Linux and Friends Linux, Open Source, GNU, GPL and other topics of interest. DG31PR Intel Motherboard Review

Recently, I decided to upgrade my aging machine. The following were my requirements - I wanted to increase the memory (RAM) to at least 2 GB, buy a new SATA hard disk of larger capacity, and upgrade the processor to a more recent one. But when I went to the Computer shop, I was told that for all these things, I will have to buy a new motherboard as well since my old one did not support SATA hard disks, DDR2 memory and the Intel processor I had chosen.

After some search, I settled for the DG31PR Intel original motherboard.

DG31PR comes with a manual, circuit layout sticker, and CD containing drivers and miscellaneous software.

DG31PR is an Intel Classic Series Desktop board. It supports both Intel Core 2 Duo and the more powerful Intel Core 2 Quad processors. Intel provides a 3 year limited desktop warranty for this motherboard. This board cost me Indian Rupees 3425.

The following are the full specifications of the DG31PR Intel motherboard.

DG31PR Intel Motherboard Specifications

The DG31PR motherboard comes with the following specifications -

• 1 PCI Express x16 graphics connector
• 1 PCI Express x1 connector
• 2 PCI connectors
• 4 SATA ports (3 Gb/s)
• 8 USB ports - 4 back ports
• Integrated Gigabit ethernet connection
• Intel High Definition Audio (Enables 5.1 surround sound)
• Intel G31 Express chipset featuring Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100.
• ATA 100/66 connector
• 2 slots dual channel for memory (DDR2 800/667 SDRAM) - Max supported memory is 4 GB. (I have installed only 2GB so I have one memory slot free).
• LGA775 socket which supports the following processors - Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Pentium Dual-Core, and Intel Celeron 400 Sequence processors.

Specifications of DG31PR Motherboard

Sticker shows the circuit layout.

Well, I haven’t used any benchmarking software to test the motherboard but the following are my experiences.

DG31PR Intel Motherboard performance under Linux

I installed the latest version of Kubuntu on my machine. Kubuntu detected the onboard sound automatically. I was able to run the KWin effects smoothly in KDE 4. Intel has released Linux drivers for this board which you can download from Intel.com. But the good news is, you do not have to, since all the drivers are available in Kubuntu Linux or any of the other most recent Linux distributions, out of the box. This motherboard has good support in Linux.

DG31PR Intel Motherboard performance under Windows

I installed Microsoft Windows 7 Beta on this machine. And the results are quite satisfactory. Windows 7 provides what is known as a Windows Experience Index which rates the hardware, accessing key system components on a scale of 1.0 to 7.9. 1.0 being the lowest and 7.9 being highest.

DG31PR Windows Experience Index

My machine which had DG31PR motherboard and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor was rated a healthy overall score of 3.3. Desktop performance (Graphics) for Windows Aero was rated 3.4 and it worked smoothly.

Final Verdict

I am really satisfied with the performance of Intel DG31PR motherboard. There is no glitch in running Windows Aero effects or Linux Compiz / KWin effects in KDE 4. I was able to run Adobe Photoshop, MS Office 2007 and a few other big software smoothly in Windows. This is a good motherboard to choose if your computing needs revolve around web browsing, playing music & video, and running entry-level games. On the other hand, if you are a hardcore game enthusiast who enjoys playing graphics intensive games, then you should look elsewhere.

One concern I have is that this motherboard supports only upto 4 GB memory. More over, there are only 2 PCI slots available which sort of inhibits expansion. My old computer motherboard has 5 PCI slots.

But all things said and done, DG31PR Intel Original Motherboard provides good value for money and will be a good choice for majority of computer users.

Intel D975XBX (i975X) Motherboard Pictures

The uber HOT FedEx lady just dropped off the latest Intel D975XBX motherboard and I snapped a few pictures of it. This motherboard is using the Intel 975X Chipset and comes with three, yes three, PCI Express slots on the board.

A picture of the Intel D975XBX Motherboard:


The Intel D975XBX Motherboard Socket Area with Passive Cooling Flames:


A Closer Look at the Intel D975XBX Motherboard PCIe Slots:


Papers with the board explain that it has 2 PCI Express controllers in the MCH to enable either 1 x 16 or 2 x 8 operation for the 16 PCI Express lanes. In addition to multiple thread support, the Intel 975X Express Chipset enables key performance-optimized capabilities such as support for multiple 2x8 graphics cards, Intel Memory Pipeline Technology (Intel MPT), 8GB memory addressability to enable 64-bit computing, and ECC memory support.

