915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us
by Wesley Fink on December 7, 2004 12:25 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Abit AG8: Features and Layout
| Abit AG8 Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott) |
| Chipset | Intel 915P/ICH6R |
| BUS Speeds | 100MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| DDR Speeds | Auto, 333, 400 |
| PCI Speeds | 33.33, 36.36, 40.00 |
| Core Voltage | CPU Default to 1.7375V in 0.0125V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 2.5V to 3.2V in 0.05V increments |
| NB (Northbridge) Voltage | 1.50V-2.05V in 0.05V increments |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR 400 Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB |
| Expansion Slots | 1 PCIe x16 Slot 3 PCIe x1 slot 2 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/IDE RAID | 4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6R Can be combined in RAID 0, 1, Intel Matrix |
| Onboard IDE | One Standard ATA100/66 (2 drives) |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports 3 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by TI 4200R7T |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit PCI Ethernet by Realtek 8110S-32 |
| Onboard Audio | AC'97 2.3 Realtek ALC658 8-Channel with SPDIF in/out |
| Tested BIOS | 1.7 Award |
With a name like AG8, you may be tempted to conclude that this must be an integrated graphics board, but in fact, the Abit AG8 is based on the Intel 915P chipset. You can certainly see the family resemblance to the Abit AA8 DuraMAX, which is one of the better performing 925X motherboards - and that is a good thing. Abit has included the ICH6R south bridge, which brings Intel Matrix RAID to the AG8. This is something many other boards in our roundup neglect as they choose the non-Raid ICH6 to save a few dollars on the cost of their 915 board. Abit also kept the Firewire ports on the AG8 - another area that is often cut to price down the 915 for the mainstream.
Abit made concessions to a price point on the AG8 in their choice of an average AC'97 2.3 audio solution instead of the extremely capable Azalia High-Definition audio. You will find Gigabit LAN on the AG8, but it is the version tied to the PCI bus instead of the faster PCI Express version. These concessions will matter to some and not much to others, but it does help Abit keep the price competitive in what they hope will be a very active market segment.
Abit has included their typical wide selection of voltages and frequencies to get the most from the AG8 and the Pentium 4 Prescott. Abit was one of the first motherboard makers to break through the overclocking limitations of the 925X chipset, and this is also reflected in the 915P AG8 where additional automatic manipulations are being made by µGuru at boot. The PCIe frequency is adjusted dynamically in relation to the CPU frequency prior to boot, to allow a higher overclock with the AG8. The overclocking controls are typically Abit, which means exceptionally wide ranges in BIOS compared to most other boards in the 915 roundup. Abit decided not to include PCI Express speed adjustments in the BIOS - they are being manipulated in µGuru instead.
The voltage adjustments for memory are particularly noteworthy, since they extend to 3.2V. This should be enough to satisfy most DDR users and it even provides options to use some of the fast high-voltage memory, which has recently been introduced to the High-end memory market. The range of available voltages for the CPU and Northbridge are also stands out - as you would expect from a company that so closely identifies with the computer enthusiast The Northbridge adjustments extend from the default 1.5V all the way to 2.05V, which is a wider range than what you find on any other board. As we saw on the AA8 Duramax, Abit has added a hefty heatsink with a side-blowing fan to the northbridge to handle the voltage range that they have built into the AG8.
Abit uses a flat edge connector for the single IDE connection provided by the 915P chipset, which can be a difficult fit in most mid-tower cases. We suggest that you connect the IDE cable before you mount the board, since the connector falls under the hard drives in many case designs and is difficult to reach after the board is screwed down. We generally like the idea of edge connectors, but some case designs make it very difficult to connect the edge-connectors. If you still use a floppy, you will find the location to be a real problem at the very bottom center of the motherboard. When you try to route the floppy cable to clear the 4 SATA connectors, it tends to hide the diagnostic LEDs and interfere with the front-panel connectors. The bulky 24-pin power connector is on the right board edge and the 4-pin 12V connector is on the top board edge. Both these locations are excellent - you will not have to fish cables over or around the CPU. The Abit trademark 2-digit diagnostic LEDs are also found on the mainstream-priced AG8. They can be very useful for troubleshooting.
Abit uses the Realtek ALC658 codec instead of an Intel HD compliant audio codec on the AG8. You have to save money somewhere, but the HD audio is a trademark 925X/915 feature and it is a shame to lose this great feature. You can find more information on the features and specifications of the Realtek 658 at the Realtek website. While you're there, you should also do a little research on the High-Definition audio codecs also supplied by Realtek.
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Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Sorry Didn't see your reply before I posted Wesley.Sure there is some value to be had but not "outstanding". I still don't agree with you but I guess my mind is made up. Intel needs to come out with something new before I go back.
As a roundup it was very good reading tough. I can't wait for the next AMD roundup to hit AnandTech.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#12"The P5GD2 is an expensive motherboard, at about $240 on the web, but you can get almost all the same features in the P5GD2 Deluxe for about $50 less."
