915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us
by Wesley Fink on December 7, 2004 12:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
AOpen i915Pa-EFRII: Features and Layout
| AOpen i915Pa Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott) |
| Chipset | Intel 915P/ICH6R |
| BUS Speeds | 100MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| DDR2 Speeds | Auto, 400, 533 |
| PCI Speeds | 33.33, 36.36, 40.00 |
| Core Voltage | 1.4375V to 1.7875V in 0.0125V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.80V to 1.95V in 0.05V increments |
| NB (Northbridge) Voltage | 1.50V-1.65V in 0.05V increments |
| Memory Slots | Four 240-pin DDR2 533 Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe x16 Slot 2 PCIe x1 slot 3 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/IDE RAID | 4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6R Can be combined in RAID 0, 1, Intel Matrix plus 2 SATA by Promise 20579 |
| Onboard IDE | One Standard ATA100/66 (2 drives) One Promise 20579 (2 drives) |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports 2 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by TI42AK0KT |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit PCIe Ethernet by Broadcom BCM5751 |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC880 (HD Audio) 8-Channel with SPDIF in/out |
| Tested BIOS | R1.01A Award |
AOpen lists a wide range of 915 motherboards that are sold into different areas of the world. The AOpen board tested was a very full-featured model called the i915Pa-EFRII. Packaging used a windowed box and a clear internal clamshell to show off the actual board that you are buying. The overall look reminds us of past Abit top-line, as it is similar to the Abit MAX series.
AOpen generally provides a wide range of BIOS tweaking controls on the i915Pa. The range on FSB and CPU voltage is particularly wide and should satisfy most users. However, the very small range of 1.8V to 1.95V for memory voltage is really not enough for most enthusiasts. As you will see in our overclocking tests, however, this is all a moot point, since AOpen has not provided a design that allows overclocks over 10%.
On the feature side, AOpen has done a very good job of including the features of the 915/925X chipset that really make a difference in performance. This includes using a Gigabit LAN on the faster PCI Express bus instead of the slower PCI bus. AOpen also implements Intel Azalia High-Definition audio with the 8-channel Realtek ALC880 codec. We have complained that the single 2-device IDE of the 915/925X is really not enough for many people, and AOpen agrees. The i915Pa-EFRII adds a Promise controller for 2 additional IDE devices plus 2 more SATA ports. For those looking for Firewire, the AOpen will not disappoint either, though the Firewire is based on the more common 1394A spec instead of the 1394B used by a very few motherboard manufacturers.
Manufacturers can use either DDR or DDR2 on 915 motherboards, and AOpen has used the newer DDR2 memory. The four 240-pin DDR2 slots support up to 4GB of DDR2 memory.
Recent AOpen boards have shown great attention to layout of the components and this is particularly true on the i915Pa. The nice-looking black board with rounded corners will look good in any case, and it will also be a great board for cable placements. The bulky connectors - 24-pin power, 12V 4-pin, IDE - are all at board edges where the bulky connectors can be kept out of the way. The only badly placed connector is the floppy, which won't matter to many, since they no longer use floppy drives. The CD-in connectors, for those who need them, are located above the slot area. This location is much easier to use than the afterthought location at the bottom of the board, which we have seen in some other designs. Front panel connections were also well-marked and easy to identify.
Most users will be pleased with the layout of the AOpen i915Pa. There is little to complain about and much to praise. Even the often overlooked fan connectors are here in numbers and locations to please most users.
Albatron PX915P Pro: Overclocking and Stress Testing
AOpen i915Pa-EFRII: Overclocking and Stress Testing
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26 Comments
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krelian - Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - link
I been a Intel user since the first Pentium 3 came out now I have a Intel P4 3.0C I refused to spend more money on things I had already bought so I stayed with the 478 socket, seeing as Intel wants me to move to an expensive platform, I say I'll ditch Intel head with the AMD crowd, I'm sure I won't be the only one, maybe legions of intel campers will leave.ChineseDemocracyGNR - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
About the config I put together in the previous post; does anyone know if the overclock lock on the 915P chipsets apply to lower FSB's too? Could I overclock the 133MHz Celeron D to 200MHz on any 915P motherboard?ChineseDemocracyGNR - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
The 915P chipset provides good value for the money. For example:ECS 915P-A $79
Intel Celeron D 325J 2.53GHz $88
Albatron GeForce 6600 128MB $120.50
or
Albatron GeForce 6600GT 128MB $190.50
(newegg prices)
The processor can be overclocked to 3.6+GHz very easily, much like the Athlon Mobiles.
That makes a good budget gaming rig, better than anything you could put together with an AMD processor for the same money. So, at least in my opinion, AMD has a better mainstream/high-end processor, and Intel wins the value segment. Who would say?
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I have now read the entire article, and oh boy! Though I prefer to read about socket 754/939 motherboards, this has to be the best motherboard roundup I ever read. Ever. Well done.
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#22,
thank your fixing it. The typo I wrote about on page 10:
"The fact that Asus manages a higher OC than more recognized OC boards like DFI and Asus "
Don't you mean ABIT in the last word there?
ocyl - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wesley > Thank you for paying attention to the audio features/components of these motherboards, particularly Dolby Digital Live :)Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#21 - The Foxconn results have been corrected on p.20. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.ChineseDemocracyGNR - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
A few typos:"The fact that Asus manages a higher OC than more recognized OC boards like DFI and Asus "
page 10.
On page 20, the "Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed" table is probably wrong.
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Good article.
LeadFrog - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Why does only the socket 915 get a 16mb cache Hard Drive?danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wes, I said thanks before but I'll say it again, great roundup. We appreciate your hard work, always.danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Live -The P5GD2 is expensive compared to most boards, but it includes a ton of stuff, like 8 SATA ports, dual gigabit LAN, on-board 802.11g/b, and on-board hi-def audio with Dolby Digital Live (realtime encoding, like SoundStorm).
Most 915P boards aren't as close to as expensive as the Asus. The Abit AG8 is ~ $130, equal or cheaper in price than the K8N Neo2.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#16 - After I did the price analysis today I changed "outstanding value" to "good value". Thanks for the comment about the review being good reading. It is appreciated as a huge amount of work went into this roundup.