III. Test Setup

_{Images are found on the web and owned by respective owners}

Motherboard: IntelŪ D975XBX Desktop Board
The IntelŪ PentiumŪ D Processors (805 and 820) will be slotted on the IntelŪ D975XBX Desktop board This motherboard supports IntelŪ PentiumŪ D 955 XE so this processor shouldn't be a problem. This motherboard supports a lot of features, and for the purpose of testing, I will try to build on a system with performance components: a single floppy, 4x SATA RAID 0 hard drive, a single IDE optical drive, a PCIe video card, and 4x512MB of DDR2-533MHz RAM.

Memory: ES DDR2-667MHz RAM/Micron* Chips 4x512MB (CL3-3-3-9 Manual)
The RAM used will be a value RAM but based on enthusiast chip Fat Micron D9 chips, rated at DDR2-667MHz CL5-5-5-15 but can do tweaked at CL3-3-3-9 on stock voltage. The RAM is tweaked to simulate an enthusiast trying to squeeze some more performance from the memory. While the RAM is set to run at 667MHz frequency, it will be forced to run at 533MHz to get a tighter timing rather than setting it at 667MHz. While I can still ensure that I get CL3 with this RAM@667MHz, I can't seem to make it stable when using 4x512MB but fully stable at 2x512MB with the same timing, frequency and voltage. I am thinking that the culrpit is the ES motherboard.

Hard Drive: Seagate* Barracuda 120GB SATA RAID 0
To speed up installation of OS and access of files, I decided to use my four(4) Seagate* Barracude SATA hard drive and configured it as RAID 0. I decided to use this since I am not doing any kind og overclock on the processor and FSB.

Video Card: Power Color* X800GT
I decided to use a Powercolor X800GT PCIe Video Card as this would fit most of those who likes mainstream gaming and powerful 2D graphics. This video card is also powerful but it does not gulp large amount of electricity which should help me ensure the stability of the motherboard. The video card will not be modified nor tweaked in any way. I would have opted for a PCI-based video card, but the ones I have won't work so I am stucked with using a PCIe-based video card.

Power Supply: HEC* WinPower 550
To ensure that I will not be hampered by power fluctuation and instability, I used a much beefier power supply that I can currently muster out of my lab. While I have Antec Neo 480w, Ultra X-Connect 500w, and Enermax 450W the WinPower has 550w in reserve power. The other benefits of this power supply is, aside from the bling bling blue LED fan, is that it has native 24Pin ATX, SLI ready, and has two(2) 2x2 12v connector.

Chassis: Thermaltake* LANFire Xaser III
Testing will be done inside my trusty Thermaltake LANFire Xaser III. The choice of chassis is just out of random, to ensure that I will be getting an accurate results with temperature reading of the CPU both in idle and full load. This chassis has proven itself to me for quite some time and I know that it offers great air flow. I also love the chassis for its light weight design, and nice clear side panel window. This chassis doesn't come with a power supply, and I believe can be had for less than Php7,000. Pretty pricey, but all I can say is that I really love this chassis and hasn't cause any parts installed inside it to burn.

Optical Drive: OEM DVD Drive
Well, I don't particularly have a use for a good known DVD drive but if you have one and willing to donate it to me, then I'm all open arms :). Anyway, this OEM DVD drive will remain nameless until I got off my lazy bum, but nonetheless, this DVD drive has served me well and has never let me down. It's really an old DVD drive, and I don't even know how fast this baby run. One thing is sure though, it's longer than usual drive seen today and it's a lot heavier.

Full Specifications

• Processor: IntelŪ PentiumŪ D 800 (2.6GHz and 2.8GHz)/Stock Cooler
• Motherboard: IntelŪ D975XBX i975
• Memory: 4x512MB DDR2-PC4300@CL3-3-3-9(Manual)
• Video Card: Powercolor* X800GT 256MB
• Hard Disk: Seagate* Barracude 120GB x4 RAID 0
• Optical Drive: OEM DVD Drive
• Floppy Drive: Sony 1.44Mb
• Chassis: Thermaltake* LanParty
• Power Supply: HEC* WinPower 550
• Operating System: Windows* XP SP2

It's time to party!