• i865PE chipset

Boards from this company always had good build quality and a relatively low price. Apart from this model the line includes higher-level AB60/R with the Intel's Gigabit network controller, and entry-level one AB60/N with a 100Mbit network controller (no FireWire, no SATA RAID). 

The board has a well thought-out design. You can only have problems when reaching connectors located along the left edge. Also, it can be difficult to reach some jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are not indicated on the PCB. The 3-phase switching voltage regulator incorporates 8 capacitors of 3300 uF, and 4 of 1500 uF. There are also voltage regulators of the AGP bus (2 1500 uF and several less capacious) and of the memory (4 of 1500 uF). 

The board measures 305x245 mm ("wide ATX", 9 screws fastens it). 

Connectors which are left space for: network controller and RJ45 connector. +5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the green LED located next to the power supply connector. Another green LED placed between the memory slots and CPU socket indicates power supply to the memory. System monitoring is supported by the ITE IT8712F-A chip. It controls: 

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

Ports & connectors onboard

• Socket 478 with preinstalled CPU cooler holder;
• 4 slots for DDR SDRAM DIMM (grouped in pairs);
• AGP slot (not Pro, with a retention clip);
• 5 PCI slots (32bit, 33MHz);
• Power supply connectors: standard ATX and 4pin for 12V;
• FDD;
• 2 IDE (Parallel ATA) - on chipset;
• 4 Serial ATA: 2 on chipset, plus 2 at the expense of an additional controller;
• 2 connectors for a bracket with 2 FireWire ports;
• 2 connectors for brackets with 2 USB ports each;
• Connector for a standard IR module;
• Connector for audio-out from CD/DVD drive;
• Connector for AUX-IN audio source;
• Wake-On-LAN;
• Connectors for a bracket with additional audio-outs and S/PDIF;
• 3 connectors for fans (1 without rotation control).

Rear panel (left to right, in units)

• PS/2 ports for keyboard & mouse;
• COM (2) & LPT ports;
• 2 USB (2.0);
• 2 USB (2.0);
• 3 audio connectors  (Line In/Out & Microphone).

Accessories

• Package of an attractive standard design;
• Documentation: user manual, manual for SATA RAID (in English);
• Cables: 1 SATA (without power supply adapter), 1 ATA66/100/133 (round, in red cambric) and FDD;
• Bracket with 2 FireWire ports;
• Bracket with 2 USB ports;
• Bracket with Center/Sub connector;
• I/O Shield;
• CD with software:
• drivers;
• user manual in PDF;
• system monitoring programs;
• Adobe Acrobat Reader;
• Award WinFlash.

Integrated controllers

• audio controller based on the Realtek (Avance Logic) ALC650 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported, front audio-outs and S/PDIF connector provided;
• SATA RAID on the Silicon Image Sil3112ACT144 chip, supports RAID 0 & 1 on the SATA150 protocol;
• FireWire on the VIA VT6306 chip, with 2 ports supported.

Settings

We used the BIOS AB60RS0U as the latest available version.

Summary

Speed was never a strong point of Shuttle  - here we have a board based on one of the best chipsets, with good functionality and accessory pack, excellent overclocking tools but... with a poor performance. It's quite difficult to recommend such solution for anyone, and I just hope for new BIOS versions to raise the speed, and for other versions of this model with a different suite of controllers of peripheral interfaces. 

Test results: 

• 11 motherboards on the Intel 865 and 1 on the Intel 875P: Part 2

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