9-way Intel P35 motherboard round-up

By Steven Walton on August 22, 2007 Editor: Julio Franco Manufacturer: Various Write / Read user's feedback Bookmark / Share This Find Motherboard prices

Anyone looking at building a new desktop system should not look any further than Intel Core 2 processors, and when time comes to pick a platform you should have Intel's own P35 chipset in mind as it officially offers 1333MHz FSB support and will be compatible with upcoming 45nm processors. This translates in a fairly 'future-proof' platform, with some models currently available supporting DDR3 memory already.

But as new as this chipset is, deciding that you want a P35-based motherboard is not enough. Most major manufacturers have already launched several different models powered by the chipset, to give an example, ASUS currently offers a dozen motherboards models all based on the Intel P35.

We have rounded up some of the better examples available for one big article where we shall compare them side by side. Although we have nine motherboards to compare, they come from just four different manufacturers: Abit, ASUS, ECS and Gigabyte. These boards range from $90, all the way up to $230.

As mentioned before, there are a number of Intel P35 motherboards that offer support for DDR3 memory, and while we have a few of these boards on hand, such as the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe/Premium and the Gigabyte P35T-DQ6, we are deliberately excluding them from the comparison. At the moment just 2GBs of DDR3 memory will set you back around $400 which is quite ridiculous, making it pointless (for the time being) to buy a DDR3-capable motherboard given the price premium. That leaves us with the nine motherboards we are testing today that support DDR2 memory exclusively.

For this P35 round-up we have tried to include a high-end version and a budget version motherboard from each manufacturer. The boards will be put through the usual batch of tests, while we will also compare their overclocking abilities side by side. Before jumping into the benchmarks we will briefly list the features and go over the layout and design of each motherboard.

Initially we had planned to include a few MSI motherboards that were going to be supplied by the manufacturer itself. Unfortunately once we explained our plan for a comparison against competing boards, they got cold feet and pulled out. Not sure exactly what we should make of this, so make of it what you will. Because the news came somewhat last minute we did not have time to purchase these motherboards without delaying the article further, we apologize for the omission.

Attached Thumbnails intel desktop boards

Intel 1 GH Mini-ITX mother board

Compact Intel Mini-ITX- motherboards

Intel Socket 479 Celeron M 1 GHz CPU on Mini-ITX Motherboard with Intel 852GM Chipset

Mini-ITX Motherboards are much smaller compared to Standard motherboards

:: Application

Compact desktop or mobile computer Embedded Single Board Computer systems Thin clients Network devices like Firewall, encryption hardware, Network monitor, Device manager etc. Embedded Windows NT/XP clients Industrial control systems

Mini-ITX Motherboard - Socket 479 Mini-ITX Motherboard with Intel 852GM Chipset - Supports Intel Pentium M or Intel Celeron M Processors - Dual View Video with different content and resolutions - 1 x DDR Memory Slot supports up to 1GB - 4 x COM Ports (3 x RS-232 and 1 x RS-232/422/485) - Dual 10/100 LAN Ports - 6 x USB 2.0 Ports - RoHS Compliant

N. & S. Bridge Intel 855/852GME + ICH4 CPU FSB 400MHz CPU socket mPGA479M socket Expansion Slot 1 PCI Memory type DDR333 Memory DIMM Socket/MAX 1G VGA Integrated LAN 2 x 10/100 LAN ports Codec ALC655 Audio 6 PATA 4 Devices USB 2.0 4 ports on Rear/ 4 ports pin header Form Factor Mini-ITX (170 x 170)

Tolapai processor The Tolapai processor is based on Pentium M processor with clock frequency speed grades of 600-MHz, 1.06-GHz and 1.2-GHz, the report said. The processor is expected to support DDR2 memory interface operating at data transfer clock rates of between 400- and 800-MHz to up to 2-Gbytes of off-chip memory. The power consumption is estimated at between 13 and 22 watts. The processor has 256-Kbytes of on-chip cache, according to one slide. It is not clear from the information whether Tolapai is a new processor or an established processor that is in the process of being recharacterized, and/or repackaged, for industrial applications and an industrial temperature range. Operating system support includes Linux, Windows Embedded XP and FreeBSD one of the slides said. The processor will offer optional hardware support for encryption and decryption including coverage of such standards as AES, 3DES, RC4, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-224-256-384-512, HMAC, ESA and DSA up to 1.6Gbps, the report said. The processor could be suitable for IP telephony, the report concluded. Catalyst Module eMenlow processor Intel eMenlow platform with Silverthorne processor and Poulsbo chipset with up to 1.5 GHz CPU speed Extensive multimedia including multiple video interfaces (UXGA, XGA, SXGA, HD), Codecs for H.264, MPEG-4/2/1, Windows Media-9, and DivX Dual display output capability, Intel HD audio, and support for 4 and 5-wire touchscreen interface Operating system support for Microsoft Windows CE, XP, XPe, Linux, and other RTOS Extensive communications and I/O including USB 2.0 ports, Analog and digital I/Os, CanBUS, Serial ports, PCI-Express for high-speed I/O 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet and Mini-PCIe for wireless Advanced power management capability including ACPI power management and system health/environmental monitor Memory up to three SD/MMC cards and two PATA disk drives with up to 1 GB of DDR-2 support Application-ready platform delivers all hardware and software drivers through the operation system Module size 67 x 100 mm with temperature range up to -40 °C to +85 °C.

