Intel 850 Motherboard Roundup: September 2001

Notes about the Intel 850

The i850 supports dual channel RDRAM, with two RIMM’s per channel, giving us the four RIMM slots we see on all i850 motherboards.  The dual channel setup also  means that you have to install RDRAM in matched pairs. Because RDRAM is a serial technology, you have to install the modules in the proper slots and fill unused slots with continuity RIMM’s (CRIMM’s).

Originally, i850 motherboards required a new case with the necessary mounting holes for the HSF unit, although quite a few motherboard manufacturers have gotten around that by now and is no longer a major concern.  On the other hand, you should be sure to use an ATX 2.03 power supply, which adds the new ATX12V 2x2 connector to supply extra power.

Although Intel chipsets have rarely had AGP compatibility issues, the i850 does introduce one restriction on the types of AGP cards that will work with the chipset.  The i850 only supports AGP cards with 1.5V signaling, which is what you’ll find on the vast majority of AGP 4X cards.  However, you’ll have to watch out for AGP 2X cards, most of which only support 3.3V signaling.  Probably the most recent card that would not work on an i850 is the 3dfx Voodoo5 5500.

On the driver side, you will have to install the correct set of Intel chipset drivers for optimal performance.  For the chipset driver, make sure you install the most current INF files, version 3.00 at the time of publication.  The same goes for the Intel Ultra ATA drivers, which are now up to version 6.10.