Asus P5WDG2-WS: Intel 975X goes to Work
by Gary Key on December 6, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: Intel 975X from Asus and Gigabyte
The Gigabyte GA-G1 975X is a member of the G1-Turbo product family, and as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the serious PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several overclocking features such as Robust Graphics Booster (dynamic video card overclocking system), C.I.A.2 (dynamic front side bus overclocking system with 5 presets), and M.I.B.2 (memory performance system based upon chipset types). The preview of the Gigabyte GA-G1 975X features can be found here.
The Asus P5WDG2-WS is a member of the new Main Station product family, and as such, is a fully featured board targeted towards the Workstation user. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOS (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard and a fanless heat dissipation system.
We will be comparing the thermal characteristics of both solutions in our next article. Asus and Gigabyte have shown significant reductions in board temperatures with their respective solutions in laboratory testing.
| Specification | Asus P5WDG2-WS | Gigabyte GA-G1 975x |
| CPU Interface | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors | LGA775-based Pentium 4, Pentium 4 XE, Celeron D, and Pentium D processors |
| Chipset | Intel 975X ICH7R | Intel 975X ICH7R |
| Pentium D Support (Dual-Core) |
820D, 830D, 840D, 840EE, (Presler Support Present) | 820D, 830D, 840D, 840EE, (Presler Support Present) |
| Front Side Bus | 1066 / 800 MHz | 1066 / 800 MHz |
| Front Side Bus Speeds | 100 - 450 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | 100 - 600 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Memory Speeds | Auto, DDR-2 400, 533, 667, 800, 711, 889, and 1067MHz | Auto, 1.50, 2.00, 2.0+, 2.50, 2.66, 3.00, 3.33, 4.00 |
| PCI Bus Speeds | Auto, To CPU, 33.33MHz | Auto, 33.3, 34.2, 35.2, 36.3, and 37.5MHz |
| PCI Express Bus Speeds | Auto, 90 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) | Auto, 90 MHz to 150 MHz (in 1 MHz increments) |
| Dynamic Overclocking | AI Overclocking - Auto, Manual, AI NOS, and Overclock Profiles up to 30% Hyper Path 3- Auto, Enabled, Disabled PEG Link Mode |
Robust Graphics Booster - Auto, Fast, Turbo C.I.A.2 - Disabled, Cruise, Sports, Racing, Turbo, Full Thrust M.I.B.2 - Auto, Enabled |
| Core Voltage | Auto, 1.2875V to 1.70000V (in 0.0125V increments) | Normal, 0.8375V to 1.6000V (in 0.0125V increments), 1.6500V, 1.7000V, 1.7500V |
| DRAM Voltage | Auto, 1.80V, 1.90V, 1.95V, 2.00V, 2.10V, 2.15V, 2.20V, 2.30V | Normal, +0.1V, +0.2V, +0.3V, +0.4V, +0.5V, +0.6V, +0.7V |
| PCI- E Voltage | Auto | Normal, +0.10V, +0.20V, +0.30V, +0.40V, +0.50V, +0.60V, +0.70V |
| FSB Overvoltage Control | Auto, 1.20V, 1.30V, 1.40V, 1.50V | Normal, +0.05V, +0.10V, +0.15V, +0.20V, +0.25V, +0.30V, +0.35V |
| Memory Slots | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, ECC, un-buffered memory | (4) x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 667/533/400, non-ECC, un-buffered memory |
| Expansion Slots | (2) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-X (2) x PCI 2.3 |
(2) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-E x4 (2) x PCI 2.3 |
| Onboard SATA | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II |
| Onboard IDE | Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 100/66/33 |
Intel ICH7R: (1) x UltraDMA 100/66/33 100/66/33 ITE 8211F: (1) x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33 |
| SATA/IDE RAID | Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology Marvell 88SE6141: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and JBOD configuration |
Intel ICH7R: (4) x SATA II RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and Intel Matrix Storage technology |
| Onboard USB2.0 IEEE-1394 |
(8) USB2.0 ports (2) IEEE 1394a FireWire Ports by TI TSB43AB22 |
(8) USB2.0 ports (3) IEEE 1394a FireWire Ports by TI TSB43AB23 |
| Onboard LAN | Marvell 88E8062 Dual PCI-E x4 Gb LAN | Broadcom 5789KFB PCI-E Gb LAN |
| Onboard Audio | RealTek ALC882, 8-channel + 2-channel multi-streaming capable HD Audio codec Optical/Coaxial S/PDIF Out |
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit (CA0106-DAT LF), 8-channel capable, and DTS enabled codec. S/PDIF in/out port connectors included |
| Power Connectors | 24-pin ATX 4-pin 12V Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
24-pin ATX 4-pin 12V Plug 8-pin EATX 12V |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Parallel 1 x Audio I/O 1 x IEEE 1394a 2 x RJ45 4 x USB |
1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x Audio I/O 1 x RJ45 2 x USB |
| Other Features | AI Net2 CPU Lock Free Stack Cool 2 |
Turbojet Cooling Technology Multi-View Output C.R.S. - CMOS Reload Switch |
| BIOS | AMI 0109 (11/09/05) | AWARD F1 (11/18/05) |
The Gigabyte GA-G1 975X is a member of the G1-Turbo product family, and as such, is a fully featured flagship board targeted towards the serious PC enthusiast. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several overclocking features such as Robust Graphics Booster (dynamic video card overclocking system), C.I.A.2 (dynamic front side bus overclocking system with 5 presets), and M.I.B.2 (memory performance system based upon chipset types). The preview of the Gigabyte GA-G1 975X features can be found here.
