|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Harnessing the advanced computing power of the Intel Pentium 4 processor, and support for both the latest 533 MHz and 400 MHz system bus speeds, the Intel D850EMV2 desktop board is aimed to please. Designed around the Intel 850E chipset, the D850EMV2 takes full advantage of the Pentium 4 processor's full bandwidth and performance by utilizing dual RAMBUS channels.
The D850EMV2 uses PC800 or higher dual-channel RDRAM RAMBUS RDRAM memory. Featuring a 3.2 GB bandwidth for maximum performance is a factor that helps propel this board into the fast lane. The EMV2 can utilize from 128MB to 2GB of RAMBUS RDRAM making for a very scalable product for the end user. One thing to take note of though is the fact that if you use PC1066 an error message will appear in the initial boot screen but will not adversely affect the performance of the system.
You also get support for five Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports (two on-board, two by cable, one by CNR) and Intel's patented Net Burst-Micro architecture. Having support for both the 400 and 533MHz FSB speeds means you can use all the P4 CPU's based on the Socket 478 pin configuration currently available from Intel. The board sizes in at a modest 12.0"x9.6" and should fit in any standard size or bigger ATX case, just make sure to use the appropriate 12V power supply for optimal performance and stability. Two different things control the motherboard, the MCH that controls the CPU, AGP and memory and the ICH2 that controls the LAN, Audio, PCI, ATA100 IDE interface and lastly the USB and BIOS flash functions. The only drawback is the lack of ATA133 support and RAID functions that are apparent on most of today's top contenders boards in this arena. In hindsight I cannot remember any Intel desktop motherboard having RAID features on-board.
Supporting five PCI slots, one 4X 1.5V only AGP slot and either a CNR or LAN controller should prove to be adequate expansion room for most users. The board comes with either the CNR riser for the extended Sound Max package or the onboard LAN controller but for some reason not with both. Intel claims the LAN board is the most requested by reviewers but I have always been a fan of the Sound Max CNR card that adds a digital connection and surround sound to your system.
The rear I/O is slightly different that the norm as it varies from the standard configuration in a few ways. Never fear however Intel provides the user with the appropriate rear I/O shield to accompany the motherboard so compatibility does not become an issue. There is no active cooling on the main chipset but since overclocking is not a feature option this becomes irrelevant as the heat sink offers adequate cooling for a system running in the default state.
The motherboard is laid out well enough, leaving ample room for working on it without having everything bunched together in one area. The reason for this is the layout of the board has good separation between the memory, CPU and AGP slot on the top end and even more space by the PCI and CNR connectors located at the bottom of the board. You can see in the board photo exactly what I mean when stating this. I was able to keep all the cables from getting tangled up in a big mess due to this factor.
You also get thermal protection in the form of their Hardware monitoring and fan control ASIC which shuts the system down after exceeded CPU temperatures or in the event of fan failure. This is a great feature to have but Intel processors rarely get very hot unless overclocked way out of spec an event that is not happening on the EMV2, as it does not support overclocking in any fashion. You do get the option of online BIOS updates that can be a great help to those who are not quite computer savvy or have fears of altering their BIOS manually. 
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
