For a long time (until the Ultra2 version) this board topped the Gigabyte's
line on the i845PE chipset, that is why its functions and accessories are on a
very high level.
Accessories:
- Package of the standard
design which is laminated with plastic with a some holographic effect;
-
Documentation: user manual, installation manual for IDE RAID, poster with brief
installation steps - in English
- Cables: FDD, 2 ATA66/100/133;
-
Bracket with 2 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.
Surely, such a highly integrated board has some shortcomings in the layout:
audio-ins are in front of the PCI, and the IDE RAID are behind them, and 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;
- IDE RAID
controller based on the Promise PDC20276 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1 on the protocols
up to ATA133;
- USB 2.0 bus controller based on the NEC D720100AS1
chip supporting 4 ports
Thanks to the Winbond W83L518D Smart I/O controller
the board supports (and have connectors) Secure Digital and Memory Stick Readers.
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.
Non-unsoldered connectors: COM port (it's used in the board
based on the i845GE chipset).
The system monitoring is supported by the
ITE IT8712F-A chip. What is controlled:
- processor voltage, 1.5,
+3.3, +5 and +12 V;
- speed of 3 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/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 10 USB 2.0; dimensions
- 305x245 mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| BIOS based on Award Modular 6.00PG |
Setup of memory timings |
+ |
CAS Latency, Active to Precharge, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge |
| Setup of memory frequency |
+ |
Auto, DRAM/Host = 2, 2.5 |
| Setup of AGP bus |
- |
|
| Setup of PCI bus |
- |
|
| Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses |
- |
|
| Manual assignment of interrupts |
+ |
|
| Changeable FSB frequency |
+ |
100-355 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| Changeable CPU multiplier |
- |
|
| Changeable core voltage |
+ |
1.5-1.775 in 0.025 V 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 F3 as the latest available
version.
This is one of the fastest boards on this chipset, but not the
most productive; it possesses good but not outstanding functions and overclocking
settings and accessories - this model will attract many but it won't be a bestseller
because of lacking unique parameters.
Test results:
