|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Motherboard: Intel D865PERL (Springdale) Review :: The Board
Canterwood the code name for Intel's new desktop flagship chipset is basically the same as the D865PERL but like the way they handpick CPU's that come out in a better yield the Canterwood is just the best of the yield or the so called cream of the crop. What this means to you is that the D865 chipset should not have a noticeably different performance than its D875 brethren and only tests scores and overclocking ability would vary than that of the Canterwood, if at all. The board I received had a good many feature options available that should for once be very competitive to their partners products due to its effectiveness.
The new D865 or Springdale chipset is comprised of the NB 82865PE, the SB 82801ER ICH5/R and the 82802AB supporting the latest Hyper-Threading and CST (Communication Streaming Technology) that enables the use of Gigabit LAN via the Intel 82547EI Gigabit LAN controller. The 82547EI chipset supports both the new 1000Mbps standard and is backward compatible to the 10Mbps standard as well so it will work in any network environment. The board itself sizes in at 12.0X9.60 inches in a modified ATX format but comes equipped with the proper rear I/O shield to accommodate your case for a proper fit.
For CPU support the new Springdale supports the entire Socket 478 lineup including the Celeron series of CPU's and the Pentium 4 in both the 533MHz and 800MHz flavor so finding a chip to go along with your board should not pose a problem. Intel has upped the ante in the FSB wars by adopting a new Quad-Piped 200MHz FSB that equates to 800MHz if you do the math. The FSB is actually running at 200MHz but Intel using their adaptive piping technology considers the whole number to be the equivalent or actual FSB speed of the system.
Featuring support for the latest greatest DDR400/DDR333/DDR266 memory the 865PERL has four 184-pin DDR SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets and supports a whopping total memory support of 4GB which is more than enough for any task you could or ever would need to do on a desktop. The system will run with all slots full with up to 1GB modules but the price is a bit high at the moment on 1GB sticks with the 512MB modules currently being the cost effective price leader if your end goal TCO is a concerning factor. Intel products will work with virtually all memory brands so compatibility is not an issue.
There are five PCI slots available for inline upgrade peripherals which is satisfactory considering all the on-board available options leaving expandability an almost mote point for most users. The AGP 8X standard is all over now and the 865PERL is no exception to the rule as the board has a Universal 0.8/1.5 V AGP 3.0 AGP connector (with integrated retention mechanism) supporting 1x, 4x, and 8x AGP cards so now any card including my beloved 3DFX Voodoo 5500 which plays all my older but still very fun playable games that do not work with the latest drivers from either NVIDIA or ATI. My 5500 can still play most of today's games as well and having the HT technology behind the system will definitely improve overall game play.
Taking a look at the rear panel I/O and you can see this board has an abundance of features for connecting your various external system peripherals. There are a total of eight USB 2.0 connectors available to the user, four via the rear I/O and four more by a cable that attaches to headers on the board. IEEE1394 is available via the a'gere chipset and features support for up to three FireWire ports with one located on the rear I/O and the other two available by cable. There is one RJ45 connector for hooking up tour LAN or Internet provider and a multitude of sound I/O's including both RCA and Toslink SPDIF digital connections for getting the most out of your audio.
Support for your internal hard drives comes in a few forms on the 865PERL; there are two Parallel ATA IDE interfaces using the UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 standard as well as Serial ATA150 support via the on-board ICH5-R. RAID 0 is supported on the two Serial ATA connectors implemented via the Intel 82801ER I/O Controller Hub (ICH5-R) and the RAID array was easily configured using the easy RAID interface. One of the most stand-out and enthusiasts based features of the 865PERL is its on-board sound via the AD1985 chipset and the software that supports it. Featuring SoundMAX 4.0 and Sonic Focus 1.0 as your GUI and the AD1985 as your audio subsystem the audio experience is probably the best available on the home PC and later in the review I will talk more technical about the abilities of these audio options.
The layout of the board is good in some aspects and just slightly tedious in a few others; take the location of the power, IDE and Floppy connections, they are really close and can be a tad of a pain to hook up if the board is installed in a smaller case. The power connector is the culprit that should be located elsewhere if you want to just be picky but in most respects the board is laid out ergonomically enough to satiate most users. I was very satisfied features wise with the 865PERL as it actually has more to offer than even some of its partners making it a very competitive product from the Intel motherboard team. There are very limited overclocking options that come in the form of Intel's burn in mode that offers very small but stable settings for pushing spec on the board beyond the factory default.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
