Intel has taken another significant step into satisfying the needs of the PC enthusiast crowd. For many years the company has discouraged overclocking, but now they are offering a mainboard set to do just the opposite. The new D975XBX2 a.k.a. Bad Axe 2, is a product especially designed for gamers. It comes with 3 PCI-Express slots, perfect for a SLI/Crossfire setup plus a physics card (if those are ever worth it), and a most impressive CPU overclocking feature that allows for aggressive FSB settings, multiplier and voltage tweaking.
Featuring improved memory circuitry, Intel’s new mainboard now officially supports dual-channel PC2-6400 (DDR2 800MHz) on Intel 975X core-logic, something, which is not available on the D975XBX mainboard and something supported on other Intel 975X-based motherboards formally via overclocking.
There are many mainstream PC companies that have realized sooner or later that the enthusiast and gaming market is up for grabs. Recently we even witnessed the announcement of factory overclocked systems with full guarantee from Gateway. Intel has realized that with AMD trailing not too far behind (if at all sometimes), it can’t just rest on its laurels again. Luckily for them, they have now got Core 2.
