Gigabyte 8GE667 Pro i845GE Based Mainboard

i845GE chipset

We had a look at this PCB when examined the 8PE667 Ultra based on the i845PE, but the Pro version is more modest than the Ultra, that is why the functions of this one are more scarce.

Accessories:

Package of the standard design which is laminated with plastic with a holographic effect;
Documentation: user manual, poster with brief installation steps - in English
Cables: FDD, 1 ATA66/100/133;
Bracket with 4 USB ports;
Bracket with Rear, Center/Sub and S/PDIF-Out connectors (Coaxial and TosLink);
Bracket for the rear computer panel;
CD containing:

drivers;
DirectX 8.1;
Adobe Acrobat Reader;
Norton Internet Security 2002;
Gigabyte EasyTune 4;
Gigabyte IA Panel;
Gigabyte Face Wizard;
Gigabyte Windows Utility Manager;
Gigabyte Management Tools;
Gigabyte BIOS Writer.

Weak points: audio-ins are in front of the PCI, and some connectors are along the left edge; besides, when a video card is installed it's difficult to handle the memory modules. No switches or jumpers.

The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 10 capacitors of 1500 uF.

The following controllers are integrated:

audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front audio inputs/outputs and for SPDIF;
network controller based on the Intel i82562EZ chip supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX.

Thanks to the ITE IT8712F-A I/O controller the board supports (and have a connector) for a Smart Card Reader.

The board supports the DualBIOS technology (there is a backup Flash EEPROM chip with BIOS copy).

+2.5 V supplied to the memory modules is indicated with the LED,
and when a 3.3V card is inserted you will see a flashing LED next to the AGP slot which means that the card is incompatible.

Non-unsoldered connectors: USB 2.0 and IDE RAID controllers and their connectors, the controller and connectors for SD and MS card readers, CNR slot.

The system monitoring is supported by the ITE IT8712F-A chip. What is controlled:

processor, AGP bus voltages, +3.3, +5 and +12 V;
speed of 2 fans;
temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor).

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

Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x245 mm.

Settings:

BIOS based on Award v6.00PG	Setup of memory timings	+	CAS Latency, Active to Precharge Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge
	Setup of memory frequency	+	Auto, DRAM/FSB = 2, 2,5
	Setup of AGP bus	-
	Setup of PCI bus	-
	Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses	+	AGP(PCIx2) = 66-100 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts	+
	Changeable FSB frequency	+	100-355 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Changeable CPU multiplier	+	x8-x32
	Changeable core voltage	+	1.5-1.75 V in 0.025V steps
	Changeable memory voltage	+	Normal, +0.1, +0.2 V
	Changeable chipset voltage	-
	Changeable AGP bus voltage	+	Normal, +0.1, +0.2, +0.3 V

We used the BIOS F1 as the latest available version.

The board performed not bad in the tests and has decent overclocking potential.

Test results:

6 Intel 845GE Based Mainboards

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)

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