*** Official Intel DP965LT Thread ***

[TL514]

Kinda stupid on Intels part to only have 2 full 965 atx boatds for the core 2 and one of them no one carries "the 965W". i'm in the spending mode and need to reformat anyway, I really don't want to do this twice. IE: reformating my 945PSN w/P4 3.2 640. I would rather just upgrade. Talked to Intels techs an to no surprise they have n/c when more boards will be availble "imagine that". Funny thing is to this day I still swear my old P4 2.8 w/865Perll board was the best system I ever owned, I never had a issue with that setup. I just wonder if a bios fix down the road wil solve the utilities issues etc on this, if I knew for sure I'd just go grab it.

 

[pcy]

Hi,

Well... Intel e-mail Tech suport don't seem to be in the communications game, so I rang them and had a much better experience.

No answers mind you, but at least a clear agreement that some of these problems are peverse and need rapid attention. All three problems have been escalated to level 2, with the promise of an situation update to-morrow (Friday).

To Recap:

No Desktop Utilites.

Current Situation: A bios upgrade is needed for the SM Bus to work. The lack of any monitoring or adjustment in Bios Setup may also be caused by the lack of support in the current Bios (0816) for the SM Bus. Work on this issue is in progress.

Next Step: Confirmation that a bios upgrade will fix this. ETA for the new Bios. Confirmation of whether this will also proved Bios Setup features to monitor voltages, fan speeds etc, and change (some of) them.


1.8V RAM only.

Current Situation. Agreement that this is peverse. Additional voltages can probably be resolved with a bios upgrade.

Next Step: Confirmation of Intel's intent in this respect.


No Support for CD ROMs in DOS.

Current Situation. Agreement that this is needed.

Next Step: Confirmation of whether this problem is caused by a faulty board (RMA) or whether a replacement oakcdrom.sys or updated bios is required.




So still hope.



Peter


EDIT: I'd like to report that the promised phone call materialized (many brownie points); and there is some news to report:

Work is indeed in progress on a new Bios which will support the SM Bus; and Intel seems to appreciate the urgency of this. It is likely that Bios Setup features analagous to those provided via the Desktop Utilities will also become available once the SM Bus is working.


The need for RAM voltage adjustment is accepted and will be made available in a future Bios.

 

[MRL926]

I went with expensive! 1.8v memory from Crucial after reading that nothing but 1.8v would work. Board and memory have been rock solid. Now if Intel would update the BIOS for the Desktop Utilities.

Part No. CT2KIT12864AA80E 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM Upgrade for a
Intel DP965LT System - 352.99

 

[GeoJet]

Positives:
I just built a system on this board a few days ago with a Core 2 E6600 and it was the easiest install I have had in a while.

I'm using 2x1GB of corsair value select PC2 5300 that runs at 667MHz.
The video card is a Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH Geforce 7600GT

Everything booted right away and windows XP installed without a hitch. I updated the bios and the drivers and it all works.

Now for some strange observations:
1) The machine ran fine with a basic one SATA drive and one ATA Samsung DVD drive. When I added two additional Samsung SATA drives, the power up sequence was abnormal (could surely be a Power Supply issue). At power up, the fans started and drives started up for about 2 seconds but then it all seemed to stop for about 3 seconds and then it would start again and boot fine. I could just leave it like this but I tried two things. Removing power from the 2 additional drives prevented this but that is not a desirable option. I then added a 10 sec pre-delay to the drive settings in bios and for whatever reason, that works.

2) When I disabled the LAN connection from within windows, then tried to shut down, the machine would never actually power down completely. All the fans remained on. Only a 'hard' off (4 seconds holding the off button) would turn it off. Can someone else confirm that on their board?

Negatives:
The board seems to lack a few nice to have features like the ability to power up with a keyboard hit (It does have "resume" from keyboard though).

Summary:
It's a good, basic, and relatively inexpensive motherboard that gives you the ability to run a core 2. I'm sure some of the power issues will be fixed with a BIOS updates.

For those that might suspect the power supply for the first strange observation I described, I would agree. It's an Ultra X-Finity 500 watt supply. It seems like it should get the job done but perhaps I got what I paid for. It will end up only costing me $10 after a $50 rebate. Maybe that's all it's worth but we will see. I have not read too many complaints about it.

 

[pcy]

Hi,

Mine is apparently running fine on some Corsair 800Mhz 5-5-5-12, with a nominal requirement fo 1.9V

The problem is, that this could be plain blind luck, with no guarantee that if I built anothe the same it would also work.

