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ReviewIntelDG41MJIntroductionAftertheDG45FCandDQ45EKmainboards,Intelhasreleasedabitofapared-downversionnow,whichprimarilywillbemoreaffordable.
Mainly,thedifferencesoftheDG41MJarewiththechipsetaswellastheexternalandinternalconnectivity.
Eventhoughthechipsetgotpared-down,itcanneverthelesskeepupwiththepreviousversions.
SpecificationsModelDG41MJTypeMini-ITXmainboardCPUIntelCore2Duowitupto13333FSB(socket775)ChipsetIntelG41ExpressgraphicIntelGMAX4500RAM2xDDR2667/800DualChannel(8GBmax.
)Displayconnection1xDVI,1xVGAPCI1xPCISATA3xSATAIIAudio6-channels(5.
1)Realtek-Audio-CodecALC888VCLAN1x1000MbitUSB2.
04+4xUSB2.
0ExternalconnectorsDVI,VGA,4xUSB2.
0,1xGigaLAN,Audio,PS2(keyboard),printerInternalconnectors1xPCI,4xUSB2.
0,3xSATA,Serial,AudioPowersupply24PinATX,P4-jackAccessoriesanddeliverycontentI/Opanel,2xSATAdatacable,quickguideSoftwaredriverCDMeasurements(lengthxwidth)17cmx17cmMainboardandconnectionsThesocket775mini-ITXmainboardDG41MJispoweredbyaG41chipset,whereanIntelCore2DuoCPUwithupto1333MHzFSBcanbeplaced.
AdditionallyaX4500graphicchiphasbeenintegrated.
Thebasicconfigurationpresentstheboardsasnotsoconnectivityfriendlyasthepreviousversions.
But,itisverystableandisgoodenoughforallbasicassignments.
OntheI/Opanelyouwillfindthefollowingconnections:DVIoutput,VGA,fourUSB2.
0ports,oneGigaLANbushaswellasthestandardaudioports.
InternaltherearefourmoreUSB2.
0ports,threeSATAconnectors,onePCIslot,serialandaudio.
HereyoualsohavethepossibilitytousethetwoDDR2slotsindualchannel,ifyouhaveintegratedtwoofakindRAM.
Youcanchoosebetweena24pinor20pinATXjackpowersupply.
TheP4connectorcableisstillnecessary,nomatterwhichATXcableyouarechoosing.
Allslotsareplacedwellforeasyaccess;nomodificationofthecablesisrequired.
Rightonthesocketarepartsthatonlyallowthespecific775heatsink/fantobeplacedontheboard.
Installation,usedhardwareandoperationThefollowinghardwarewasusedforourtestsystem:IntelDG41MJwithIntelCore2DuoE85002x1GiBDDR2800RAMfromAenon80GBSATAHDDwith5400U/minfromWDDVDR/RWdrivefromPioneerM2-ATXsuppliedwithpowerbya110WACadapterWeinstalledWindowsXPProfessionalandWindowsVistaUltimate32bitforourtest–asusual.
Thepre-releaseddriversarerunningalreadyverystableandnoproblemsoccurredsofarinourtestruns.
Ifthismainboardisneitherathomeinthemultimediaenvironment,norintheindustrialenvironment,anddespitemissinginterfacesitoffersveryhighperformance,itisavalidquestiontoaskforwhatyoucouldpossiblyneedalltheperformancethen-especiallybecausethepowerconsumptionisrespectivelyhigher.
WheninstallingoperationsystemslikeWindowsVistaorinthenearfutureWindows7,theplatformshavetobeup-to-date;particularlybecausethesupportforWindowsXPwillrunoutsoonerorlater.
Tobeabletouseallthenewfunctionsoftheneweyecandyoperatingsystems,youneedahighperformancesystem.
2gigabyteRAMareobligatoryforthenewoperatingsystems.
Ifyouinstalla64bitsystem,youwouldwanttohaveeven4gigabyteofRAM.
ThetwoDDR2RAMsockets,whichcanberunasdualchannel,arecominginhandyhere.
Youcanpossiblyinstallupto8gigabyte.
Forourtestwewereusingtwotimes1gigabyte,tonotfalsifytheperformanceindex.
OfcourseeverythingisrunningsmoothwithWindowsXP.
OurfocuswasthereforeaggrandizedonWindowsVistaandsoonWindows7.
AeroGlass,thetaskbar,animatedwindowsandeffectsaredefaultsettingsofWindowsVista,andwithexactlythosesettingswetestedourapplications.
TheOffice2007EnterpriseEditionforexample,isrunningwithourtestsystemequallyflawlessandwithoutanydelayastheimageprocessingapplicationAdobePhotoshop.
Taskssuchasconvertingaudio,pictureandvideomaterial,unzippingfilesandothercommoneverydayjobsaredoublethefunwithacomputerlikethis.
Inanutshell,fastsystemsarefunandtheyaresavingtheuseroftentimesalotoftimeandnerves.
NeverthelesstheDG41MJhasa6-channelaudiooutput.
Youcan'texpecttoomuchfromthisonboardsolution–somepeoplemightwanttouseaPCIcardoranexternalUSBsolution–butformostthisaudiochipwillbeadequate.
