Article: Gigabyte® GA-8I945P Dual Graphic-R Review (World's First SLI on i945 Chipset?)
Many thanks to AsiantTech, and TipidPC for providing the motherboard and videocards, Intel® for providing the processor.
I. Introduction
Gigabyte is not only a name synonimous to the way size and capacity of storage devices are measure, but also recently, they are synonimous to an OEM geared towards addressing enthusiasts' needs and whims. Their product line are broad, and spans all segments in the video card for gaming, high end and specialized cools, and, as the focus of this review, performance and high end motherboards.
The Gigabyte® GA-8I945P Dual Graphic, the motherboard on the test bench, is is based on a high performance mainstream chipset which is the Intel® 945P Express chipset. This particular motherboard, as Gigabyte puts it, is under the "iDNA" family (Intelligent Dual Nano Architecture). Notable features include advanced performance, security, QuadView design, and World's First Intel® Pentium 4-based motherboard that support two(2) PCI-Express graphics card.
II. Specification
With such features, the motherboard targets a bigger segment of users, from normal PC users, to enthusiast and gaming crowd. It comes with standard features and functions such as Gigabit LAN, Intel® HD Audio, 64bit Ready with Intel® EM64T, Intel® Matrix Storage coupled with Gigabyte's very own QuadView Technology, Dual Graphic Link Technology, GigaARAID IDE Raid Controller, iCool (thermal and acoustic control), C.I.A.2 (CPU Intelligent Accelerator 2), M.I.B.2 (Memory Intelligent Booster 2), and Gigabyte ShieldWare (software bundle for performance and PC ease of use).
- CPU
- Support for an Intel® Pentium® D Processor in an LGA775 socket with an 800 MHz system bus
- Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition Processor in an LGA775 socket with an 1066 or 800 MHz system bus
- Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor in an LGA775 socket with an 800 or 533 MHz system bus
- Support for an Intel® Celeron® D Processor in an LGA775 socket with a 533 MHz system bus
- Chipset
- Intel® 945P Chipset
- Intel® 82801GR (ICH7R)
- GigaRAID ITE8212 IDE RAID controller
- Front Side Bus
- 1066MHz / 800MHz / 533MHz
- Memory
- Dual Channel Support
- 4 x 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets support max. 4GB DDR2 667/533/400 non-ECC memory
- Expansion Slots
- 2x PCI Express* x16
- 1x PCI Express* x1
- 3x PCI
- Storage
- 1x UDMA ATA-33/66/100 (two IDE devices)
- 2x UDMA ATA-66/100/133 (hard disks only)
- 4x Serial ATA II 3.0Gb
- One diskette drive interface
- LAN
- Broadcom 5789 Gigabit Ethernet controller
- Audio
- Intel® High Definition Audio Realtek ALC882 audio codec
- 8-channel (7.1) audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC882 audio codec
- USB
- 4x on the back panel
- 4x on the front panel via 2 internal headers
- Backward compatible with USB 1.1
- Back Panel I/O Ports
- 1x VGA port
- 1x parallel port
- 1x serial port
- PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports
- 4x USB ports
- 1x RJ-45 Ethernet connector
- Internal I/O Headers
- 2x USB headers for 4x USB devices
- 2x5 onboard header for front panel audio
- CPU / Chassis / Power FAN connectors
- Chassis Intrusion
- Power Connectors
- 24-pin ATX Power connector
- 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector
- Accessories
- 1x Quick Reference Poster
- 2 x Serial ATA cable
- ATA 100/66 cable
- Configuration Label/li>
- Northbridge Fan
- USB 2.0 Bracket
- Backplate I/O shield
- BIOS
- Dual BIOS
- Supports ACPI, Plug and Play, and SMBIOS
- Form Factor
- ATX (30.5cm x 23.4cm)
- Overclocking Features
- EasyTune 5
- C.I.A.2
- M.I.B.2
- Other Features
- Hardware management/monitor
- Three fan sensing inputs used to monitor fan activity
- Voltage monitor
- Processor Temperature monitor
- Fan Speed Control
- Power Management
- Support for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)
- Suspend to RAM (STR)
- Wake on USB and PS/2
- Security
- Warranty
Time to give it a closer look...
