DFI Infinity 975X/G

Richard's Thoughts:

First off I'd like to point out the price. Asus makes a "budget" Core 2-ready mobo that costs around £80 for example, however DFI's idea of budget seems to be twice what everyone else is at. That could be down to the fact that Intel's 975X chipset is not a cheap way to build an Intel-based motherboard. Aria is selling the board for around £130 including VAT not including delivery. Take into account that the Intel D975XBX reference board we've shown here is £165 - that doesn't look too bad for a 975X board, but there are definately cheaper alternatives on the market.

If you don't need CrossFire or can hold out until DFI brings out its RD600 mobo in a few months then the Asus P5B Deluxe is available for around the same price as DFI's Infinity 975X/G. If you don't need the extra gubbins then you can pick up an equivalent 975X board that is ready for Core 2 Duo from MSI. This is available for as little as £120 including VAT, and it incorporates the uprated Realtek ALC882M audio codec with Dolby Master Studio sound, along with everything else the DFI has except a PCI-Express x4 slot. You can also pretty much guarantee that the MSI 975X Platinum includes more goodies in the box as well.

DFI doesn't actually offer any other Core 2-ready motherboard at this current time as its NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition has just been delayed because the overclockability wasn't up to DFI's high standards. NVIDIA is said to be releasing a new version of its northbridge later this year that is said to be more overclockable than the current C19 chip.

For what the Infinity 975X/G offers in terms of standard performance it performs as fast as the Intel D975XBX board that costs £35 more and still manages to offer that moddable PCI-Express x4 slot and an equivalent onboard sound solution. Although, you do only get a single Gigabit Ethernet socket and there are no heatsinks covering the PWMs next to the CPU.

It's not a bad board by a long stretch, it still comes with the essentials like Gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel High-Definition audio and CrossFire support. It works very well for what it is and DFI has always put the effort into its LANParty range, rather than the Infinity line when it comes to overclocking and features, I accept that. I can also accept the price, but it's just not competitive and doesn't offer anything on top of what the competition out there offers.

For those reasons, it makes it hard for me to recommend the Infinity 975X/G over any other 975X-based motherboard, unless you absoultely have to have a DFI board in your system. I just get the feeling that DFI's budget boards aren't up to the high standards I have come to expect from the company's LANParty range.

Tim's Thoughts:

I think that Rich has hit the nail on the head with his thoughts about the layout and the fact that there are cheaper 975X motherboards out there. If layout is important to you, because you're using aftermarket heatsinks then the positioning of the power connectors is pretty poor on this board - you're likely to encounter some problems with cable routing.

On top of Rich's performance testing, I spent a few days with the Infinity 975X/G primarily focusing on overclocking and stability. I left this board running a stability test comprising of two instances of Prime 95, an instance of IOMeter and Far Cry looping at 1600x1200 4xAA 8xAF in the foreground. After 36 hours, I returned to the system and it was still running Far Cry at the frame rates we were seeing at the start of our test. After shutting down Far Cry, I was pleased to find both Prime 95 instances and IOMeter still running without any errors reported. This board definitely gets the thumbs up in the stability department.

When I first overclocked the board, I had some issues and couldn't get the board much above 325MHz front side bus, no matter what voltages I set and what mulitplier I used. Rich then came back and replicated my findings - we were unable to get the board any higher with the latest official BIOS on DFI's website. I had a hunt around the web, as DFI has a great support forum over at DFI Street - if you're a DFI owner, I really recommend having a look over there if you're struggling.

As for a maximum overclock, we got a Core 2 Duo E6700 to 3223MHz at 322MHz front side bus. This is not great at all, and is in C19 territory. However, it turns out that DFI released a BETA BIOS on the 30th August that is capable of doing much more than this. I was able to get the same CPU up to 356x10 with this BIOS, but then I wouldn't recommend using a BETA BIOS unless you're prepared to have headaches. I had to hotflash the BIOS chip on our Infinity 975X/G after the board failed to POST with the 830 BIOS the first time around.

I've been spending the last week or so overclocking a Core 2 Duo E6400 on the Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition and I have to say that if you're an overclocker that isn't bothered about CrossFire or SLI, the P5B Deluxe is definitely one of the boards to buy at the moment. Sadly, DFI's Infinity 975X/G doesn't fit into that category for those who require the capability to run high front side bus speeds on the slower Core 2 chips - it just doesn't have the headroom.

Final Thoughts...

There is nothing particularly bad about DFI's Infinity 975X/G motherboard, but DFI is a household name when it comes to overclocking. Sadly, the Infinity 975X/G doesn't live up to that reputation and those looking for a board to overclock their Core 2 processor should look elsewhere. If you absolutely need CrossFire to complement your Core 2 Duo but are on a budget, the Infinity 975X/G is worth consideration. Just don't expect any miracles in the overclocking department though.