Intel DP55WB MicroATX Build Experience

Discussions and help regarding overclocking, motherboards, peripherals, AMD and INTEL CPU's
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Schwartz
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Intel DP55WB MicroATX Build Experience

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http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/m ... erview.htm

This is my first motherboard actually manufactured by Intel themselves. I decided to choose this board because of the size, price, and the fact that I didn't plan to overclock this system at all and figured this would be pretty close to a reference platform to use since it was manufactured by Intel. I was building a PC for my home theater and wanted stability and figured I did not need all the bells and whistles of a board meant for overclocking. I also liked the lack of legacy PS2 ports.

Like I said I decided to build a HTPC and had some parts laying around to start it off. I had a Geforce GTX280, hard drive, and case. I added this mobo, Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 Core i5 Memory Kit, Intel Core i5-750 CPU, and a OCZ 600W power supply. I planned to use the box for mainly streaming video and playing games using Steam so I did not add any optical drives. I have a PS3 that I use for Blu-ray playback.

The system was a easy build and I didn't run into any major problems putting things together. You need to install the RAM first because the larger video cards are snug with the closed memory retention clips. I ran the SPDIF cable from the motherboard header to the video card with the cable that was included with the video card and it worked with no problem. The board has 3 Fan headers, 1 for the CPU and 2 for case fans. I used them all. When using a large video card like I did you loose a couple of SATA ports because the video card blocks them. If they had used angled plugs this would not be a problem. I only have a single drive so I just used a unblocked port so it wasn't a major problem for me.

Once I got everything together the box powered up with no problems. I went into the BIOS and set the boot options for booting from a external USB drive I had and installed Windows 7. Here is a tip: Go download the network drivers using another PC and have them available to on a thumb drive once you get Windows installed. Windows 7 does not seem to have built in drivers for this NIC.

Once I got that up and running everything went fine... That is until I was watching a streaming video and the system rebooted. I let it restart and nothing seemed to be wrong with Windows. I started working on installing games from steam and the system rebooted again. So the recurring thing became random reboots every 15 to 30 minutes. I went into the BIOS and bumped the memory voltage to 1.65v which the memory was rated for and double checked that the timings were correct. I still had the same rebooting problem. I updated the BIOS using the F7 method described on the Intel site. I still had the same problem. I hit the search engines and forums looking for info and found that this mobo is very picky about what memory you put in it. The common theme was random reboots until they stuck memory in from the Intel approved list on the product page. So I ordered a couple of sticks of Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 1333MHz DDR3 DIMM Desktop Memory KVR1333D3N9/2G. Once I put that in I had no further problems and the system has been rock solid. Of all my years building a PCs this is the first time that I have got a mobo that had to have memory from the manufacturers approved list.

If there is one thing you take away from this review let it be this:

Buy some memory from the approved list for this mobo on the Intel site. I bought some Corsair in a kit specifically marketed as being for Core i5 and i7 and it did not work. The forum posts I have seen show other top tier memory from other manufacturers having the same problems with this motherboard. Stick to the list and you should be ok.

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboar ... 030682.htm

So far other than this I have been happy with the board and have had no problems. I stuck a Thermalright Ultima-90 on the CPU because I detest the stock Intel mounting clips. I stuck it all in an Antec P180 case which I know is huge hut I had it available already and sitting on the floor by the entertainment center people just think it is one of those small subwoofers. I have 2 120MM fans in the case hooked to the mobo and amazingly they and the CPU fan barely turn. This seems to be a really cool running box. I checked the CPU temp using RealTemp and it seems to stay in the low 30s.
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