Intel DX48BT2 Extreme Series Motherboard

The Intel DX48BT2, formerly codenamed Bone Trail, is targeted at enthusiasts and gamers.

It is the first Intel board to support 1,600MHz frontside bus (FSB) — the interconnect between processor and RAM — for even faster memory access and extra room for overlocking.

ECS PF5 Extreme Intel motherboard

As a PC system builder in my dark and murky past, I was reasonably familiar with ECS, or to give it its full moniker, Elitegroup Computer Systems. Invariably its products were specified for budget systems where cost was more important than capability. Despite the fact that ECS was, and still is, a high volume manufacturer, its boards were seen as a poor and often unreliable alternative to the better specified alternatives. In fact you’d be surprised how many unflattering phrases you can make from the acronym “ECS”.

With this in mind I’m sure you can imagine my concerns when regarding this review. This was despite a succession of genuinely innovative recent products from ECS, not least of which was the eminently sensible dual-platform PF88 Extreme, accommodating both Socket 939 AMD CPUs and also LGA775 Intel processors by way of nothing more than an add-in daughter board. Nevertheless, I was all too aware that it takes more than one moment of genius to build a reputation.

The ECS PF5 Extreme is an LGA775 motherboard based on Intel’s popular 945P Express (945P + ICH7R) chipset. Although Intel positions this chipset as a value desktop part, it in fact boasts some high-end features including 1066, 800 and 533 MHz system bus support, PCI-Express x16 graphics, dual-channel DDR2, SATA RAID and high definition audio to name but a few.

First reactions on seeing the PF5 are that something is missing. The clean design and nearly invisible traces combine with what seems like acres of bare, purple PCB to give the impression of it being almost spartan in nature.

Despite the illusion, it’s pretty much all there. Three PCI slots sit alongside a pair of PCI Express x16 slots and a single PCI Express x1 slot. A bank of five blue LED status lights sit alongside each of them, bar the primary PCI Express x16 slot. These either flash to denote that the slot is empty or if the card is not seated or functioning, correctly, or light constantly to denote the slot is in use and is functioning properly. Surface-mount LEDs would have looked neater than the clumsy looking 5mm units ECS opted for.

I mentioned there are two PCI Express slots on this motherboard but before you start thinking SLI let me set you straight. You can run dual graphics cards, and from these you can power up to four displays, but they run discretely. At this point nVidia hasn’t released drivers for SLI on anything but its own nForce4 chipset, but ATI claims that Crossfire will work, though I couldn’t test this. If you do populate both PCI Express slots, the x1 slot that sits between them is disabled due to PCI Express bandwidth limitations.

Intel D945GCPE Socket 775 Barebone Kit By Tim McGuinness Ph.D. on March 12th, 2008 Intel D945GCPE Barebone KitThe Intel D945GCPE Socket 775 Barebone

Intel D945GCPE Socket 775 Barebone Kit

By Tim McGuinness Ph.D. on March 12th, 2008

The Intel D945GCPE Socket 775 Barebone Kit is a great purchase when you want a high end system capable of running power hungry applications while saving money. You’ll have full control over what goes into your system to maximize the system for your needs and be able to buy an extra stick of RAM or a bigger monitor with the money you save.

Build Your Own PC…Tiger Style!

At the heart of the system is a dual core Pentium E2180 with a clock speed of 2.0GHz and 800FSB that is built for today’s multi-threaded applications and consumes significantly less power than its predecessors. The socket 775 design, also known as Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) means that it is easy to install and upgrade your processor.

The Intel Dual-Core Pentium Brains of the Operation

The processor is mounted on the Intel D945GCPE motherboard which supports the Pentium 4 processor line, the Celeron D line of processors as well as the higher end Dual Core processors which is good for when you plan on upgrading to a newer processor. Although the motherboard doesn’t come with PCI Express and PCI Express x16 expansion slots, it does come with a built in Intel GMA 950 graphics core that will fulfill most of your home and office graphics computing needs.

