Testing The E-Class: 9 Pentium 4 Motherboards With The 845E Chipset – THG.RU

The New E-class – Pentium 4 Motherboards with the Intel 845E Chipset and 133 MHz FSB

Up till now, AMD’s Athlon XP has had no problems keeping up with the Intel Pentium 4, despite the latter’s considerable lead in clock speed. But the times, they are a-changing. The new P4 models for 133 MHz FSB almost seem to have an afterburner, leaving AMD in the dust despite its Thoroughbred core and DDR333. It appears that Intel’s fortunes are on the rise – the motherboards are mature, with features that beat last year’s batch by far. Does that mean sunny times for us customers?

Yes – and no. To begin with, the new 845E and 845G chipsets have the advantage of being directly developed by Intel. The market leader’s hardware has been very popular for years thanks to its good performance and extreme reliability. Even more important is Intel’s consistency, which other manufacturers manage to imitate only sporadically.

The 845E seems to go along with this tradition in that the motherboards we tested present no grounds for griping about their stability and overall performance. Even more obscure manufacturers have made an effort to expand their array of features and accessories. By now, things such as piezo speakers (instead of PC speakers), sound and RAID controllers or overclocking options have become standard, which wasn’t the case in earlier comparisons.

On the other hand, that added functionality has its price. A well-equipped motherboard with an 845E chipset will run at least $180.

Nine new motherboards had made it to our lab by the time we went to press. We subjected them to a thorough examination and have summed up our conclusions with extensive comparisons and sound buying recommendations.

845E – Not New, But Good

The 845E is based on the Brookdale core – the very same one that launched the SDRAM platform for the Pentium 4 almost a year ago. That fall, Intel officially approved DDR support for this chipset, even though the Brookdale had already supported the faster memory from its inception. The 845G is traveling along similar lines right now. While the chipset possesses the technology to work with DDR333 memory, Intel is taking its time in validating it, prompting many motherboard manufacturers to offer the feature as an overclocking option.

The only difference between the 845E and the original 845 is in their specifications, which now permit a quad-pumped 133 MHz FSB (ends up as 533 MHz). Intel has also combined the 845E with a new Southbridge, the ICH4 (i82801DB), which supports USB 2.0, but not UltraATA/133, since Intel had never advocated that standard in the first place. Instead, they just left it at ATA/100, assuming that ATA’s advent at the end of the year would suffice. After all, everyone will be switching to the new standard as quickly as possible.

Another essential change has been made on the AGP front – the chipset only permits the use of AGP-4x graphics boards with a 1.5 V voltage supply. Just about every manual makes mention of this fact; however, only Jetway sees fit to put a sticker on the motherboard warning users that violating this guideline may damage their hardware.

Ready, Set… Go! Boot Time

Until recently, very few tests considered the time a system needs to boot completely, i.e., the time that passes between the pressing of the power button and the appearance of the Windows desktop. With few exceptions, the current crop of motherboards have stepped up their pace from a few months ago. Nonetheless, components such as RAID, SCSI or network controllers stretch out this time considerably since they have to initialize and search for devices and connections. Disabling all the on-board components levels the playing field for all the motherboards. We discovered that installing the Intel Application Accelerator makes a noticeable difference, lopping ten seconds off the boot time for our test boards with Windows 2000, and four seconds for those with Windows XP.

Most of the systems in this round-up took about 30 seconds to boot Windows XP (with 256 MB RAM and an IBM DeskStar 60 GXP as well as the latest drivers). Activating the RAID, sound and network controllers added about 5-8 seconds to this. The only boards that were clearly faster were the Intel and the Abit, which needed 25 and 26 seconds, respectively.

The Boards

ABit IT7: Long Live Progress!

BIOS Version: 8H (6. May, 2002)

The IT7 has “less” technology to offer than its competitors – it’s the first motherboard in our lab to lack PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse as well as serial and parallel ports. Although that may seem kind of shocking to begin with, you really no longer need any of these ports. Most people have had USB mice for a while now; even all the aging parallel or serial ports have had to make way for USB 2.0 or FireWire.

