Print this article

Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW AMD760MPX


Date
: 08/23/02 – 01:35:05 PM

Author
:

Category
: Motherboard

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Gigabyte
Price: $250

Introduction

Some time ago, building an AMD-based dual processor rig meant buying a Tyan motherboard. The TigerMP was Tyan's "end user" model, and although it was a stable platform for your beloved system, it was lacking a few things to make it the ideal duallie platform. Other manufacturers noticed the growing demand for a good dual AMD motherboard, and in no time ABIT, MSI, IWill, ASUS and last but not least Gigabyte had their 760MPX based motherboard up for grabs. Today, Overclockers Online is taking a thorough look at the latter: the Gigabyte 7DPXDW v1.0. Gigabyte has put blood, sweat and tears in designing a killer platform to house a pair of AthlonMP CPU's … Did they accomplish their mission? O² investigates and reports …

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

I present to you, the Gigabyte 7DPXDW specifications, directly from the Gigabyte website:

Processor Supported

- Dual AMD Athlon MP Processors
- 200/266 MHz FSB

ChipSet Description

- AMD-760 MPX Chipset
- AMD 762 System Controller (Northbridge)
- AMD 768 Peripheral Bus Controller (Southbridge)

Memory Capacity

- Supporting up to 4GB of memory Supports ECC Modules

Memory Type

- 4 Registered PC2100 DDR DIMM slots

Error Detection

- Supports up to 4GB PC1600/PC2100 registered DDR memory

BIOS Type

- Single 2MB BIOS

Integrated Controller

- One AGP Pro Slot supports 4x modes
- AC97 CODEC

Integrated IDE / SCSI Controller

- Promise PDC20267
- Dual ATA 100 IDE Channel

Support RAID Function

- Promise PDC 20267 RAID controller supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1

Integrated Network Adapter Controller

- Intel 82550PM 10/100Mbps LAN Controller

Integrated Network Adapter Special Features

- Wake On LAN Support
- Fast Ethernet Channel (FEC)

Integrated Super I/O Controller

- WINBOND W83627 HF Super IO/Hardware Monitor

PS2

- Two

USB

- Two

COM

- Two

LPT Port

- One

RJ45 Port

- One

Expansion Slot

- 2 * 64bit/66MHz PCI Slots
- 3 * 32bit/33MHz PCI Slots

Board Style

- ATX Form Factor

Board Size

- 12" x 10"

OS Driver Supported

- Windows NT 4.0
- Windows 2000 Series

The 7DPXDW is available in three different models: the 7DPXDW-C, the 7DPXDW and the 7DPXDW+. The "C" model is the value edition and does not feature onboard RAID, LAN, sound, … just the bare essentials. The plain 7DWXDP, which I am reviewing, comes with all of the above and the "+" model is identical to our test sample but supports up to 2GB unbuffered ECC DDR memory or 4GB registered ECC DDR memory. It also features UDMA133 whereas the one I am testing only comes with UDMA100. The plus model also has a green PCB and green RAID ports, whereas the plain one has a sweet blue PCB and red RAID ports.

Having the models covered, let's take a closer look at the features that are coming with the 7DPXDW. The board supports the AMD AthlonMP CPU's and according to their manual, the board will not work with regular Athlon XP's or Duron processors (those names have been covered with some tape in the manual). By now, I'm sure you all know how to transform your pair of XP's into a pair of MP's (if not, take a look in the O² Forums) so that shouldn't be a problem. Note that the board supports every AthlonMP processor starting at 1600+ (1.4GHz) reaching up to 2100+ (1.73GHz).

As I already mentioned in the introduction, the GA-7DPXDW is built around the AMD 760MPX chipset, which is the successor of the AMD 760MP chipset. According to AMD, the MPX chipset (consisting of the AMD-762 Northbridge and the AMD-768 Southbridge) features an enhanced 66MHz/64- & 32-bit PCI bus and a feature-rich Southbridge that offers PCI-to-PCI bridging capability. Together, these two components provide an improved high-speed peripheral connection. The MP chipset (consisting of the AMD-762 Northbridge and the AMD-766 Southbridge) only comes with a 33MHz/64- & 32-bit PCI bus, making it a tad less powerful.

Having a powerful dual CPU rig means you need a fair amount of memory to give some working space to your beloved workhorse. The 7DPXDW supports up to 4GB registered (ECC) DDR memory, which should be more than enough to fulfill every geeks dream ;).

Expansion is easy too, thanks to the 5 PCI slots (two of them can take 64-bit PCI cards i.e. one of those ultra-sweet SCSI RAID controllers). Although most modern motherboards support 6 PCI slots, 5 should be enough as the board already has onboard LAN (Intel 82550PM 10/100Mbps controller) supporting Wake On LAN (WOL) and onboard sound (AC'97).

Talking about expansion, the 7DPXDW has a Promise 20267 onboard RAID controller supporting up to 4 IDE hard drives in a RAID0, RAID1 or RAID0+1 setup. Add to that the 4 IDE devices you can connect to the standard IDE controller and you have a lot of working room available!

