The board is typical of Intel: the PCB is developed so that the costs
of production of two versions on the same chipset can be minimal. Like
before, the board has a lot of free space on one edge, but this time
it has relatively small dimensions. We got a preproduction sample, that
is why there are no many accessories.
Accessories:
- CD with software including:
- drivers;
- brief overview of capabilities of the i845G boards in PDF;
- DirectX 8.0a
The layout and flaws are also standard: audio-ins are in front of the
PCI slots; the element base is scanty because almost the same PCB is
used in the microATX version; when a video card is installed it's difficult
to handle the memory modules. It's not difficult to reach the only jumper
on the board even when the board is already installed. Its function
is shown on the textolite.
The 2-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 3 capacitors
of 3300 uf and 2of 2200 uF.
The following controllers are integrated: an audio one based on the
chipset's capabilities and AC'97 codec Analog Devices AD1981A with an
output for front audio connectors; a network one based on the chipset's
capabilities with the 10BaseT/100BaseTX support.
Non-unsoldered connectors: a CNR slot and a USB connector.
The system monitoring is supported by the SMSC LPC47M172-NR chip. Processor
voltage (+/-3.3, +/-5 and +/-12 V), speed of 2 fans and temperatures
of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor)
can be controlled. There are 2 connectors for adjustable connection
of fans and one for non-adjustable connection.
Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 2 DDR
SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI; I/O ports - 1 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/
4 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x210 mm.
Adjustment can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches |
Configuration jumper |
Normal/ Config/ Recovery |
| BIOS based on v6.00 from Phoenix |
Setup of memory timings (available in the Config
mode) |
+ |
CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge,
RAS Act. To Pre |
| Setup of memory frequency (available in the
Config mode) |
+ |
Auto, 100, 133 and 166 MHz |
| Setup of AGP bus |
- |
 |
| Setup of PCI bus |
- |
|
| Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses |
- |
 |
| Manual assignment of interrupts |
+ |
|
| Changeable FSB frequency |
- |
|
| Changeable CPU multiplier |
- |
|
| Changeable core voltage |
- |
|
| Changeable memory voltage |
- |
|
| Changeable chipset voltage |
- |
|
| Changeable AGP bus voltage |
- |
|
We used the latest available version of the BIOS - 1017.D.
I don't have any impression from this board, except the DDR333 support
which is quite unusual for Intel, especially considering that the chipset
doesn't support it officially.
Test results:
