And here are some details about the memory timing as well: although we used two very fast DDR 400 modules from Corsair in CL2-2-2-5 mode, the board booted up without a whimper. This configuration corresponds exactly to a board with the Canterwood 875 chipset. At the same time, there's still the question of how the boards perform with identical settings.

It also functions when equipped to the max: 4x 256 MB with DDR 400 modules at maximum timings (CL2 mode) - the Granite Bay was originally specified for DDR 266.

Currently the fastest DDR 400 memory for operation in CL2 mode: module from Corsair.

Compared to the latest Intel 875 chipset, the somewhat outdated 7205 offers all of the important features: AGP 8x is provided, as well as dual memory interface and USB 2.0. Serial ATA is not really a topic here, since as of yet large quantities of hard drives aren't available for this anyway. Anyone who will need this interface one of these days doesn't have to do without, thanks to the Asus board used in our example, which comes with a Serial RAID controller from Silicon Image. So, what's there to be said for buying an 875? In the end, what's left is only the CSA interface for Gigabit LAN, which offers unhampered data transfer with the Northbridge connection. Still, almost all Granite Bay boards have a Gigabit LAN controller on the PCI bus.

A view of the system shows drivers for Intel 7205.