865PE/875P Motherboard Roundup June 2003 - Part 1: 20-way Shootout
by Evan Lieb on June 12, 2003 10:57 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Albatron PX865PE Pro
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Motherboard Specifications |
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CPU
Interface
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Socket-478
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Chipset
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Intel
82865PE MCH (North Bridge)
Intel 82801EB ICH5 (South Bridge) |
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Bus
Speeds
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up
to 333MHz (in 1MHz increments)
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Core
Voltages Supported
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up
to 1.60V (in 0.0250V increments)
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I/O
Voltages Supported
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N/A
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DRAM
Voltages Supported
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up
to 2.85V (in 0.1V increments)
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Memory Slots
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4 184-pin
DDR DIMM Slots
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Expansion Slots
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1 AGP
8X Slot
5 PCI Slots |
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Onboard IDE RAID
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N/A
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Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394
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Eight
USB 2.0 ports supported through South Bridge
No IEEE 1394 FireWire |
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Onboard LAN
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3COM
3C910 10/100 LAN (no CSA bus)
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Onboard Audio
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Realtek
ALC650 codec
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Onboard Serial ATA
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Two
SATA connectors via ICH5
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BIOS
Revision
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4/17/2003
BIOS date (first release)
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The PX865PE Pro is one of the few motherboards that fits quite well into its target market. Some of the features that stand out for a value board such as this one are its Serial ATA support via the ICH5 South Bridge and excellent overclocking capability courtesy of Albatron's track record for highly overclockable motherboards and Intel's solid track record for reliable chipsets.
One nice addition to the PX865PE Pro is the active North Bridge HSF's copper construction which, in combination with the fan should very effectively cool the 865PE North Bridge. Our only complaint is that some users will use bigger and more powerful cooling solutions for their CPU and video card, and since the North Bridge HSF is so close to both the CPU socket and AGP slot this could force users to adjust the positioning of the North Bridge HSF. Otherwise the type of North Bridge HSF Albatron choose is quite nice.
The BIOS options are pretty good for a value motherboard though nothing to write home about. The PX865PE Pro's overclocking performance was excellent though, clocking in at 278MHz FSB. You can read more about the stress testing and FSB overclocking tests we conducted on all 20 865PE/875P motherboards by skipping to the end of this review just before our conclusion.
Believe it or not but the only real disappointing thing about this motherboard is its low potential Vcore of 1.60V, which topped with an average undervolt of about 0.03V and a low FSB of 333MHz is not too appealing to hardcore overclockers. We would like it if Albatron were to release a new BIOS that adds at least 400MHz FSB and 1.75V Vcore support to the PX865PE Pro. Otherwise this is a very solid value motherboard, though still behind tough competition from Gigabyte's 8IPE1000 Pro and ABIT's IS7 motherboards, which include better onboard features and BIOS options, though the Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro does not overclock as well as Albatron's PX865PE Pro/II.
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18 Comments
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Zak - Sunday, January 18, 2004 - link
I bought IS7 after reading this article and I've been having problems. Random resets, then BSOD after changing XP recovery settings. Over the past few months it worsened. In the begining it like once a week maybe. I wasn't concerned, bad driver I thought. Now it won't run more than an hour without BSOD. I have Corsair XMS DDR400 in it. I've played with memory settings for weeks, timings and voltages as well, reinstalled XPPro several times, updated BIOS, got all newest drivers and run out of ideas... I've put a stick of DDR333 because that's all have to test and I still get the same random BSOD, even durnig XP installation. I have no PCI cards in this box. Mushkin calls this board problematic and attributes the memory problems to forced implementation of PAT that is not normally present in 865. I may try getting it replaced by NewEgg but I don't suppose it'll help. I'm thinking about getting a 875 board instead. Zak.Anonymous User - Friday, October 24, 2003 - link
I would like to see part II of the roundup of the 865 chipset. I wonder what is the delay?Anonymous User - Monday, October 13, 2003 - link
I thought Part 2 would be out by now at least... There are good new boards out there I'd like to see... Shuttle AB60R (cheap and full featured) and Abit IC7-MAX3 (OTES for mobo power area). I am still looking forward to seeing this, eventually, right guys?Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
Any comments on newer motherboards? Why hasn't supermicro been tested since 2000?Looking to compare supermicro
Intel s875wp1-e and Super P4SCE (SuperServer 5013C-I (SYS-5013-CI)) for a $50k cluster
Thanks
syzygyus@yahoo.com
Anonymous User - Friday, August 29, 2003 - link
Evan, how in the world is #4 going to research your statement when the articles/review comments forum gets purged/is gone now ?Anonymous User - Saturday, August 23, 2003 - link
Any word on Revision 2 of the Gigabyte 8knxp ultra board yet?Anonymous User - Sunday, August 10, 2003 - link
I bought the is7 after I read this article. It had many problems. I ended up having to ram this board twice. If you read the abit forum boards you will see alot of problems I am fairly surprised after all the tests this board was put through nothing ever went wrong. I will not buy another abit product period. I will stick to gigabye i've built 6 systems with Gigabyte and yet to have any problems with them. Save for the chipset fans having a low life.Anonymous User - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
I bought the Abit IS7 and am completely pleased. One note is that many of the IS7's appear to be getting shipped with the gigabit lan as opposed to the sales brochure stated 10/100. (mine has the gigabit)Anonymous User - Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - link
How could it be that the Asus p4c 800 de luxe is more expensive then the asus p4p deluxe but in the testresults it is slower?I would think i am misinformed by the computershop?
And the p4c deluxe got a gigabit lan on board, despite mentioning in the summary of this Mb it has not.
PixelDoc - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Error Re: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP MoBoThis MoBo has 4, not 2 SATA connectors, 2 controlled by ICH5R and 2 more contolled by the SIL3112 chip.