Since the antiquated ports have been eliminated, the IT7 (and the Intel board) boot in considerably less time than the competition.

One thing the IT7 isn’t lacking in is ports – it has six (count ’em, six) USB ports on its connector panel. Then it also offers two additional ports, with an appropriate adapter cable included in the package. With all this, there’s nothing stopping you from hooking up your printer, scanner, keyboard, mouse, digital camera, USB modem and joystick.

The network or DSL connection has been taken care of with a network controller from Realtek that can run at 10 or 100 Mbit/s. A sound system is also included, offering luxurious hardware surround sound and an optical digital port.

The powerful RAID controller is rather unusual – the IT7 is equipped with an HPT374 from HighPoint, which supports all IDE protocols right up to UltraATA/133 – and that four times over! Two hard drives can be attached to each of the four channels. Together with the IDE controller on the chipset (ATA/100), this translates into 12 ATA devices, which is a connectivity record among on-board systems.

Three DIMM sockets are available, allowing you to use up to 2 GB PC2100 DDR RAM (DDR266).

The package contains a manual, a driver CD, three 80-pin IDE cables and a USB adapter, in addition to an ATX bracket. The latter was included because the port panel had been redesigned to make up for the lost ports. It goes without saying that the Abit once again provides an exceptional basis for overclocking – the CPU voltage, FSB speed and clock multipliers can all be easily adjusted in BIOS. Now, to discuss the small cloud in this silver lining – the IT7 provides only four PCI slots. That said, with all the important components already integrated, these expansion slots should be more than sufficient.

AOpen AX4B Pro-533: Black Beauty

BIOS Version: 1.01 (June 6, 2002)

The Pro series from AOpen is characterized by its extensive hardware features. The AX5B Pro-533 is no exception, with six PCI slots, a CNR, an AGP 4x slot with card lock, three DIMM sockets and an ATA/133 Promise controller. We would have liked to have seen RAID functionality here, particularly since the chip needed (PDC20276) is pin-compatible with the ATA/133 controller.

Of course a network controller (Realtek RTL-8100BL) is also included. The board also sports a surround system based on a Realtek ALC650. Two internal ports are available to hook up a TV card or CD drive with the sound system.

AOpen has had two debug features in its arsenal for a while now – Dr. LED and Dr. Voice. The latter is nothing more than an extension of the BIOS POST codes. Instead of beeping, BIOS clearly describes the error using the on-board piezo speaker (e.g. “Check RAM”) in either English, Chinese, Japanese or German. Dr. LED needs an additional module in the form of a 5.25″ slide-in unit. Once connected to the motherboard, the Dr. LED module uses several LEDs to report on the system’s current status – a useful, if fiddly, feature. Dr. Voice is a better pick.

Four ports can be activated in addition to the two USB ones. However, the board doesn’t come packed with the adapter cables needed to do so. Instead, you get a whole slew of software of greater or lesser utility, such as Norton AntiVirus 2002, Norton Crash Guard, Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0, DocuCom Reader and AOConfig, a motherboard utility developed by AOpen. But since this last bit of software does about the same as shareware or freeware utilities, it doesn’t really add any value.

One useful feature is the CD player that is integrated in BIOS. When you boot up, you just hit “Insert” (“Ins”), which takes you to a relatively peppy interface that allows you to play back audio CDs without the need to load the operating system. This is a nice feature for audiophiles. Too bad, though, that you can’t play back MP3 files on CDs or DVDs.

Asus P4B-533E – Q-Fan for Quieter CPU Cooling

Board Revision: 1.02 1.02
BIOS Version: 1004 (17. May 2002)

Asus isn’t one to scrimp on innovations, either. Its latest technical pirouette, Q-Fan, ensures that the processor fan runs just fast enough to keep the CPU adequately cooled. This especially makes a difference under Windows 2000 or Windows XP, as processors dissipate a mere fraction of the heat dissipated under a full load. With this feature, the CPU fan now makes less noise if you’re working with Word only.