Of course you also get the more standard ports as well: there are two PS/2 ports, two serial ports, a parallel port and last but not least two working USB ports. The MP-chipset based motherboards were known to have non-working USB ports, and some early MPX based boards suffered the same problems, but Gigabyte's dual AMD board is equipped with the "B2" Southbridge, meaning the USB ports do work (I tested them both to make sure they do). Unfortunately USB2.0 is not yet available …

Page 3 : Layout

Layout

Having two CPU sockets instead of only one would make you believe the layout is rather messy and cluttered. After glancing at the GA-7DPXDW for 5 minutes, I can honestly tell you this is not the case! Gigabyte's engineers did an excellent job with the layout of their AMD duallie.

Both CPU sockets are placed very well, as I could install a pair of Thermalright AX-7 heatsinks onto my processors without bending, touching, scratching or any other movement that can endanger the life of the motherboard. The Tyan TigerMP could also house these heatsinks, but some capacitators had to be bent a bit in order to fully accommodate the AX-7's.

The memory slots, which are next on my layout list, are placed in a way that they do not interfere with the AGP slot. Yes, this means you can add or remove memory without having to remove the AGP card! Way to go Gigabyte! I'm sure you all know how annoying it is when you have to remove your video card every time you want to change your memory configuration.

All four IDE connectors (onboard + RAID) are placed horizontally at the right bottom corner of the motherboard. Another good choice if you ask me. The floppy connector is also placed horizontally, sitting underneath the IDE connectors. Perhaps it would have been better to put it above the IDE connectors to make sure that people with a full tower case can reach their floppy drive located at the top of the case …

The fan headers are spread around the board: each socket has a fan header next to it (to accommodate your heatsink fans), another fan header sits in the middle of the motherboard (but is used by the chipset cooler) and the final header sits underneath the IDE connectors, ready to power an intake fan at the front of your case.

The ATX connector is placed at the top left side of the board, which is a good place to house an ATX power connector because it keeps the powercable from blocking airflow. The ATX12V connector sits in the middle of the motherboard, but since that wire is pretty slim, it won't block airflow in a dangerous way ;).

Page 4 : BIOS & Overclocking

BIOS & Overclocking

When it comes to dual processor systems, overclocking is not all that important. Why? Dual CPU rigs are meant as powerful and (very important) rock stable computers capable of fulfilling critical operations in all circumstances. Since overclocking can reduce stability (since there are so many variables), overclocking features are side-tracked most of the time.

Gigabyte (and almost every other dual motherboard manufacturer) feels the same way and does not include hardcore overclocking options like CPU core voltage or DDR voltage modifications. The only way you can get some extra juice from your box, is by increasing your front side bus a bit. The GA-7DPXDW has following FSB selections: 133MHz, 135MHz, 136MHz, 138MHz, 140MHz, 144MHz, 146MHz and 150MHz. I was able to run my pair of AthlonMP's 1900+ @ 2000+ with a front side bus of 140MHz, without losing stability. Anything higher would results in a blue screen during the boot process, most likely because the CPU's need more voltage to achieve that kind of speed.

Apart from overclocking features, the BIOS has everything you can ask for. Memory tweaks, hardware monitoring, … the 7DPXDW has it all. Thanks to the WinBond hardware monitoring chip, you can track all CPU's, motherboard temperature and also set warning temperatures, fan failure alarms and so on. In short, everything to keep your rig from getting killed in action.

After all, the BIOS features turned out to be satisfactory and offer everything you need to configure your dual box the way you want. Although overclocking is not top priority in the duallies market, Gigabyte was kind enough to supply us with FSB selections. Stability of the board has been excellent during the past three weeks that I have been testing it. The box runs RC5 24/7 and also has gone through several loops of 3D Mark and prime95 without causing one single BSOD!

Page 5 : Benchmarking

Benchmarking

The testbox consists of:

- Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW motherboard (AMD760MPX)
- Tyan TigerMP motherboard (AMD760MP)
- AMD AthlonMP 1900+ CPU's
- Thermalright AX-7 heatsinks
- 1GB Crucial DDR ECC PC2100 memory
- VisionTek GeForce3 video card
- Western Digital 20GB 7200RPM hard drive
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional + latest drivers

MadOnion 3D Mark 2001 SE

CliBench

SiSoft Sandra Benchmarks

Quake3 Demo001 & Torture Demo

Page 6 : Conclusion

Conclusion

Can I expect twice the power from a dual CPU machine, compared to the same box with only one CPU? The answer to that question is
NO
! Many folks believe that getting a dual CPU setup will double the speed of their computer. In theory, this might be right, but in real-world environments, things are quite a bit different. First of all, your OS has to support dual CPU's. Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional are up to this job, but Windows 9x and Windows XP Home can
not
use both processors. Apart from the OS, the software has to support two CPU's as well, in order to make optimal use of the power … Does that mean a dual CPU setup will not make a difference if your software doesn't support it? Yes it will make a difference, because CPU #1 can work on one application while CPU #2 can to all the background stuff. In the end, your workstation will not work at twice the speed, but it will definitely feel a lot "snappier", meaning it will run a lot smoother. Is this worth the extra money? Personally, yes: I have been a dual CPU addict since the day dual P3 motherboards became wide-stream and I'm still in favor today. I'll take a dual box over a single CPU system anyday.

If you feel like building a dual CPU, AMD based system yourself, the Gigabyte 7DPXDW is an ideal platform to use: the board has everything you need, comes with onboard RAID, sound and LAN and offers a very high level of stability. And it comes with working USB ports :).