Customer Reviews

G965 LGA775 Dc Max 8GB DDR2 1066MHZ Atx PCIE16 Gbe VGA Snd

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The board appears to be mis-named by Amazon. My review is of the DG965wh board which is a media edition board with Viiv technology, on board 7.1 high def (96K) audio and on-board video processing.

I have two desktop computers. The other one, with a 2.4 GHz P4, also has an Intel board. It is a workhorse. This one replaces an AMD Athalon 2200+. I was happy with the AMD, but decided it was time to get Vista ready. I got rid of the AMD because it had a better case than the P4.

Initially, I bought an ECS P4M800Pro and a Pentium D. I couldn't keep it up and running. I changed the memory, the video card, the sound card. Nothing worked. Back it went. I got three of them, and none worked.

Finally, I decided to upgrade to a high end gamers motherboard. It had 9 SATA ports, 2 IDE connections, overclocking, etc. I could never get the drivers loaded. Back it went.

Then, I got a Gigabyte m/b. This one was very good. A week later, the Core 2 Duos were released. Since I bought the Gigabyte on sale as a combo with the processor, both had to be returned at the same time.

Finally, I opted for this m/b with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6400. This one will not get replaced for some time. It is mated to an ATI X800 video card with 1 GB of PC 4300 memory. It got the following benchmark scores.

At screen resolution of 1024 X 768 it got the following benchmark scores:

3dMark 2001 = 22,715

3dMark 2003 = 11,223

3dMark 2005 = 5,098

PerformanceTest 6.0 PassMark = 710.5

SiSoftware Sandra Performance Rating : PR7246 (estimated)

The Good: It installed easily. The drivers and software installed cleanly. The BIOS set-up is easy, if not simplistic. (BIOS for dummies!) It has on-board video and audio so you don't immediately need to blow an extra a couple hundred dollars to have a working computer. The on board Intel 7.1 audio is high definition. It is very clean and has connections for all 8 speakers. (Some motherboards give you the 7.1 audio but there is no way to connect all of the speakers!) It has 6 SATA ports and an IDE connector for CD/DVD drives, sufficient PCI slots so you can use your old modem, and 16X PCI-E graphics slot so you can upgrade the video.

The reasons it gets 4 Stars: 1) The on board video is slow and uses an inadequate amount of shared memory which is not adjustable; 2) the audio output is low in comparison to other audio cards/on board audio; 3) the Intel 965 chip set does not support overclocking; and 4) it does not have SLI or Crossfire support for multiple video processors.

Follow-up: Subsequently, I built another system using a similar Gigabyte board which uses an almost identical chipset and moved the Core 2 Duo to it because I wanted to play with overclocking and because it uses all solid core capacitors. This board has now been turned into a Vista box with a Pentium D. I added an Nvidia video card and a Creative Audigy SoundBlaster, and it is now integrated into my home theater system, using the Viiv technology. Note: the board does not have TV-out or a coax (RCA plug) digital audio out so the sound card and video card were necessary.

Conclusion: This is a very good board which is apparently designed for an office computer or for multimedia use. It is not for hard core gamers, although it will be adequate for most games. It is a solid performer with no glaring faults.

Motherboard - Intel DG965WH

I used a Core 2 Duo E6400 with 1 stick of DDR2 Kingston Value RAM. Installation was flawless . The Onboard Sound is great, far better than any other integrated sound solution I've ever used. The Intel GMA X3000 is also a great video solution for those on a budget, it will hold you over unti you get a better video card. Runs Great, never had a problem with the SATA , everything good, remember the older power connector i think 20 pins will work in a 24 pin connector, jusr orient the plug properly, hope this is helpful

This is an excellent board if you're looking to upgrade to Vista Aero graphics capability built in. If your hard disks connect through "old-fashioned" Ultra-ADA EIDE as opposed to SATA then you'll need to buy a card. Also, no digital video output, just analog. This is OK unless you watch your computer on a big screen. What a great value! Easy, mindless setup.. If I could do it, then anybody can.

I hired an IT expert to set up the system, and the Computer could not locate any audio hardware. The selling point of this motherboard is that it comes with a built-in 7.1 channel dolby home stereo sound card. I searched on the internet for similar problems and found that some are just defective. The lack of audio on the motherboard cannot be repaired.

I called Intel during 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and received authorization to return the motherboard under the warranty. It took about 3 hours to get authorization. To be continued.