's new HT Technology.CINEBENCH includes render tasks that test the performance of up to 16 multiprocessors on the same computer as well as software-only shading tests and OpenGL shading tests on huge numbers of animated polygons that will push any computer to its limits.
SiSoft Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant)is a 32 and 64-bit Windows system analyser that includes benchmarking, testing and listing modules. For testing memory we use Sandra's Memory Bandwidth benchmark.
Everest Ultimate Editon 2006
EVEREST Ultimate Edition is system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. During system optimizations and tweaking it provides essential system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities to check the effects of the applied settings. For testing memory we use Everest's Memory Read and Memory Write tests.
Super Pi Mod v1.4
Super Pi is a program used by enthusiasts to benchmark system performance. Owned and maintained by XtremeSystems.org, Super Pi is as much a competition as it is a benchmark, with many forums cataloging users times in the 1M and 32M calculations. For testing memory we use the 1M claculation.
Doom 3 is an "older" game that still is a good benchmarking tool as it highly stresses your entire system. For benchmarking we use TimDemo1.
Far Cry
The HardwareOC FarCry Benchmark is an easy-to-use tool, that makes Far Cry video card benchmarking fast and easy.
In 2004 Far Cry earned the "Best Game of the Year" award because of its awesome graphics and gameplay. It was the first game with Pixel Shader 3 support, which later became a standard in many other games.
While the user interface is simple, you can actually change more details than you think. With its one-of-a-kind screenshot feature, you can make snaps from the same frame from different views. You can also use OpenGL instead of Direct3D, or turn on HRD and Geometry instancing.
F.E.A.R
F.E.A.R has been said to be a "Graphical Masterpiece". It's use of High-Dynamic-Range-Lighting (HDR), and shadows pushes visual effects to an entirely new level. F.E.A.R is sure to push any hardware to the limits.
| Section | Score | Comments |
| Layout | 8/10 |
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| Features | 16/20 |
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| Bundle | 3/5 |
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| BIOS | 8/10 |
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| Stock Performance | 20/20 |
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| Overclocking Performance | 18/20 |
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| Warranty and Support | 5/5 |
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| Price/Value | 6/10 |
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Our Recommendation
The Infinity 975X motherboard is a pretty decent return to the INTEL market for DFI. When compared to the big boys currently on the market running $230-270, the Infinity 975X proves to be a comparative bargain. However, with several P965 based boards on the market from $90-160 offering most of the same features, its hard to call a $190 P975 board a "budget" motherboard. Looking at it strictly from a financial standpoint, its hard to see where this board fits in.
While I am more than happy thus far with my experience with the DFI Infinity 975 X, I think it's a good board for the crowd who has always embraced DFI products, mainly those who want to tweak and experiement. But for beginners or those who don't overclock their systems, I'd recommend saving your money and investing in a cheaper P965 INTEL motherboard.
Other Reviews Of Note
Its always nice to have more than one opinion on a component before you spend your hard earned money. For one, We may see something others missed, or vice versa. As with all reviews published at HardwareLogic, we'll not only give you our recommendation, but also point out some reviews from some other great sites around the web.
Bit-Tech
TweakTown