Intel DX79SI Motherboard

On-Board Peripherals

The Intel X79 chipset is a single-chip solution which is also known as a PCH (Platform Controller Hub). This chip supports two SATA-600 ports and four SATA-300 ports, supporting RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5). The SATA ports are located at the motherboard’s edge and rotated 90°, so video cards won’t block them. See Figure 4.

Figure 4: SATA-300 (black) and SATA-600 (blue) ports

The Intel DX79SI doesn’t carry extra SATA or eSATA ports.

The Intel X79 chipset supports 14 USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, support for USB 3.0 ports isn’t integrated in the chipset yet. The Intel DX79SI offers all 14 USB 2.0 ports, six soldered on the rear panel and eight available through four headers located on the motherboard. It also supports four USB 3.0 ports, controlled by two NEC (Renesas) µPD720200 chips. Two of them are located on the motherboard rear panel and the other two are available on a motherboard header, to be used by USB 3.0 ports located on your computer case.

The Intel DX79SI has two FireWire ports, one soldered on the rear panel and one available on a motherboard header. They are controlled by a VIA VT6315N chip.

This motherboard supports 7.1+2 audio format, i.e., eight channels plus two independent channels for audio streaming. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC892 codec. The specifications of this chip include a 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, a 90 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog inputs, up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, and 24-bit resolution. We don’t understand why Intel decided to use a mainstream audio codec on a high-end motherboard. They should have picked a codec with an SNR of at least 100 dB for the analog outputs and 97 dB for the analog inputs. If you are looking into working professionally with audio editing, you should look for a motherboard that provides an SNR of at least 97 dB for the analog input.

This motherboard comes with independent 5.1 analog audio outputs. However, if you install a 7.1 analog speaker set, you will have to use either the line in or mic in jacks, making the jack unavailable for other usage. It also features optical SPDIF output, and you can install a coaxial SPDIF output through an SPDIF header that is available, using an adapter that doesn’t come with the product.

The portrayed motherboard has two Gigabit Ethernet po
rts, one controlled by the chipset using an Intel WG82579LM chip to make the interface with the physical layer and the other controlled by an Intel WG82574L controller. This motherboard also comes with a Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n module. This module is connected to one of the motherboard USB 2.0 headers.

In Figure 5, you can see the motherboard rear panel, with the “Back-to-BIOS” switch, two USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one FireWire port, shared 7.1 analog audio jacks, and an optical SPDIF output.

Figure 5: Motherboard rear panel