VideowithhighresolutionuptofullHDisdefinitelypossiblewiththeDG41MJ.
DuetothemissingHDMIslot'true'fullHDwith1080pisnotpossible.
Wewereplayingahighdefinitionmoviewith1080iand5.
1Dolbydigitalwhichwasconvertedandatnotimewerecognizedasubstantialcapacity.
ImportantforthecarPCenvironmentisheenergysavingmodeS1andS3,whichareselectableviaBIOS.
Wetestedthemwithourmostcommoncarpowersupplyandtheywerefullyfunctioning.
ThetypicalWindowsproblemthatUSBdevicescouldn'tbefoundafterwakingupthesystem,whichisanimportantpartregardingcarPCs,wasn'tthecasehere.
Performance,powerconsumptionTheIntelDG41MJwiththeconsiderablysmallerchipsetiskeepingupwithourreferenceboardandonlyhastosurrenderbyahair'sbreadth.
ThankstotheCore2Duo8500,whichwastestedwiththeDG45FCaswell.
Allinall,theperformanceisbombasticfortheprice.
OthermanufacturersshouldtakealeafoutofIntel'sbook.
Duetothealmostidenticalconfigurationinregardtothehardware,thereareonlyminimaldifferencesinthegraphicsdepartmentontheVistaperformanceindex.
341135591972498100124351925191442920298581141032871149455915457231975933192152480888602000400060008000100003DMark033DMark013DMarkIntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCIntelD945GCLFViaEpiaMII12000Jetway2.
0JetwayExtremeT2300Jetway1.
2CommellLV679Whendisplayinggamegraphics,theIntelDG41MJlimpingalittlebitbehindthefrontrunners.
4588310426611635135854205405162851570200040006000PCMark05PCMark05IntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCFutjitsuD2703SSemprom2100+IntelD945GCLFJetwayExtremeT2300CommellLV679JetwayNC62KPhenom9550OnthePCMark05theboardisabouttoclosethegaptoourreferencesintheminiITXenvironment.
24192156652957527713691368279149817694811816320150755534973477557348801000200030004000OpenGLRenderingCPUCinebenchR10IntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCIntelD945GCLFJetwayExtremeT2300Jetway1.
2CommellLV679VIASN18000JetwayNC62KPhenom9550AsimilarsituationisgivenattheCinebenchtest.
240942474152921374986627561567385627073270533900271862810921471144811928362239239033292308623030335032415010000200003000040000DhrystoneALU(MIPS)WhetstoneALU(MFLPOS)SiSoftSandraCPUArithmetikIntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCIntelD945GCLFViaEpiaMII12000Jetway2.
0JetwayExtremeT2300InthistesttheDG41MJwasabletotaketheleas.
8296077419906543062603986246162292662054092052742959120619310915587315390848493549997284382198095137953761994495799050000100000150000200000250000Integer(iit/s)Fliekomma(fit/s)SiSoftSandraCPUMultimediaIntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCIntelD945GCLFViaEpiaMII12000Jetway2.
0JetwayExtremeT2300Jetway1.
2CommellLV679VIASN18000JetwayNC62KPhenom9550EquallyastoundingwasthattheIntelDG41MJalsowasaheadbyanoseintheCPUMultimediaTest.
430012201390381768730581179063006130285060024300124013803957677393491750629061502440600602000400060008000Integer(MB/s)Fliekomma(MB/s)SiSoftSandraSpeicherbandbreiteIntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCIntelD945GCLFViaEpiaMII12000Jetway2.
0JetwayExtremeT2300Jetway1.
2CommellLV679VIASN18000JetwayNC62KPhenom9550Inthememorybandwidth,ithadtoacknowledgedefeatbyalittlebit.
964741948436026814304165339327854233693391191192984193010002000300040005000SuperPISuperPI8M(inSek.
)IntelDG41MJJetwayNC92-230-LFIntelDQ45EKIntelDG45FCGigabyteSysVIAC71.
5CommellLV679Merom7100JetwayNC62KPhenom9550VIASN18000FutjitsuD2703STurionJetway1.
2JetwayExtremeT2300Jetway2.
0ViaEpiaMII12000FutjitsuD2703SSemprom2100+WiththeBenchmarkSuperPItherearevirtuallynodifferencestotheDG45FC.
PowerconsumptionBootphase62WIdle39WLast71WCD/DVDLoad55WDVD56WConclusionInteliscontinuallycuttingthecostintheareaofperformanceMini-ITXplatform.
Theirtargetgrouparepeoplewhowantperformance,butonlywiththemostimportantinterface.
Theboardisn'tagoodfitforneitherthemultimediaarea,norfortheindustrialarea.
MaybethatisexactlywhyitissosuitablefortheCarPCenvironment.
EventhoughthepowerconsumptionisabithigherthantheconsumptionoftheAtomplatform,it'sstillreasonable.
Everythingisavailabletogiveyouthepossibilitytobuild-inanIntelCore2DuoCPUinconnectionwithadualchannelRAM,tobeforearmedforfutureoperatingsystemssuchasWindows7.
TheIntelDG41MJismoreforminimalistswiththeambitiontopotentsystems.
ItisnotreallypossibletofiletheDG41MJinanycategory.
ItisnowavailableatCarTFT.
com.
Writtenby:TimoDecristan