QDI P4865PE Novo-6al
BIOS Version: 1.0SLCP
Although QDI announced only last week that it was closing all its of its European offices, its boards will still be available in the stores. We obtained a sample of the P4I865PE Novo, based on the 865PE chipset, which sticks to tried and tested technology.
Its features are average: an AC97 sound system, two SATA ports, a 100 Megabit network chip from Realtek, color coded sockets for the connecting cables and a small piezoelectric loudspeaker.
The floppy port is poorly positioned - not only is it right at the bottom of the board but it is also directly below the final PCI slot. The passively cooled 865PE is a welcome sight, as is the compact layout of the board itself, although this somewhat restricts the use of long PCI expansion cards.
The short manual is comprehensive - as is the accessories package. You get a complete set of cables including USB adapters to provide two additional ports. The driver CD includes the ubiquitous Norton Anti Virus 2003 and the QFlash utility from QDI for updating the BIOS under Windows.