The board itself boasts a number of features. In addition to its three DIMM sockets and six PCI slots, there’s also a CNR slot and an AGP 4x Pro slot on the board. Be careful when picking out your graphics card! This board only supports 1.5 V models.

You can even rattle a few windows in surround sound since C-Media’s CMI8738 is integrated. An adequate number of drives can be connected with an IDE-RAID controller from Promise (PDC20276), which supports UltraATA/133, unlike the IDE controller in the chipset.

The P4B-533E also has an integrated network controller from Intel and a FireWire controller from Texas Instruments. The ports aren’t integrated into the ATX panel; instead, they are located in an adapter board that you install in an expansion slot. Thankfully, Asus includes the adapter module with the mobo.

In keeping with Asus standard procedure, CPU settings can be made in BIOS or with the DIP switches. While the latter option might appeal to system integrators, the BIOS set-up still offers a plethora of overclocking features, including modifying the FSB, the CPU core voltage and the clock speed ratio for AGP/PCI.

The package is overflowing with accessories. In addition to a fistful of IDE and USB cables, you’ll also find a CD and two manuals. Asus has also thrown in an adapter module to use two FireWire ports and an additional adapter with digital coaxial input and output ports for the sound system.

Biostar P4TDK: Focus on FireWire

Board Revision: 0.91
BIOS Version: 0410V (April 10, 2002)

The Biostar P4TDK comes with hardly a lick of extra hardware. Besides the standard chipset features, the board has an AC97 sound system based on the CMI9738 chip from C-Media and a VIA FireWire controller (VT6306). There could have been a total of three ports if a suitable adapter module had been included in the package. But we assume that Biostar just forgot to include it with our test model.

The AGP slot uses a slider to lock the card in place – a solution that we didn’t think was as reliable as other hook-based systems. Biostar has placed an eyebrow-raising four DIMM sockets on the board, with a few limitations, though. Since the 845E can only address four so-called rows at a time, you can only use a maximum of two double-sided DIMM banks or four one-sided ones. If this limitation is considered, the sockets offer you a lot of flexibility.

Unlike most of the other boards, the Biostar uses voltage converters with large heat sinks that also got mighty hot during our test runs. This makes the Biostar board somewhat unsuitable for systems that are supposed to be as quiet (read: with as few fans) as possible.

We found the board to be a high-level performer without stability problems.

Gigabyte GA-8IEXP: Features Galore

Board Revision: 1.1
BIOS Version: F4 (9. May 2002)

Gigabyte has put all the bells and whistles on the current 845E motherboard. With six PCI slots, a CNR slot, AGP 4x with a card lock, three DIMM sockets, a FireWire controller, an IDE-RAID controller from Promise (PDC20276), a sound system based on a Creative CT5880 and an Intel network controller, you have everything your heart could desire. Above and beyond that, Gigabyte provides all the necessary cables to be able to use all connectors except the two remaining USB 2.0 ports.

The only area where the little helper may keep the system stable is in overclocking. The BIOS offers all the overclocking options possible, from changing the FSB to increasing the voltage settings of the CPU core, RAM and AGP.

Gigabyte is one of few manufacturers to actually provide BIOS in several languages. What’s more, the translations even make sense – in the past, some manufacturers just used a dictionary, engendering menu items with nonsensical titles.

We were pleased with the bracketing on all the ports on the motherboard. This is a simple way to keep ports from being polarized incorrectly or connected improperly, making bent pins a thing of the past.

The board comes with a large number of cables and a lot of software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 or Norton AntiVirus 2002.

Intel D845EBT: Serious Competition

BIOS Version: 86A.0004.P03

In the meantime, Intel has packed some muscle on its motherboards. The products put out by the chip manufacturer may have always been very dependable, but they were often slow and insufficiently configurable. The D845EBT has put an end to that – it will satisfy most users.

