Customer Reviews

Intel DP45SG Extreme Series P45 ATX DDR3 1333 2xPCIe 2.0x16 3xPCI 1333MHz FSB LGA775 Desktop Board - Retail

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I can't think of a single bad or wrong thing about it. Except for what I wrote in the update.

It had the slot configuration I wanted. Not many did.

There are no PS/2 (keyboard/mouse) or PATA (IDE/ATA)connections, just 12 USB ports (6 back panel, 6 more internal) and SATA (5 internal, 1 external), etc.

You can boot in legacy disk mode, which runs the SATA drives as if they were an old PATA (IRQ14/15), so I presume that you could install XP pre-SP3. Switch it back after install.

The driver disc is dated 19 June 2008; newer stuff at intel.com.

--------
Update: Audio out the analog jacks is messed up. I got a second/replacement board and it does the same thing. The audio goes in and out about once a second, sometimes it will play for 10 seconds straight, until you do something. Others have similar problems; somehow, some say audio is fine (never more than "fine").

The audio optical out is okay - no gaps or dropouts - but only for 2-channel stereo PCM. No AC3/Dolby Digital Live/Home Theatre - not that I can get to work EXCEPT from one (of two) test panels in the MS Vista mixer program, and that only tests the channels with tones. The other Vista MS mixer test panel fails to do anything w/r/t Dolby digital. This is with the IDT audio driver installed (current). Using the built-in MS Vista driver for the audio, the same drop out happens. Worse, the optical out does not work at all (no red light).

I've put the lastest BIOS (0109) in and no difference. The only card in this is an EVGA 9600GT video card. CPU is Q8200.

Important. The driver pack on the included CD will freeze XP since the USB portion (inf) is wrong. Result: No keyboard. No mouse. Not even safe mode gets around it so you'll have to reinstall XP. Go to intel.com and download the newer inf package for this board. I don't know if a vista install of this inf is the same way since I didn't use the CD there.


Besides that, this motherboard runs okay. Maybe intel can fix the problem. P.S. If you find references to use a Realtek "Vista_214.zip" driver, don't bother. It doesn't really install, and all you get is the built-in Vista driver for the mobo audio.

I have no internal audio connnections hooked up, only the back panel audio connections are being used.

--------------

UPDATE 2.0: Flashed to BIOS 0116 (5 May 2009) and the audio problem is no more. An updated audio driver package is available but that wasn't installed yet. The s/pdif (both 2.0 pcm and 2.1 digital) is still working fine. I can now say it's working fine (currently windows 7 rc).

Had to adjust timing and voltage setting for system ram. Installed XP sp3
it was easy and quick. No problems, freeze or any other glitches.

The Catalyst drivers for the 4850 even installed and worked.
All drivers from driver cd installed and worked (not using RAID drivers).
Motherboard came with a DVD GHOST RECON advanced warfighter
installed and ran with PhysX drivers. Fun game.

Extra Value added software included:

* Acronis True Image* 11 Home
* CyberLink Live* Premium
* Diskeeper 9*
* DivX Pro for Microsoft Windows*
* Dolby Control Center*
* Intel® Desktop Control Center (Internet Download)
* Kaspersky Work Space Security*
* Kingsoft Antivirus 2007*
* Kingsoft Powerword 2007*
* Laplink PCmover* Express
* Norton 360*
* Skype*
* TypePad*



Intel DP45SG motherboard
Cooler Master Elite 334 ATX Mid Tower Case Black - Mid Tower Case
650 watt antec power supply
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz 6M L2 Cache 1333MHz FSB LGA775 Dual-Core Processor
Masscool 8WA741 - Processor cooler - ( Socket 775 )
Corsair TWIN3X2048-1333C9DHX XMS3 DHX 2 GB 2 X 1 GB PC3-10600 1333Mhz 240-pin DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit
Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI / TVO PCI-Express Graphics Card
Western Digital 500GB 3.5", SATA, 16MB Cache Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD5000AAKS
Lite-On LH-20A1L 20x DVD±RW DL SATA Drive w/LightScribe (Black)
2 Antec TriCool case fan ( TRICOOL120MM BLUE LED )

Cross Fire will operate in x8 mode not x16.
from intel website:

1.6.1 PCI Express x16 Graphics
The MCH supports two add-in discrete graphics card via the PCI Express 2.0 graphics
connector:
* One Primary PCI Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16 or x8) bus add-in card connector.
The x16 interface supports simultaneous (full duplex) transfers up to 16
GBytes/sec when operating in x16 mode with a compatible PCI Express 2.0 x16
discrete graphics card. Backwards compatible with PCI Express 1.1 x16, supporting
a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 8 GB/s. Interface will operate in x16 mode
only if the secondary PCI Express x16 connector is not populated.
* One Secondary PCI Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8) bus add-in card connector: The
board provides a PCI Express add-in card connector in the form of a physical x16
connector with electrical routing of x8. This connector is an electrical equivalent of
a PCI Express x8 bus add-in card connector. This connector also supports x4 and
x1 PCI Express add-in cards. This interface supports PCI Express 2.0 bandwidth
when used with a compatible PCI Express 2.0 x16 discrete graphics card.

So far no problems like the ones listed by previous reviewers. Everything works great. I love the drivers getting installed so easily with the included CD. Also when I tried to overclock the memory, after the reboot the motherboard didn't like the settings, so it rebooted itself again after that, and basically reset the memory settings to the old settings. Nice feature!

System specs:
- OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz Intel Extreme Edition XMP Ready Series 6GB Triple Channel Kit
- Razer Lachesis Mouse
- Samsung 22X SpeedPlus Serial ATA Internal DVD Writer
- EVGA 512-P3-N879-AR GeForce 9800 GTX +
- Western Digital 500GB Caviar

well before building your computer you must read every single detail in the motherboard information, because if you pass a detail doesn't mean this product is a bad.I personal see first "Compusa" for a full review.
even if you don't now what your buying , you always can check it here for a good revision.
DDR3 1333 is a goood sppedd to begin,
this motherboard is very popular right now so don't blame this motherboard for that.

I used this board in building my first HTPC and am amazed at the speed and versatility it offers. I use this PC for entertainment rather than game-play and have not found a single weakness in it!

I bought this board because i wanted the latest and greatest and something both forward and backward compatible and the price. This mobo is all of that, however when i tried to install win xp i discovered it requires win xp SP2 and higher. The install for win xp SP1 is possible but requires extraneous software to install. To install win xp SP2 and higher requires a USB style FDD , the FDD will install the SATA drivers after pushing F6 on the xp install. I bought the compatible TEAC USB version.
Also a very nice feature on this board is the ability to run a quad core on win xp. The task manager will dislay 4 seperate CPU history charts. The mobo is also compatible the 64 bit version of xp and win vista.

Selected this motherboard to compliment the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz 12M L2 Cache 1333MHz FSB LGA775 Quad-Core Processor. No installation problems occurred the board has plenty of room for large video cards and memory card access. I am very satisfied with its performance and design.

It works as i expected.and came with some nice with some features i didn't know it had. it runs very cool came with 2 clear blue SATA cables. clean design. great for any new build

I replaced my Asus P5Q with Intel's DP45SG I swapped everything even the HD containing the old board set up and...... It worked! the board picked up everything, after installing the new drivers and the sound drivers, it was fully functional.
I have added a pair or Corsairs XMS3 4GB 2x2gb sticks ddr3 9-9-9 24 Nvidia Geforce GTX 260, I have no problems , all works fine, just my hard drives are crammed by the video card being so bulky.
Overall it was easy to set up, i just hope Intel can come up with a better way of clamping those heat sinks to the CPU, i tell you i thought i broke it at one point.

I have this to my new PC. I have to say this looks good. Ease instalation. It have all we needs to connect cards and periferals. No estupids add ons like PATA or floopy connector. DDR3 1333MHz (not support for 1600 or more, be carefull). I had read much problems with sound, i don't have any of that trouble and i don't get new BIOS yet.
A lot of USB, SATA.

Features
Intel Core 2 Quad 9650
DDR3 4Gg Corsair XSM3 1333MHz
CPU Cooler Thelmaltake Rubi Orb II
Grafics: ZOTAC GTX 275 896Mb (I'm waiting for XFX 5850 1Gg)
HDD Western Digital Caviar Green 1Tera (...yes!, i have to upgrade...) (and get two Caviar Blak for RAID 0)

Runs very good. A system win7 benchmark say a teorical 7.9 points, I Have very happy with 7.3 when I run this benchmark on my actual system (the bottle neck is the HDD).

Fully recommended this MOBO..... Get one if you want to upgrade your Quad Core to DDR3...