Thats expensive to me. Compare that to the 134.99 for the 939 Gold Editors Choice winner "MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum"
But thats not the point. If the 915P was substantially cheaper then a 939 system you might call it value for money but is it not. Mind you a 939 board is generally not cheap either but at least it delivers in comparison.
The CPU used in the review that hardly beat the much cheaper 3500+ had a max overclock of 14% and I bet you would find it hard to reach that high without the CPU overheating and start throttling http://www.anandtech.com/news/shownews.aspx?i=2345...
LGA775 CPUs does not offer great overclocking headroom compared to the much cheaper earlier Intel platforms or AMD for that matter. Sure they still overclock but nothing that we haven't seen before at higher cost and temperature. Again not what I would call outstanding.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - We just ran the 3500+ benchmarks in the same configuration this morning, and we do agree that the 3500+ is a particularly good value in performance for the dollar. However, the larger picture of prices of AMD CPUs compared to Intel show the Intel processors are a good, if not outstanding, value.Our conclusion was based on Anand's value analysis in the 3.46EE/1066 launch review at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?... There he compared the 3800+ at over $600 to a Intel 560 3.6GHz at about $450 and found the 3800+ the winner but probably not a big enough winner to justify the price premium for the 3800+. At that time, there was no 570 (3.8GHz) and the 3.6 was the fastest Intel CPU unless you considered the $1000+ Xeon-based EE processors. Price changes continue, and with them the value relationships do change.
A quick check of prices today shows
Intel 520(2.8GHz)- $160 AMD 2800+(754) - $128
Intel 530(3.0GHz)- $180 AMD A64 3000+ - $152
Intel 540(3.2GHz)- $220 AMD A64 3200+ - $194
Intel 550(3.4GHz)- $282 AMD A64 3400+ - $269
Intel 560(3.6GHz)- $455 AMD A64 3500+ - $270
Intel 570(3.8GHz)- $795 AMD A64 3800+ - $630
AMD A64 4000+ - $716
AMD A64 FX55 - $812
With current prices we would have to agree that there is really no great value advantage to Intel any more. But there is good value in the Intel processors from 2.8GHz (520) to 3.6GHz (560). Certainly the 4000+, at $80 less than the 570 and faster performance, and the FX55 at about the same price as 570 and significantly faster in most benchmarks, are better value at the top. But we still stand by Intel being good value in the middle.
deathwalker - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
"outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar" ?????????? at $240 for a Mobo?..I guess I need to retake Economics 101...Bah...Intel just continues to shot themselves in the foot. A side note not related to this review..Dell must be deep inside of Intel's pocketbook with there contiued refusal to market AMD based products.danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#11 - 915P motherboards are not expensive. They are equal or cheaper in price than socket 939 A64 motherboards.LGA775 CPUs offer great overclocking headroom if paired with the right board. Intel CPUs have traditionally have had more OCing headroom than AMD chips. That still holds true, for the most part, today. Especially when talking about the low-end chips, like the 2.8GHz.
Live - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
I'm sorry but I don't see the "outstanding value and performance for your buying dollar"Expensive Motherboards and CPUs with little overclocking headroom compared to the Athlon 64 competition. How does that translate to excellent value and performance? even the much cheaper 3500 comes out on top on most benchmarks.
Sure there are niche markets where the Intel platform excels but for the big majority of us AMD is where its at right now.
I don't think this review is in sync with your conclusion so either list some valid arguments for your point (Since its not there in the benchmarks) or edit the conclusion.
danidentity - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Wesley, thanks for including tests from a more comparable AMD CPU. Listening to your readers is always appreciated.Wesley Fink - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
#4,#5,#6 - The Athlon 64 results with the FX55 were included for Reference, and not direct comparison. However you do make a good point.The closest A64 we had in the lab to a 3.6GHz 560 was the 3500+ based on the 90nm process. This should provide an advantage to the Intel 560. Since there are complaints here the FX55 is too high end, these new tests tilted toward Intel should balance the playing field. The 3500+ costs about $265 and the Intel 560 (3.6GHz) is about $455, so the 560 is about 70% more expensive than the 3500+.
The added 3500+ benchmarks were also an opportunity to test with the SAME ATI X800XT PCIe we used in benchmarking the 915 boards. Enjoy!
Color codes have been updated and there are now 3500+ results on the Gigabyte nForce4 with the ATI X800XT PCIe in all benchmarks.
Original plans were to include the Intel 570 in this roundup, but much of the testing was already done when the Intel 3.8GHz CPU was launched. This Intel 3.8 is priced at around $800, which is very close to the FX55. You can see how it compares to the FX55 in performance in Anand's launch article at http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...
CrystalBay - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
It's a pity that all these 4 dimm slot, dual channelMB's have such a rough time doing it. Imagine trying
to run 4 1GB dimms in DC, this goes for ddr1 as well 2.
Glassmaster - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - link
Now that Northwood and 865/875 are on the way out, only a fool would buy Intel.Glassmaster.