For example, you can finally set memory timing manually in BIOS – a feature we had previously sought in vain. That said, the BIOS remains pretty conservative; in practice, the smaller number of settings options is generally not a disadvantage. The D845EBT is also a powerful performer, mixing it up among the top boards in this round-up.

The virtual lack of jumpers on the mobo makes it very easy to use. Two DIMM sockets can each take a DDR module of up to 1 GB apiece. Five PCI slots and a CNR slot are integrated to allow some expansions. The Promise RAID controller is a mini-premiere. The PDC20267 supplies two additional IDE channels with UltraATA/100. It would have also been possible to use the PDC20276 (ATA/133) – it remains to be seen why it wasn’t integrated.

This board also possesses a 100 Mbit network controller, also from Intel. The 82562ET adds onto the network interface in the chipset, making it compatible with both 10 and 100 Mbit/s standards. As if that weren’t enough, Intel also throws in a high-quality sound system with surround sound and a digital coaxial output port. Last, but not least, a FireWire controller rounds off the long list of features.

We found the BIOS update function under Windows to be very useful. All you do is download and run the latest release from the Intel website. The update takes a few seconds and is executed only after the program has made sure that the software matches the board. Another restart, and your update is finished – now that’s easy!

While the board doesn’t provide any way to change the FSB speed or the CPU voltage, its features are rather impressive. If it continues launching products of this ilk, Intel will have more successes to chalk up in the future.

Jetway 845EDAK: Less Is More

BIOS Version: F8 (24. May 2002)

The 845EDAK has six PCI slots, one CNR slot, two DIMM sockets, an AGP 4x slot with a card lock, an IDE controller from Promise (PDC20275, without RAID functionality) and an AC97 sound system based on a Realtek chip. Though surround-enabled (six channels), the sound system has very few external interfaces.

Jetway hasn’t added any more features than were absolutely necessary. For example, the Promise chip doesn’t support RAID mode. Nor does the board have a FireWire or network controller, which have to be added manually later.

The actual design of the Jetway board is well-engineered. Even though the floppy and secondary IDE connectors have been placed directly in front of three of the five PCI slots, the rest of the components have been arranged well. For instance, the AGP graphics card and the DIMM sockets don’t get in each other’s way, as is often the case.

The board comes with a driver CD, a ho-hum manual in English and a set of cables.

We have no gripes about the 845EDAK’s performance and stability. On the contrary, the Jetway board makes it to the front of the pack in many benchmarks, directly competing with other, less reasonably-priced boards.

MSI 845E Max2-BLR: RAID Overclocking and Bluetooth

Board Revision: 1
BIOS Version: 5.2 (June 2002)

With its red lacquer, the 845 board from MSI is a world apart from the other boards. Of course, color does not make for better performance, especially since all the manufacturers have a thorough command of the Intel chipset and generally know how to best unleash it, too.

MSI is one of two manufacturers who actively cool the 845E with a fan. This is neither necessary nor beneficial, since fans generally don’t do anything but add to a PC’s noise level. The IDE-RAID controller from Promise (PDC20276) is a much better choice: it supports all IDE protocols right up to UltraATA/133. The board also has a network controller from Intel, which is designed to handle transfer rates of 10 and 100 Mbit/s.

The rest of the hardware includes a CNR slot, six PCI slots, an AGP 4x slot with a card lock, three DIMM sockets for up to 2 GB DDR266-SDRAM and two free fan connectors.

MSI offers a slew of overclocking options, including the modification of the FSB and of the voltage for the CPU core, RAM and the chipset. We found the board to be a suitable performer that met all our stability expectations.

MSI ships the mobo with all the necessary cables, a driver CD, a floppy disk with the RAID drivers, a voluminous manual in English and two USB adapter cables that enable you to use all six ports.

