Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Mainboard (i875P)

i875P chipset

The distinguishing feature of this board is the richest accessory pack and the maximum functional support. Boards of this line excellently use capabilities of this chipset, and this particular model is a good representative of the whole line. We have tested a preproduction sample.

Accessories:

Package of a stylish design with a handle;
Cables: 2 SATA, 2 ATA66/100/133 and FDD - they are covered with blue cambric to improve ventilation inside the case;

SATA power supply splitter;
CBOX3 panel with an IR port, 2 USB 2.0 connectors, Audio-In/Out, 1 FireWire port, 2 7-LED segments for the POST procedure and then a CPU temperature, and CF, MMC, MS, SMC, SD card reader;

Three removable covers for the front panel of CBOX3 of different colors;

Infrared PC remote control;

CNR expansion card with S/PDIF-Out connectors TosLink, Act. L/R, Sur. L/R, Center/Bass and 2 FireWire ports;

Optical cable with TosLink connectors and miniTosLink-TosLink adapter;
Blank bracket;
Screwdriver with 4 removable heads;

thermal grease;
2 CDs with:

drivers;
user guide;
AutoSave;
Norton Antivirus 2002;
Adobe ActiveShare;
Adobe Acrobat Reader;
Adobe eBook Reader;
ImageMore.

The layout is standard. Unfortunately, the IDE connectors are behind the PCI slots, and there are too many connectors around the DIMM slots. Also, it can be difficult to reach some jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.

The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 3 capacitors of 3300 uF and several less capacious ones. There is also a memory voltage regulator (3 capacitors of 1500 uF).

Integrated controllers:

audio controller based on the chipset and VIA Envy24PT codec; 7.1 audio system supported, front audio-outs and SPDIF connectors provided;
2 network controllers, one based on the Realtek RTL8101L supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX, and the other on the Intel 82547EI (Kenai II CSA) supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX/1000BaseT (Gigabit Ethernet);
FireWire bus controller on the VIA VT6306 chip with support of 3 ports.

Non-unsoldered connectors: additional controller SATA RAID and its connectors.

System monitoring is supported by ITE IT8712F-A chip. It controls:

processor, memory voltages, 1.5, +3.3, +5 and +-12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby
speed of 3 fans;
temperatures of the processor (built-in sensor) and the board (built-in sensor).

There are 2 connectors for adjustable and 3 for unadjustable connection of fans (one of them is connected to a fan on the MCH's heatsink).

Brief board's characteristics: memory slots - 4 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 5 PCI/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 8 USB 2.0 / 3 FireWire; dimensions - 305x245 mm.

Settings:

jumpers and switches	CMOS Clear jumper
	Jumpers for setting FSB clock speed		Default/133/200 MHz
	Jumpers for starting up computer from a USB keyboard
BIOS based on Phoenix AwardBIOS 6.00PG	Setup of memory timings	+	CAS Latency, Active to Precharge Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge
	Setup of memory frequency	+	Auto, DDR266, DDR333, DDR400
	Setup of AGP bus	-
	Setup of PCI bus	-
	Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses	+	AGP(PCIx2) = Synch., 66-100 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts	-
	Changeable FSB frequency	+	100-400 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Changeable CPU multiplier	+	x8-x50
	Changeable core voltage	+	1.1-1.85 V in 0.0125-0.025V steps
	Changeable memory voltage	+	Default, +0.1, +0.2, +0.3 V
	Changeable chipset voltage	-
	Changeable AGP bus voltage	+	Default, +0.1, +0.2, +0.3V

We used the BIOS of 30.04.2003 as the latest available version.

The board doesn't yield to its competitors in functions and outpaces most of them in accessories. This is how a top model meant for demanding home users must look like.

Test results:

6 i875P Mainboards Roundup

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)

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