 | Basic Features: ECS 865PE-A | |
| Specifications | |
| Basic Layout: ECS 865PE-A | |
| Performance | |
| Conclusion |
Although Intel's 865PE is not the latest chipset, it is still the most popular one in the DIY market. The
865PE chipset perfectly
fits into the idea of synchronous memory, since two 200 MHz dual data rate channels (PC3200) result in an effective clock speed
of 800 MHz, matching the FSB800.
With the Prescott coming very soon, most of the newest standard boards support Intel Prescott processors with the most popular
800MHz FSB specification like 865PE-A with the Intel 865PE chipset. For customers with less demanding requirements, ECS's
standard motherboards are better than ever.
Intel Pentium 4 Prescott processors will employ the advanced "process technology," which is faster and more energy efficient than
the current 130-nanometer (0.13 micron) standard. Also, with the circuitry being more compact, additional real estate on the CPU
is available for more cache memory. This allows for a much higher hit rate in cache memory, which means that the CPU can find
more information within its own local memory, eliminating the processing needed to obtain the information elsewhere. The Prescott
core also includes new instructions added to the graphics extension set that improve 3D graphics and multimedia performance.
Finally, the Prescott processors will also include Hyper-Threading technology, a sophisticated mechanism for simulating the multi-
thread processing of dual CPUs.
The 865PE-A motherboards are equipped with Dual-Channel DDR 400 memory architecture that eliminates the bottleneck caused
by the unequal bandwidth between FSB and system memory, thus improving overall system performance.
865PE-A is designed to support the Intel® new generation Pentium 4® processor, codenamed Prescott. With Prescott FMB 1.5
and VRM 10.0 supported, the 865PE-A meets criterion up to 3.6GHz or above.
| CPU Interface |
Intel® Pentium 4® Socket 478 Prescott CPU support | |
| Chipset | Intel® 865PE/ICH5 | |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Dual Channel Configuration DDR400/333/266 to 4GB | |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot 5 PCI Slots | |
| Storage | Four Ultra DMA 100/66 devices Two Serial ATA devices | |
| Onboard USB 2.0 | 8 USB 2.0 ports | |
| Onboard LAN | Realtek RTL8100C 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet Controller | |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC655 6-Channel CODEC Compliant with AC'97 2.3 specification | |
| BIOS | Award BIOS with 4Mb Flash ROM Supports Plug & Play 1.0B, APM 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI Supports ACPI revision 1.0 specification |
ECS also integrates Fuzzy Over Clocking under Performance Mode inside BIOS. Working with Intel's dual-channel
memory structure, Fuzzy Over Clocking maximizes system performance and surpasses the high end Intel chipset.
 |
 |
| REAR PANEL I/O |
| 1 x PS/2 keyboard & PS/2 mouse connectors |
| 4 x USB ports |
| 1 x RJ45 LAN connector |
| 1 x Parallel port (LPT1) |
| 1 x Serial port (COM1) |
| 1 x Audio port (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in) |
 |
| The Primary/Secondary IDE connectors are all in our preferred position above the right corner of the board. This position on the top right edge of the board works well with cable arrangements in almost any case. |
 |
| It is difficult to see in a picture, but the ECS SATA connectors are much better than we usually see. The fragile SATA connectors are in a full socket that makes accidentally stressing the connector and breaking off the connector a lot less likely. With frequent board and cable swapping, you come to appreciate how fragile the SATA connector design really is. We've actually broken connectors on 2 SATA drives/boards so far compared to none with many IDE drives. The ECS socket design looks much sturdier. SATA hard drive manufacturers should really take a close look at this socket design. |
 |
| While this is definitely a value board, ECS still includes a color-coded front panel connector to make identifying connections a little easier. |
 |
| ECS includes 5 PCI slots, an 8X AGP and a CNR slot. With memory at the top of the board, there is no concern about interference with the AGP slot. The slot area was well thought out with little to interfere with mounting expansion cards. |
We compared the performance of the ECS 865PE-A on i865PE chipset with other major i865PE motherboards and found out that
ECS 865PE-A turned in better performance than the others. This comparison will help us to estimate, how greatly ECS managed
this board.