The Asus P5WDG2-WS is a member of the new Main Station product family, and as such, is a fully featured board targeted towards the Workstation user. The board ships with an extensive accessory package along with several dynamic overclocking features such as AI NOS (Non-delay dynamic Overclocking System), AI Overclocking (intelligent CPU frequency tuner with preset profiles), ASUS PEG Link (automatic performance tuning for single/dual graphics cards), ASUS HyperPath 3 (BIOS setting to reduce memory latency), and the ASUS Ai Booster Utility Precision Tweaker software that allows control over certain system settings within Windows. The board also features the Stack Cool 2 design to dissipate heat to the opposite side of the motherboard and a fanless heat dissipation system.
We will be comparing the thermal characteristics of both solutions in our next article. Asus and Gigabyte have shown significant reductions in board temperatures with their respective solutions in laboratory testing.
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Gary Key - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
We are still working on a way to properly show this in the graph engine.Thank you.
imaheadcase - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
I saw this article 2 times put up already. anyone else seeing this?Last half a dozen reviews show up, i see people comment on them, then they disappear and come back latter. weird
wilburpan - Monday, December 5, 2005 - link
According to your Ethernet tests:Gigabyte GA-G1975X: 951.4 Mb/s
Asus P5WDG2-WS: 950.3 MB/s
Gigabyte GA-G1975X: 16.04% cpu utilization
Asus P5WDG2-WS: 23.78%
And in your text:
"The Marvell 88E8062 PCI Express Dual LAN solution exhibits slightly higher throughput along with very good CPU utilization rates. The Broadcom 5789KFB option on the Gigabyte board offers excellent throughput, but at a slightly higher CPU utilization than on other solutions."
With the data you have, it seems the exact opposite conclusion should be made.
Gary Key - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Hi,Unfortunately, our document engine had a mind of its own last night when the article went up the first time as it was not completed yet. The last couple of pages are correct now along with additional information that was not available last night. We had to wait on Asus to provide shipping drivers and Marvell firmware which changed the original scores (went down but stability increased). The new graphs were correct but my text changes had not caught up yet. We have been informed by Asus the 88E8066 chipset will actually be used on the board in the near future.
Thank you.
BrownTown - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
interesting stuff for the Presler there, I eagerly await your new article :pDanDaMan315 - Monday, December 5, 2005 - link
yayVegito - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Juicy.. I just need these pcix + pcie board for an amd machine.. :)Gary Key - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
We highly suggested this to Asus. ;->Pirks - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Many many years from now we'll get another Asus or any other r333w1 mobo (DFI LanParty Ultra 3.0? :) with quantum 1000 GHz CPU, UltraWideFirewire 24000, USB 8.0, built in laser keyboard link and wireless 80" display link... and a LOT more... and.......AND...
...and A FLOPPY CONNECTOR!!!
and AN LPT PORT!!!!!
and PS/2 JACKS!!!!!!
AND TWO, LISTEN TO THIS - !TWO! COM PORTS!!!!
bwahahahahahahaaaaa
I just can't look at all the museum artefacts on these so called "professional" mobos, when Macs have only USB and FW as their standard interfaces for years!
Yea I know Mac hardware is sucky/expensive, no cool gaming and stuff, but... I really understand well some of my Mac using buddies when they visit me while I'm working on one of my PC's "professional" mobos (upgrading heatsink or something), and they see one of these huge LPT connectors and they're like "WTF???!?!?"
I know noone cares about this stuff, noone will ever make decent and inexpensive legacy free PC mobo, just wanted to vent it off... thanks :)
Saist - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
obviously you have never tried to run a data center, or ever bought hardware on a budget, nor that you run windows...or are you conviently forgetting that Windows has the worst in-box hardware support available and that to run many SATA drives requires installing drivers as though they are SCISI devices rather than on-chip devices.
Or that not everybody can afford to upgrade to a new laser jet / ink jet / Hp OfficeJet at every new release, and that for many a business the stock dot matrix offers the best price/performance and there is no reason to replace a perfectly functioning dot/matrix printer for something that costs a lot more to run.
or that usb support for keyboards is a little spotty in the Microsoft bootloader if you do try to run multiple versions of windows
Or that many older devices still require the com ports.
Sure, if you are building a brand new computer and have no hardware you ever intend to run again, running a legacy free system is a good idea.
But, when you only have 5% of the market at best...
it just doesn't make sense.
Sorry, but I find the laughter and your comments to be so far off base... I can only sigh and wish I had your budget to spend.