The Little Motherboard that Could

For peripheral connectivity, the motherboard comes equipped with 8 USB 2.0 ports, giving you plenty of room to add extra storage, printers, game controllers and any other USB device that’s on the market today. The motherboard also features a 10/100Mbit Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller so you’ll have a high speed connection to your home or office network. For internal storage, the motherboard has 2 high speed SATA lines and 1 IDE line that supports up to 2 ATAPI devices meaning you can have up to 4 separate hard disks in your system. The motherboard also has two 140-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM for a maximum total of 2GB of system memory so you can run even the most hardware intensive applications without a hitch.

You won’t have to spend any money on a soundcard as the motherboard comes equipped with a built-in Realtek ALC662 audio codec which supports high quality 4-channel audio so you can use your system as a multimedia center for watching movies and listening to music. To make sure everything inside your system runs smoothly, the motherboard is equipped with monitoring technology to monitor CPU and system temperature, voltage and rotational speed of the system fans.

Power Where You Need it…

The case is a black ATX mid-tower case with front USB ports for easy access and 7 expansion slots. For storage, the kit comes with a Seagate Barracuda drive with a capacity of 80GB and spins at 7200RPM and connects to the motherboard through a SATA interface that doubles bus bandwidth to provide disk performance of up to 1.5GBps for maximum system performance. The barebone kit comes with one stick of 1024MB high performance DDR2 SDRAM, enough to run any hardware intensive program. A Coolmax V-400 400Watt power supply is used to power the system and has plenty of extra power to run any additional devices or peripherals you wish to connect.

…And Plenty of Storage as Well.

The low price of the barebone kit is hard to beat with the performance it delivers making it the perfect choice for home and small offices where high computing performance on a limited budget is a priority. The 2.0GHz Dual Core processor is no slacker and will crunch through any high performance program, especially when paired up with 1GB or more of DDR2 memory. If the 80GB SATA hard drive is not enough storage for your needs, the system also has plenty of free space for additional upgrades and peripherals making it suitable for long term use as its parts can be separately upgraded.

Related Links:

• Intel D945GCPE Socket 775 Barebone Kit
• Additional Resources

By Kristoffer Scheyer

Barebone, D945GCPE, DDR2, E2180, intel, motherboard, Pentium, Socket 775

Categories: Reviews
Tags: Barebone, D945GCPE, DDR2, E2180, intel, motherboard, Pentium, Socket 775

Gigabyte GA-8I955X Royal

The Gigabyte board ran like a champ up to FSB clock speeds of 300 MHz or FSB1200 - we actually couldn't make it run faster anyway. Here again, the CPU is probably the culprit, as it refused to run much faster than 4 GHz.

This mobo is Gigabyte's top-of-the-line Intel motherboard, endowed with the Royal appellation along with everything else anybody might want. Next to three x1 PCIe slots and a like number of 32 bit PCI slots you'll find the PCIe x16 slot for a graphics card. A supplementary SATA chip services two external SATA connections, and a GigaRAID controller enables two UltraATA/133 channels to handle RAID 0, 1 and 10. Another chipset delivers support for both FireWire 1394a and 1394b.

A big orange slot accommodates the DPS (a mixed up acronym for Power Delivery System) module, which doubles the four phases of power to the motherboard up to a total of eight. Through parallel switching one of these sets smoothes out warm-up of the voltage regulator, while the other helps boost power signal quality and delivery.

Two Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet chips enable this motherboard to make a snappy connection to the outside world. Part of the 8I955X Royal's capabilities include remote operation controls to turn the computer on or off, or to launch pre-selected programs with two clicks of those same switches. It even includes a Bluetooth USB Dongle among the accessories bundled in the package.

ILock

Gigabyte's iLock facility takes advantage of its remote operation controls to disable access to the computer, and can even make shut down remotely (and restart, if told to do so).

Intel 975XBX2KR Motherboard - Intel 975X, Socket 775, ATX, Viiv Ready, Audio, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0 & Firewire, Serial ATA, RAID

More Intel Products		Item Number: I69-2145 Model: BOXD975XBX2KR THIS ITEM IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE 8 Larger Photos

Intel 975XBX2KR Motherboard Based on the Intel® 975X Express Chipset, the 975XBX2KR Socket 775 motherboard supports the Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition, a 1066-MHz system bus, dual-channel DDR2 667 memory and multiple simultaneous PCI Express* x16 graphics cards. Premium features such as Intel® Matrix Storage Technology, 1394a, Intel® High Definition Audio with support for 7.1 surround sound and Intel® PRO 10/100/1000 LAN deliver a platform that can meet the needs of the most demanding applications, high-end games, and digital content creation.