• i875P chipset

It looks like that the company stepped back from the radical MAX series: the lack of COM, LPT and PS/2 ports wasn't accepted by the market, and two lines is too much for a narrow niche of high-performance systems. Now ABIT focuses on the Serial ATA support:).

Accessories: 

• Package of a new austere design;
• Documentation: user manual in English, brief installation manual in 9 languages;
• Cables: 2 SerialATA, ATA66/100/133 and FDD - the last two cables are covered with black cambric to improve ventilation inside the case;
• ABIT Serillel2 adapter for connecting PATA equipment to Serial ATA;
• Power supply splitter for the Serillel adapter;
• 2 power supply adapters for SATA equipment;
• Bracket with 2 USB and 2 FireWire ports;





• Blank bracket;
• Diskette with drivers for external SATA RAID;
• CD with:
• drivers;
• user guide;
• DirectX 9.0;
• Adobe Acrobat Reader;
• Hardware Doctor;
• ABIT FlashMenu (checks for BIOS updates via the Internet and flashes in newer versions under Windows).

The layout is not standard, but this time it's easy to reach IDE connectors located behind the PCI slots; besides, the memory slots do not have as much stuff around as before, and nothing prevents installation of full-size PCI cards. The only downside is that the audio connectors are placed in front of the PCI slots. It can be difficult to access the jumpers that let the system start from USB and PS/2 equipment, but the value is to be set only once, and the CMOS clear switch which is often used is easy to reach. Functions of most jumpers are not shown on the textolite.

The 4-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 8 capacitors of 2200 uF and several less capacious ones. There are also voltage regulators of the AGP bus (2 capacitors of 1000 uF) and of the memory (4 of 1000 uF).

Integrated controllers:

• audio controller based on the chipset and Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported, front audio-outs and SPDIF connectors provided;
• network controller based on the Intel 82547EI (Kenai II CSA) chip, 10BaseT/100BaseTX/1000BaseT (Gigabit Ethernet) supported;
• SATA RAID controller on the Silicon Image Sil3112ACT144 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1 on the SATA150 protocol;
• FireWire bus controller based on the Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 chip with the support of 3 ports.

+5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the green LED. The red LED goes on at the start.

Non-unsoldered connectors: none. 

System monitoring is supported by Winbond W83627HF-AW chip. It controls: 

• processor, AGP bus, memory  voltages, +3.3, +5 and +12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby;
• speed of 3 fans; 
• temperatures of the processor (built-in sensor) and the board (2 built-in sensors). 

There are 2 connectors for adjustable and 3 for unadjustable connection of fans (one of them is connected to a fan on the MCH's heatsink). 

Brief board's characteristics: memory slots - 4 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 5 PCI; I/O ports - 1 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 8 USB 2.0 / 3 FireWire; dimensions - 305x245 mm. 

Settings: 
 

We used the BIOS 11 as the latest available version. 

The board has everything for functional expansion and for good electrical support of the system in normal and overclocked conditions. Besides, it provides the best support for migration to the Serial ATA.

Test results:

• 6 i875P Mainboards Roundup

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