And no way of telling until the SM Bus is supported...



Peter

 

[jcgrcm]

GeoJet,


That definately sounds like the power supply on the drives. With the various SCSI drive arrays I have worked with, you can set the drives to wait a couple of seconds X their SCSI id so each drive powers up one at a time; just to protect the drives and the power supply. This is even on isolated drive enclosures with their own large, dedicated power supplies.

As far as disabling the LAN connection, I did that myself earlier in the week, and haven't noticed any ill effects. You are talking about just under network connections (what I did), or did you do that in Device manager? There is a bios update at the intel site from earlier in August, if you haven't flashed that yet your probably should.

I can double check the LAN thing sometime this weekend and get back to you if I notice anthing different.

 

[GeoJet]

Originally posted by: jcgrcm
GeoJet,
are talking about just under network connections (what I did), or did you do that in Device manager?

jcgrcm, It was under network connections. I did flash it using the windows based tool that came with the board. It may be a coincidence that it failed to power off completely while the LAN was disabled. I'll have to try it again.

About the power supply: Do you suggest I keep it with the pre-delay settings, or should I get a better one. It's supposed to have separate 12V supplies. One for the CPU and one for everything else. It's spec'd at 16 amps and 18 amps. Looking at the Drive peak current specs, The 3 hard drives and the DVD drive don't add up to that much (about 10 amps). Is the power supply exaggerating it's capability?

 

[slpaulson]

Originally posted by: pcy
Hi,

Mine is apparently running fine on some Corsair 800Mhz 5-5-5-12, with a nominal requirement fo 1.9V

The problem is, that this could be plain blind luck, with no guarantee that if I built anothe the same it would also work.

And no way of telling until the SM Bus is supported...



Peter

Is your memory running at 800MHz? I have the same memory, and mine runs fine at 667MHz, but pukes at 800MHz.

 

[pcy]

Hi,

Yes - 800Mhz (as far as I can tell).


I think this is just luck. Maybe the RAM sticks are a bit more tolerant than normal, and maybe the RAM voltage just happens to be on the high side.


No way to know until we have the SM Bus working...



Peter

 

[jazzpicker]

When I decided to build a conroe system I called intel pre-sales to ask about mobos, memory etc. According to Intel, the DP 965 LT mobo was the best option. I looked at kingston's recommended ram and bought 2 gigs of KVR533D2n4K2 for less than $200, the mobo was $117 and decided to use a E6700 $570. THe rest of the components I already had. I almost refused delivery of the mobo after readiing about all the problems with this mobo.
I did a minimal build outside the case with 1 stick of ram, video card and cpu and luckily the board posted. After that everything installed without problem until I got to the faulty driver and utility disks. I did use the driver disk to get connected to the net and after that I was able to get the drivers from intel's site. I can't believe that intel would think of shipping faulty drivers and utilities with any product. Also, no manual came with the board. There is no excuse for not having a system monitoring program. I have found nothing at intel or working freeware downloads.
Bottom line: I have a working conroe board for little money. It lacks a a system monitoring program and has the most basic bios I've ever seen. THe board and chip seem stable and it's faster than my AMD 4800 X 2 computer but not by far.
I'm suprised that Intel didn't pay attention to details with drivers but I'll keep it for now and probably upgrade as the prices go down on the ram and new mobos.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to share what worked for me since there are problems with the board. If anyone finds a way to monitor temps, fan speed, please post.

 

[DaveLessnau]

I've got some questions about connecting external speakers (5.1) to the rear jacks on this motherboard. From what I can see, the three rear jacks (Line In/Line Out/Mic In) are supposed to retask when plugged into speakers. It looks like I'd plug the Rear Left/Right speakers into the Line In jack, the Front Left/Right speakers into the Line Out jack, and the Center/Subwoofer speakers into the Mic In jack. Is that correct? Do I have to do anything else or does the "retasking" happen automatically. My guess is that I'd have to at least tell XP it's a 5.1 speaker system. Or, is that in the audio driver software?

Second, are there any particular cables I'd need for those three connectors?

 

[jcgrcm]

Originally posted by: GeoJet

Originally posted by: jcgrcm
GeoJet,
are talking about just under network connections (what I did), or did you do that in Device manager?

jcgrcm, It was under network connections. I did flash it using the windows based tool that came with the board. It may be a coincidence that it failed to power off completely while the LAN was disabled. I'll have to try it again.

