DDR333 for P4: 16 Boards with Intel 845G - Part II - DDR333 for P4: 16 Boards with Intel 845G - Part II

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DDR333 for P4: 16 Boards with Intel 845G - Part II

The Gigabyte GA-8IGXP and Asus P4B533-V performed well in Part I of the test, and now, having compared all 16 boards over the two tests, we can add the Albatron and Soltek to those two. According to our engineers, the former overclocking champion Abit has slipped back slightly in terms of performance, and overclocking fanatics will miss the features required to raise this board above the norm. Albatron has made a promising debut with the PX845G Pro II , as witnessed by its solid benchmark results. Liteon shows that a board equipped with the Intel 845G can indeed come cheap. The NA121 costs exactly half as much as the Asus P4B533-V, and offers similar features. But Liteon will have to follow up with more products to convince more traditional customers to switch brands. Germany's top manufacturer Fujitsu-Siemens could have done better with its D1387 , as the detailed report shows. The Chaintech CT-9BJF also ran into problems, and failed to compete at all. We are pursuing the issue in close cooperation with the manufacturer.

In brief , the Gigabyte GA-81GXP combines good specifications and modern features with high performance and a remarkably low price. We hope the manufacturer has sorted out its distribution problems and that a comparable motherboard will be available to potential customers. The Asus P4B533-V remains a good choice, which, as usual, comes at a price. But the cost will not concern customers with purchasing power. Albatron and Soltek are the two rising stars of the test. Although they cannot quite match the specifications of rivals such as Gigabyte, in terms of overclocking and performance, both are on a par with the two front-runners.

There is a market ripe for exploitation by a board designed to cater to overclocking fiends. None of the 16 boards allow the user to exploit the full potential of the Pentium 4, for example, by cranking core voltage up to 2.05 volts - the BIOS could always give numerous warnings of warranty loss up front. That does not deter true overclocking fans. Particularly in tandem with water-cooling, the P4 needs high voltage to run safely on the limit.