The test bed was configured as
follows:
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz CPU;
Mainboards: ECS 865PE-A (BIOS version 865P21PB)
512MB (2x256MB) DDR400 SDRAM from OCZ (2-2-2-5 timings);
ATI RADEON 9700 PRO graphics card, Catalyst 3.4 driver;
Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 80GB HDD.
The tests were run under a MS Windows XP SP1 operating system. The BIOSs of tested mainboards were set for maximum
performance.
| Configuration | IDE DVD-ROM： | Pioneer DVD-117RD |
| VGA： | Leadtek WINFAST A350
NVIDIA GEFORCE FX5900 Ultra 256MB (Driver: 5.3.0.3) | |
| OS： | Windows XP Professional SP1a | |
| Screen Resolution and Color Depth： | 1280x1024x32bit; Refresh Rate: 75MHz; Direct X 9.0b | |
| CPU Type | Intel ： | Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz FSB800 (200 x 16) H.T |
| DRAM Type | DDR： | CORSAIR CMX512-3500C2PT DDR400 CL2 512MB*2 |
| HDD Type | Serial ATA HDD： | Seagate Barracuda ST312002 6AS 7200RPM 8MB Buffer 120GB x 2 (IDE Mode) |
| North Bridge/ South Bridge | Chip： | 865PE-A: Intel 865PE / ICH5 |
| Memory Timings | CAS#Latency / RAS# toCAS#Delay / RAS#Pprecharge / Cycle Time (Tras) | |
| Model | 865PE-A | |
| PAT Jumper | PAT 1&PAT 0 | |
| Status | (Enable) | |
| Content Creation Winstone 2002 1.0.1 (1280x1024 32bits) | ||
| Scores | 46 | |
| Sandra 2004 SP1 (1280x1024 32bits) | ||
| CPU Arithmetic Benchmark | ||
| CPU Dhrystone ALU(MIPS) | 9652 | |
| CPU Whetstone FPU(MFLOPS) | 4029 | |
| CPU Whetstone iSEE2(MFLOPS) | 7032 | |
| Memory Bandwidth Benchmark | ||
| RAM Int ALU Buffered iSSE2 Bandwidth | 4847 MB/s | |
| RAM Float Buffered iSSE2 Bandwidth | 4837 MB/s | |
| PC Mark 2004 (1280x1024 32bits) | ||
| PC Mark Score | 4943 | |
| PC Mark 2002 Pro (1280x1024 32bits) | ||
| PC Mark 2002 Pro CPU Score | 7934 | |
| PC Mark 2002 Pro Memory Score | 9668 | |
| PC Mark 2002 Pro HDD Score | 1231 | |
| 3D Performance Test | ||
| 3D Mark 2003 Build 340 (1280x1024 32Bit) | ||
| Score | 6358 | |
| Quake3 Arena (640x480 16bit) | ||
| Frames Per Second (Normal) | 401.3 FPS | |
| Unreal Tournament 2003 (1024x768 32bits) | ||
| Flyby | 236.6 | |
| Botmatch | 84.55 | |
The ECS 865PE-A is a really excellent product. It shows much better performance than other 865PE based solutions; moreover,
its reasonable price makes the ECS 865PE-A the best 865PE base C/P.
Moreover, ECS 865PE-A boasts excellent overclocking-friendly options and very high stability. The ECS 865PE-A is a great
choice.
ECS does more than focus on Intel-based mainboard products. The company is also a leader in ATI-based graphics card products.
One of them, the ECS 9600SE graphics card, launched worldwide at about the same time as the 865PE-A. ECS is mounting a
promotion campaign on this mainstream combination, creating of the best C/P ratio packages you can consider.
| Highs | ||
| Performance higher than other i865PE based mainboards; | |
| High stability, even with 4 memory modules installed; | |
| Stable for processor over clocking; | |
| Allows boot-up from USB-devices; | |
| Best C/P Ratio of all i865PE motherboards | |
Lows | ||
| Latecomer among i865PE motherboards. | |