The End User Pays: 13 Boards With Intel 845GE/PE

Fujitsu-Siemens D1527/ D1547: Made In Germany, Continued

According to information from Siemens, it will not offer the option of adjusting voltage in the foreseeable future. Even stricter than the pope? Intel has loosened the reins somewhat with its current boards and offers options to make settings adjustments (overclocking known under the innocent name of "Stability Test"). This should give you pause for thought. The manufacturer aims for a special solution with the CPU socket, which is protected from warpage with a steel panel on the underside of the board. However, our experience has shown that the pressure of the cooler against the P4 CPU is unnecessarily strong. Installing the boxed cooler from Intel is only possible using gentle force. Updating BIOS is rather convenient with a tool (available from the website) that creates a boot diskette. A remarkable feature is the external temperature sensor that OEMs can optionally install. Now to the price. Considering the skimpy outfit, the manufacturer wants a whopping $184 for the "Dora" 1527 - the D1547 can be had for $169. However, these are end-user prices. The OEM pays less, depending on the number and the time of purchase. Last, but not least, a look at the benchmarks; no matter what discipline, Siemens had the worst showing by far.

The Tool System Guard 2.1 in action.

Display of all temperatures using System Guard.

Siemens does not provide for setting your own temperature ranges for the CPU and system.