Intel D925XECV2 Motherboard Review :: The Board

Intel D925XECV2 Spec Sheet
Powered by MOBOT
Part Number	D925XECV2
Manufacturer	Intel
Price Check	Find Best Price
Downloads	BIOS Drivers Manuals
Chipset	Intel 925XE Express ICH6
North Bridge	Intel 82925XE MCH
Socket	LGA775 Socket
Processor Types	Pentium 4
Number of CPUs	1
Hyper-Threading Support	Yes
Front Side Bus	1066/800MHz
Memory Type	DDR2
Memory Channels	Dual
Maximum Memory	4GB
External Graphics	PCI Express x16
IGP	None
South Bridge	Intel 82801FB ICH6
Audio	8-channel
IDE	100/66/33
SCSI	None
SATA	1.5 GB/s
RAID	None
LAN	10/100
Firewire	None
USB	USB 2.0
Expansion Slots	4 x PCI 2 x PCI Express x1 1 x PCI Express x16
BIOS	Phoenix
Form Factor	ATX

Black PCBs have seem to become the norm for Intel's top shelf motherboards and the D925XECV2 follows in that same tradition being built on a clean black PCB that is laid out adequately enough to not be un-ergonomic, but the PCIe VGA card will still block a memory slot or two depending on the size of the card, a problem dating back to day one of the AGP slot. The board features the new 925XE chipset and ICH6-R controller and can support up to 4GB of 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM memory at both the 400MHz and 533MHz speeds via its four DIMM slots. Dual channel memory configurations are marked by matching color coded DIMM slots. Currently the board supports all the LGA775 CPUs available on the market and will support the newer CPUs via a quick BIOS flash.

One thing to take note of is the amount of different power interfaces there are on the board as the D925XECV2 motherboard has options that are very new to the platform. For starters there is a new auxiliary and alternate 12v power header. The auxiliary power can be used to power 1.5A of either system fans or LED emitters. The 12v power connector is for those using older power supplies that do not have all the proper connections. This is good news to the upgrade intended as it alleviates the absolute necessity of buying a new power supply. For stability reasons, and the sheer amount of power needed to use today's top VGA cards I would suggest a 450W or better PS just to be on the safe side. You should try and get a power supply with the correct 24-pin connection for optimal integration, although the 20-Pin type will still work.

There are four standard PCI slots, two PCI 1X slots and one PCIe 16X slot or PCI Express slots as they are more commonly known, to accommodate whatever discreet inline cards you choose to use in your configuration. The PCI Express slot has a locking clip to hold your VGA card in place. You can use four SATA drives or two PATA drives, with the system allowing six devices used in unison under the enhanced mode feature. Note that the ATA/IDE Configuration option must be set to Enhanced and the Intel(R) RAID Technology option set to Enabled for the Intel RAID boot BIOS to show on system startup. There are four SATA connections supporting up to four ATA150 drives and one PATA connector supporting two ATA 33/66/100 devices. The connections are well spaced out as to not create a cable mess and the board is clearly marked so you can see where to plug in all your system cables and case wiring without a magnifying glass.

Support for up to eight USB 2.0 connections is offered with four being located on the rear I/O port and four more can be connected by bracket via headers located on the board under the NB. IEEE or 1394 Firewire connectors are also available with one being located on the rear I/O and two more available again by bracket connected to headers on the board. LAN support is provided by the LAN subsystem using the Marvell Yukon 88E8050 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller supporting 10/100/1000Mb transfer rates that automatically set itself to the proper speed depending on the LAN environments parameters. The following I/O options are available on the rear panel of the D925XECV2 motherboard: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, serial and parallel ports, RCA and optical S/PDIF output ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394 port, 1 Marvell Gigabit LAN Ethernet port, and 5 analog audio ports.

Intel's High Definition Audio is a good idea done with a bad chipset and therefore not one of my favorites at the moment. Most users that are just using their system for the workplace environment will never even care about this and enthusiasts or gamers are going to use a Creative Labs Audigy2 so I will not make a big stink about this here and now. The reset jumper for the CMOS has a jumper with a header for easy on/off operations and further enhances the overall ergonomics of the board.

Discuss This Article