About the power supply: Do you suggest I keep it with the pre-delay settings, or should I get a better one. It's supposed to have separate 12V supplies. One for the CPU and one for everything else. It's spec'd at 16 amps and 18 amps. Looking at the Drive peak current specs, The 3 hard drives and the DVD drive don't add up to that much (about 10 amps). Is the power supply exaggerating it's capability?

Well, fans and motors will draw the most current when they are spinning up; it sounds like you are running over the limit of the PS during startup and it levels off one everything is running. So I guess either upgrade the PS or keep staggering the startup of the Drives or even the various fans if possible.

 

[jcgrcm]

Originally posted by: DaveLessnau
I've got some questions about connecting external speakers (5.1) to the rear jacks on this motherboard. From what I can see, the three rear jacks (Line In/Line Out/Mic In) are supposed to retask when plugged into speakers. It looks like I'd plug the Rear Left/Right speakers into the Line In jack, the Front Left/Right speakers into the Line Out jack, and the Center/Subwoofer speakers into the Mic In jack. Is that correct? Do I have to do anything else or does the "retasking" happen automatically. My guess is that I'd have to at least tell XP it's a 5.1 speaker system. Or, is that in the audio driver software?

Second, are there any particular cables I'd need for those three connectors?

Haven't tried it with this motherboard, but when using older Intel MB's whenever you plug something different in, a popup dialog will open asking what you plugged in and what is it for. I don't thing I ever tried that when the machine was already on, but at least at bootup you should get that dialog, and you can use each jack for any purpose.

There is a full manual available out at the support site at developer.intel.com; I would think it would cover this.

 

[jazzpicker]

I found a utility program called "Core Temp" that works with this mobo to monitor and log cpu temps. I have no idea if the program is safe but seems to work well on my computer. It's freeware from Israel. I feel better knowing the temps of this expensive cpu.

link

I've not had and any extreme temp variations using this program, it seems accurate. Now if we can get intel off it's butt to offer a sys utility program for this mobo.

 

[ali.tayyab]

System is in sig
core temp shows:
Tcase =85 (should be 65?)
Core 1 Idle =57; Load=65
Core 2 Idle =59; Load=66

If I correct for Tcase then Idle=37-38; Load=45-46

ps. i know my board isnt the 965LT, but they share the same bios, infact have the exact same bios updates, and are similar apart from the onboard gfx

 

[pcy]

Hi,

Thanks for that link, jazzpicker.

So I too have CPU temps. Core 1 and Core 2 stay pretty much in line, so in broad terms what I have is:

E6600:
Air temp: 26C
CPU Idle: 44C
CPU Load: 63C


The CPU load is generated by two copies of Prime95, each with affinity set to run on one core.

Originally posted by: alitayyab
System is in sig
core temp shows:
Tcase =85 (should be 65?)
Core 1 Idle =57; Load=65
Core 2 Idle =59; Load=66

If I correct for Tcase then Idle=37-38; Load=45-46

I find these figures hard to explain. the temperature increae from idle to load is just too small if you have a stock cooler, though about right if you are running a Scythe Ninja (say). Are you sure you are fully loading both cores?

I don't think it's valid to adjust the Core Temps by the error in Tcase.



TDP is 65W, I believe. If my figures are correct then the power at Idle is about 32W and the stock Intel cooler performance is about 0.6W/C. Truely atrocious - but then it is a dinky little thing.

If, however, these temps are high, then maybe power at idle is low 20s and the cooler is more like 0.5W/C. Slightly better.

Does anybody know what the power output at idle is meant to be. That would enable us to calibrate the temp readout.


My machine is running on the bench right now - no case. Max air temp in a case will be 35C, so if these figures are correct the core temperatures at full load will be 74C with this cooler. Too hot for my liking.



Peter

 

[pcy]

Hi all,


I think I may have some good news.


Intel Tech support continue to ring back with updates exactly as promised, and that alone establishes their credability. The seem to be takig all these issues seriously.


They see five teps in fact:

1. Release a Bios that supports the SM Bus. This will provide Monotoring and Adjustments in Bios Setup
Imminent
2. Release a Bios that will set RAM voltage to 1.8V or 1.9V automatically.
Soon - Imminent
3. Release a version of Desktop Utilities that supports the DP965LT.
Soon
4. Add additional RAM voltage Bios Settings
A Bit Longer
5. Address CD support in RAM
Work in Progress



Overall, if a new bios appears with SM Bus support and 1.9V RAM voltage I'll feel the board is usable and we are on the right track.



Peter

 

[ali.tayyab]

Originally posted by: pcy
Hi,

Thanks for that link, jazzpicker.

