865PE/875P Motherboard Roundup June 2003 - Part 1: 20-way Shootout
by Evan Lieb on June 12, 2003 10:57 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
The Test
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Performance Test Configuration |
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| Processor(s): |
Intel
Pentium 4 3.00GHz (800MHz FSB) - HT enabled
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| RAM: |
2 x 256MB Corsair PC3200 LL Modules (TwinX series)
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| Hard Drive(s): |
Western
Digital 120GB 7200 RPM Special Edition (8MB Buffer)
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| Bus Master Drivers: |
865PE & 875P:
Intel INF Update v5.00.1012, no 865PE or 875P IAA available at time of publishing
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| Video Card(s): |
MSI GeForce4 Ti 4600
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| Video Drivers: |
NVIDIA
Detonator 44.03
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| Operation System(s): |
Windows
XP Professional SP1
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| Motherboards: |
ABIT
IC7 (875P) - BIOS 13
ABIT IC7-G (875P) BIOS 13 ABIT IS7 (865PE) BIOS 13 beta 3 ABIT IS7-G (865PE) BIOS 13 beta 3 Albatron PX865PE Pro (865PE) - BIOS 4/17/03 (first release) Albatron PX865PE Pro II (865PE) - BIOS 4/17/03 (first release) AOpen AX4C Max (875P) - BIOS 1.04a ASUS P4C800 Deluxe (875P) - BIOS 1006 ASUS P4P800 Deluxe (865PE) - BIOS 1007 DFI PRO875 LAN Party (875P) - BIOS 5/16/03 Epox 4PCA3+ (875P) - BIOS 06/06/2003 Epox 4PDA2+ (865PE) - BIOS 05/09/03 Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro (865PE) - BIOS F6 (4/30/2003) Gigabyte 8KNXP (875P) - BIOS M4 Gigabyte 8KNXP Ultra (875P) - BIOS F2c Gigabyte 8PENXP (865PE) - BIOS M2 Intel D865PERL (865PE) - BIOS P06 Intel D875PBZ (875P) - BIOS P06 MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R (875P) BIOS 1.4 Soyo P4I875P DRAGON 2 (875P) - BIOS 6/03/2003 |
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Testing Methodology
All performance tests run on 865PE and 875P-based motherboards utilized two 256MB Corsair LL TwinX PC3200 modules set to CAS 2-2-2-5 timings (8IPE1000 Pro at CAS 2.5-2-2-5) running in dual channel DDR400 mode. Any other performance-enhancing timings (like the P4P800 Deluxe's MAM mode or the ABIT IS7/G/IC7/G's Performance Mode) were enabled in 865PE and 875P-based motherboards that contained such timings.
There were several motherboards that came with slightly overclocked FSB speeds of over 200MHz even if 200MHz was selected in the BIOS. This is clearly because motherboard makers want to have a performance edge in motherboard reviews, but since that would be an unfair comparison we decided to normalize the FSB speed of each and every motherboard. Through a little BIOS tweaking and our own utility we were able to keep each motherboard running between 202.24MHz and 202.76MHz FSB. The 0.52MHz difference amounts to just over a 6MHz core clock speed difference in the real world, which amounts to well under a 1% possible variance in scores due to FSB speed. Therefore no motherboard has any real advantage over the other in terms of unfair FSB overclocking on the manufacturer's part.
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18 Comments
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Zak - Sunday, January 18, 2004 - link
I bought IS7 after reading this article and I've been having problems. Random resets, then BSOD after changing XP recovery settings. Over the past few months it worsened. In the begining it like once a week maybe. I wasn't concerned, bad driver I thought. Now it won't run more than an hour without BSOD. I have Corsair XMS DDR400 in it. I've played with memory settings for weeks, timings and voltages as well, reinstalled XPPro several times, updated BIOS, got all newest drivers and run out of ideas... I've put a stick of DDR333 because that's all have to test and I still get the same random BSOD, even durnig XP installation. I have no PCI cards in this box. Mushkin calls this board problematic and attributes the memory problems to forced implementation of PAT that is not normally present in 865. I may try getting it replaced by NewEgg but I don't suppose it'll help. I'm thinking about getting a 875 board instead. Zak.Anonymous User - Friday, October 24, 2003 - link
I would like to see part II of the roundup of the 865 chipset. I wonder what is the delay?Anonymous User - Monday, October 13, 2003 - link
I thought Part 2 would be out by now at least... There are good new boards out there I'd like to see... Shuttle AB60R (cheap and full featured) and Abit IC7-MAX3 (OTES for mobo power area). I am still looking forward to seeing this, eventually, right guys?Anonymous User - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - link
Any comments on newer motherboards? Why hasn't supermicro been tested since 2000?Looking to compare supermicro
Intel s875wp1-e and Super P4SCE (SuperServer 5013C-I (SYS-5013-CI)) for a $50k cluster
Thanks
syzygyus@yahoo.com
Anonymous User - Friday, August 29, 2003 - link
Evan, how in the world is #4 going to research your statement when the articles/review comments forum gets purged/is gone now ?Anonymous User - Saturday, August 23, 2003 - link
Any word on Revision 2 of the Gigabyte 8knxp ultra board yet?Anonymous User - Sunday, August 10, 2003 - link
I bought the is7 after I read this article. It had many problems. I ended up having to ram this board twice. If you read the abit forum boards you will see alot of problems I am fairly surprised after all the tests this board was put through nothing ever went wrong. I will not buy another abit product period. I will stick to gigabye i've built 6 systems with Gigabyte and yet to have any problems with them. Save for the chipset fans having a low life.Anonymous User - Friday, August 8, 2003 - link
I bought the Abit IS7 and am completely pleased. One note is that many of the IS7's appear to be getting shipped with the gigabit lan as opposed to the sales brochure stated 10/100. (mine has the gigabit)Anonymous User - Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - link
How could it be that the Asus p4c 800 de luxe is more expensive then the asus p4p deluxe but in the testresults it is slower?I would think i am misinformed by the computershop?
And the p4c deluxe got a gigabit lan on board, despite mentioning in the summary of this Mb it has not.
PixelDoc - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Error Re: Gigabyte GA-8KNXP MoBoThis MoBo has 4, not 2 SATA connectors, 2 controlled by ICH5R and 2 more contolled by the SIL3112 chip.