865PE/875P Motherboard Roundup June 2003 - Part 1: 20-way Shootout

Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro

Even though the 8IPE1000 Pro is a value motherboard it carries some of the same features previously only found on high-end motherboards, and even on some of today's high-end motherboards. Let's talk a little bit about these features…

First off we have the Serial ATA support via the ICH5 South Bridge. This isn't surprising to see, as every single 865PE or 875P motherboard we've ever tested has come with native Serial ATA support. What makes this special is the fact that it signals that Serial ATA is now finally becoming a standard feature on the majority of desktop motherboards being shipped (Intel-only motherboards for now), and that includes value to high-end. Unfortunately the 8IPE1000 Pro does not include the ICH5R, which supports RAID 0 & RAID 1. However most users looking to purchase a value motherboard are likely not too serious about IDE RAID to begin with, so this isn't a huge loss.

The two features that make a value motherboard like the 8IPE1000 Pro stand out in our opinion is the addition of IEEE 1394 FireWire (TI's TSB43AB23 controller) and the Realtek ALC655 codec. IEEE 1394 support is an excellent option to have on a value motherboard if it doesn't add any significant cost, and with the 8IPE1000 Pro going for as low as $115 shipped in the U.S. the 8IPE1000 Pro certainly seems to be priced quite well. The Realtek ALC655 codec is a very nice addition as it has jack sensing technology that allows users to choose whichever audio port they want for their speakers. That is, you could plug in a pair of 2.1 speakers into any of the available audio ports and the ALC655 codec would configure whichever port you chose into Analog out. A nifty feature for inexperienced users, but a nice one nonetheless.

The dual BIOS is also another nice perk for users that may venture too far off into overclocker land.

In terms of BIOS features the 8IPE1000 Pro does not disappoint, especially for a value motherboard. Vcore is adjustable up to 1.76V in 0.0125V (though a heavy 0.080V after 1.60V) which will allow for plenty of room for serious overclockers, especially when you consider that the 8IPE1000 Pro overvolts by about 0.04V. VDIMM up to 2.8V, VAGP up to 1.8V, and FSB up to 355MHz are all excellent choices to include in a value overclockering motherboard. UPDATE 6/19/2003 We should also mention that you must hold the CTRL key and press F1 to bring up the Advanced Chipset Features section, where you will be able to adjust your memory module's timings.

There are only a few negative things to say about the 8IPE1000 Pro. On the overclocking side of things we would have preferred more finely adjustable Vcore options after 1.60V. Gigabyte did an excellent job with the 8IPE1000 Pro's layout, the only thing we would have changed would be the location of the Floppy connector to a more friendly position that isn't prone to entanglement. Besides that the 8IPE1000 Pro is an extremely well put together value motherboard that performs quite well at stock and overclocked speeds (skip ahead to the overclocking section of this review for more information).