So I too have CPU temps. Core 1 and Core 2 stay pretty much in line, so in broad terms what I have is:

E6600:
Air temp: 26C
CPU Idle: 44C
CPU Load: 63C


The CPU load is generated by two copies of Prime95, each with affinity set to run on one core.

Originally posted by: alitayyab
System is in sig
core temp shows:
Tcase =85 (should be 65?)
Core 1 Idle =57; Load=65
Core 2 Idle =59; Load=66

If I correct for Tcase then Idle=37-38; Load=45-46

I find these figures hard to explain. the temperature increae from idle to load is just too small if you have a stock cooler, though about right if you are running a Scythe Ninja (say). Are you sure you are fully loading both cores?

I don't think it's valid to adjust the Core Temps by the error in Tcase.



TDP is 65W, I believe. If my figures are correct then the power at Idle is about 32W and the stock Intel cooler performance is about 0.6W/C. Truely atrocious - but then it is a dinky little thing.

If, however, these temps are high, then maybe power at idle is low 20s and the cooler is more like 0.5W/C. Slightly better.

Does anybody know what the power output at idle is meant to be. That would enable us to calibrate the temp readout.


My machine is running on the bench right now - no case. Max air temp in a case will be 35C, so if these figures are correct the core temperatures at full load will be 74C with this cooler. Too hot for my liking.



Peter

Got these figures running Super PI, both cores are usually around 90-100% mark. i also monitored temps while running 3dmark06 CPU tests. they were actually a bit lower by 1 to 2C!!!!

Isnt this cooler the same that came with the p4 prescotts incl the 65nm variety? if it could keep em cool, surely they can keep the c2d's cool.
I have a arctic freezer lying around. it's brand-new. u think i should switch to that. i was actually planning to sell that to raise some $$$ for more ram.

 

[pcy]

Hi,

AFAIK you need to have CPU load at 100% solid to get a full load figure. If it's fluctuating between 90% and 100% heat production could be substantially lower.


I have no idea if this cooler could keep a Prescott from frying - this is the first Intel machine I've built for several years. Never did like Netburst. On my figures a Prescott would have a core temperature over 100C running flat out with this cooler and a room temperature of 30C (24 hours at 100% load with the room at 30C is my standard thermal+load acceptance test).



I have to say that, though it's hard to tell because we don't have the monitoring tools yet, this Mobo and CPU are holding up very well. It looks like it could prove to be a killer combo once the bios and mobo software are sorted.




Peter

 

[ali.tayyab]

any solution to the turn on-turn off-turn on after 3 secs boot problem

i've already added the 10 sec delay, but that doesnt work, atleast not all the time. i read in the bios release note that the boot-loader on the latest (0816) bios is still in beta!!!!



p.s. i have 2 ide optical drives and one sata hdd.
using a enermax liberty 500watt psu, with 2 +12V rails.

 

[gguigoz]

 

[gguigoz]

hi pcy ! Hi

Another little irritation.


My trusty bootable DOS Utilities CD won't work with this board. oakcdrom.sys will not see the CD, so I can't boot into DOS with CD support.


The Bios sees the CD drive. You can boot using it and install Windows. WIndows sees teh CD drive. But oakcdrom.sys says there are no CDs.

It works on every other machine I have ever built though. Intels own notes on building bootable DOS CDs tell you (indirectly) to use oakcdrom.sys. Is this a fault of the board or a chipset issue?



Peter

i have mainboard intel dp965ltpck , i like you.so you have make cd load on dos yet . thank very much ! i from vietnam

 

[pcy]

Hi gguigoz,


Just to be clear - DOS will load off my CD, but DOS cannot then see the CD.

I have told Intel about this.

They have reproduced the problem.

It will take time to fix - but Intel are quite clear that this is an important issue. It will be fixed.

I think this problem also exists on other 965 Chipset mobos. The probable reason is that ICH8 has no IDE capability. The Boards all have a 3rd party chip for IDE. It would be easy enough to forget to provide for DOS support...


Peter

 

[jazzpicker]

Can someone suggest a mem test program to use with the DP 965 LT? THe mobos that I've used in the past have the mem test in the bios. I upgraded ram today and want to do a memtest before returning my old ram.

BTY, talked with Intel tech support today and the tech told me that they should release the upgraded desktop utilities that works with this mobo by 15 sept. Let's hope so.

My first impression of the DP965LT was pretty grim but since I have an idea about temps and with more improvements coming in the future, I'm actually think this a good stable platform for the conroe and a great deal for $115.00.

 

[pcy]

Hi,


Confused... why can't you just download MemTest86?



Peter