This motherboard comes with a Bluetooth solution that follows the MSI tradition of PC-to-PC – which stands for a direct connection between two computers. A little add-on board (see picture) includes a Bluetooth transceiver, while MSI also includes a Bluetooth USB module that can be plugged into an USB port of any Windows machine in order to exchange data. Basically, you should be able to connect to any Bluetooth device available, such as mobile phones or PDAs.

Zida A845E: Minimalism Strikes Back

BIOS Version: 0.1 (March 18, 2002)

What struck us about the Zida board (also called the “Tomato Board”) was its small dimensions and compact layout. Of course, to be so compact, it had to be trimmed down considerably. The A845E doesn’t have any hardware features other than a sound system from C-Media (9738). But it does have two DIMM sockets, five PCI slots and a CNR slot. Three USB ports that support the USB 2.0 standard are already integrated in the ATX bracket, while you could add three others with a slot adapter – if one had only been included with the board.

The Zida board is an average performer.

Test Setup

Benchmark Results

Quake 3

Unreal Tournament

MPEG1 – Lame Encoder

MPEG4 Encoding

Sysmark 2000

SPEC ViewPerf

SPEC ViewPerf, Continued

WinACE 2.04

Conclusion: Gigabyte Wins – Asus Close Behind

Overall, the test boards appeared very highly developed and displayed no problems with system behavior.

All the motherboards, except Intel and Zida, can be overclocked. You can increase at least the FSB and core voltage for all the candidates, providing a solid basis for an increase in system performance. Abit, AOpen, Asus, Biostar, Jetway, Gigabyte and MSI also permit you to modify the feed voltage for the RAM or the AGP graphics card.

Since we’re on the subject of graphics cards, we’d like to remind you once again that you can only use models with a voltage requirement of 1.5 V. This mostly refers to the current crop of graphics cards for AGP 4x, whereas older AGP 2x graphics cards need a higher voltage that isn’t part of the specifications of the 845E chipset. Using such a card could damage both your motherboard and the graphics card itself.

Intel has now made a name for itself in the motherboard sector as well! With boards that used to be too slow or too feature-poor, Intel’s D845EBT has turned the tables on the competition. The RAID controller, high-quality sound system, network controller and FireWire add up to make this board a fantastic basis for anyone who’s not really dying to overclock. It also gives customers the opportunity to get everything from one source – board, chipset and processor. If Intel were to offer this trio in carefully combined bundles, that could cause a cold, harsh wind to blow, especially in the direction of smaller manufacturers.

The editor’s choice goes to Abit, for its IT7, to Asus, for its P4B-533E, and to Gigabyte, for its 8IEXP. All three boards are just bursting with features such as FireWire, ATA/133 IDE-RAID (with Abit even offering it in four channels), surround sound, network controllers and a complete set of cables. Furthermore, all three offer digital ports, making hi-fi components a snap to hook up.

Abit is the first manufacturer to strip away every single classic legacy component, from the PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports to the COM and LPT interfaces. Let’s be honest – this step was long overdue! With the current levels of 533 MHz FSB and processor clock speeds of well over 2 GHz, those stone-age components had been tripping up systems every chance they could get. Admittedly, USB keyboards are a tad more expensive than PS/2 models, but these obsolete standards are already in the process of being eliminated. But those who may still need a COM port in the future can still purchase an I/O PCI card for basically a song.

Our Editor’s Choice award goes to Gigabyte for its 8IEXP. This board, which includes extensive features, costs around $130, while a similar configuration with the Asus P4B-533E will cost you around $190. Both candidates offer numerous features such as FireWire, ATA/133 IDE-RAID, Surround sound, a network controller and a full set of cables. In addition, they provide digital-out for connecting hi-fi components. Intel makes a significant step forward: for just about $125, it offers an overall successful board with a solid foundation, where stability is the main focus.

Last, but not least, Gigabyte has topped the others by offering its 8IEXP a touch cheaper and furnishing it with DualBIOS to boot.

Features Table

Features Table, Continued