Supplied by Gigabyte

Gigabyte maintains a performance standard and offsets the “plus, plus,
plus” of upgrading or buying a new PC with the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 GT Wireless
Edition P4 motherboard package. The GA-81PE1000
Pro 2 is Intel Prescott ready, dual-channel DDR 400 capable, equipped with
Gigabyte’s CPU Intelligent Accelerator (CIA) and Memory Intelligent Booster
(MIB) and features an 802.11b Wireless LAN NIC.

Gigabyte has done a brilliant job of giving a premium board feel to what is,
for all intents and purposes, a budget board. The Gigabyte GA-81PE1000 Pro 2
is an economically priced motherboard and there had to be cuts somewhere. The
GA-81PE1000 series is no newcomer to the marketplace either. This is one in
many variations of the Intel 865PE chipset based motherboard from Gigabyte.

Specifications

Chipset

• North Bridge: Intel® 865PE MCH
• South Bridge: ICH5
• Integrated Peripherals
• Intel® PRO 100/VE Ethernet controller
• Realtek ALC658 CODEC

Front Side Bus

• 800 / 533 / 400 MHz FSB.

Memory

• Type: Dual Channel DDR 400 / 333 / 266
• Max capacity: 4 GB
• DIMM slots: 4

Internal I/O Connectors

• 2 x Serial ATA port
• 2 x UltraDMA 100 Bus Master IDE
• 1 x FDD connector
• 2 x USB 2.0 (Supports 4 ports by cable)
• CD / AUX in connector
• 1 x Game port pin header
• 20-pin ATX Power connector
• 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector

Expansion Slots

• 1 x AGP slot
• 5 x PCI slots (PCI 2.3 compliant)

Rear Panel I/O

• 1 x RJ45 LAN port
• 4 x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x LPT port
• 2 x COM ports
• Line-in / Line-out / MIC-in ports
• PS/2 (Keyboard/Mouse) ports
• CPU/AGP/DIMM setting

CPU FSB / Multiplier / Vcore Voltage adjustable via BIOS

• AGP Voltage / Clock adjustable via BIOS
• DIMM Voltage / Clock adjustable via BIOS

Form Factor

• ATX
• 30.5cm x 23.0cm

H/W Monitoring

• System health status auto-detect and report by BIOS
• H/W detect and report power-in voltage, CPU voltage, and Fan speed.

BIOS

• 2M bit flash ROM, Award BIOS

Other Features

• C.I.A. (CPU Intelligent Accelerator)
• M.I.B. (Memory Intelligent Booster)
• Xpress Install
• Xpress Recovery
• Xpress BIOS Rescue
• Anti-Burn™
• EasyTune™ 4
• @BIOS
• Q-Flash™

Bundle Software

• Norton Internet Security 2003
  • Norton Anti Virus™
  • Norton™ Personal Firewall
  • Norton™ Privacy Control
  • Norton™ Parental Control
  • Norton™ Spam Alert
• GIGABYTE Windows Utility Manager
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Adobe Acrobat e-Book Reader
• IAA (Intel® Application Accelerator)
• Direct X 9.0

The basic specifications across the entire line of GA-81PE1000 motherboards
are identical. It’s the same motherboard after all. The key differences are

• Audio –AC97 (ALC655) or Realtek ALC658 or AC97 (ALC658) or Realtek 8101
• Integrated NIC — Intel or Realtek or none at all,
• Inclusion of CIA/MIB
• Dual BIOS support
• 1394 availability and number of 1394 ports.

There are very minor cosmetic differences but they, along with the different
features, are subtle.

What’s in the box

Gigabyte have put effort behind the graphic design of the product packaging.
It is important that a product is noticed on store shelves. The box delivers
the first impression to the consumer and Gigabyte has done a marvelous job at
dressing up motherboard packaging. To the novice PC consumer the Gigabyte packaging
delivers a strong impression of features and speed. This is one of the keys
to success in the marketplace and Gigabyte’s competition may stand to learn
a few things.

 

The 81PE1000 is Prescott ready though many may be hesitant about Intel’s latest
processor.

Gigabyte includes an informative and easy to follow quick install guide and
manual.

The 81PE1000 does have SATA headers and Gigabyte includes 2 SATA cables where
many manufacturers only include one.

Also include is a MOLEX converter power cable that supports 2 SATA drives.

It should be standard to include the S/PDIF bracket for S/PDIF capable motherboards.
It is an annoyance to a consumer to get a product home and not be able to use
it to its full potential let alone know where to get a S/PDIF bracket. Gigabyte
has thoughtfully made this inclusion.

The same can be said for 1394 capable motherboards. As with S/PDIF it is an
annoyance to buy a motherboard with a particular feature and not have the cable
to use it. Gigabyte scores again by including the 1394/USB bracket.

 

Last but not least is the backplane plate.

 

newpage]

Cutting the wires

The distinctive feature of the Gigabyte 81PE1000 is the wireless NIC. This
is an 802.11b NIC card that occupies one PCI slot.

 

This NIC interfaces through one of the motherboard USB headers. 802.11b is
“old” technology since the introduction of 802.11g. The difference
is that 802.11b is up to 11 Mbps while 802.11g is up to 54Mbps speed. Both have
the same average reception distance to a maximum of approximately 1500 feet
(300 meters). Actual range will depend entirely on what is between the NIC and
the access point.

Most surf the Internet on dial up, cable or DSL lines which peak out at 1.5
Mbps download speed. This is well within the capabilities of the 802.11b technology
and the surfing experience shouldn’t be too noticeably different. Reception
strength can greatly affect a wireless Internet connection. Where 802.11b technology
will really show its slower side is when transferring larger or many files from
one PC to another. Moving 100 MP3 files may take many times longer over 802.11b
wireless and could possibly cause the connection to “choke up” and
stop. The advantage with including wireless with the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 is, providing
the consumer already has a wireless router, a second PC can be connected without
running CAT5 cable.

The important point to remember is the cost of a 802.11b wireless card if purchased
separately. Generic versions are hard to find and cost around the $30 USD mark.
More reputable manufacturers like SMC will average in the $60 USD range. Add
this cost to a non-wireless motherboard with similar features and the GA-81PE1000
Pro 2 offers an attractive price point.

Touring the board

Every motherboard has pros and cons and the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 is no exception.

The INTEL socket 478 supports the new Prescott processor. The capacitors between
the socket and the backplane may present minor problems for specialty heatsinks.

Above the 4 DIMMS sits the CPU fan header. Once the motherboard is installed
it will be moderately inaccessible due to the proximity of the RAM lifters.
It’s not the optimum placement for the CPU fan header.

The GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 supports Dual Channel up to 4 GB DDR 400 RAM. The 2 EIDE headers
and 1 floppy header are next to the RAM DIMMS.

Below the DIMM area is a CLEAR PASSWORD jumper. This allows for the BIOS password,
if set, to be manually reset. This has its pros and cons. It’s good in case
of a forgotten BIOS password. It’s bad as anyone can reset the BIOS password
and gain access to the BIOS area.

Missing from the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 is the CLEAR CMOS jumper. Even with Gigabyte’s
safety of DUAL BIOS this would have been a useful inclusion. The CMOS battery
must be removed to clear the CMOS if such a need were to arise.

The north bridge is cooled by an active heatsink.

 

 

 

The Colorful
CF-12410B north bridge fan provides 3.8 CFM at 23.5 dB.

 

 

Two SATA 150 headers allow for two SATA drives. Unfortunately
there is no RAID function.

 

USB ports are found on the bottom corner next to the front panel connectors.
The SYSTEM FAN header is also located next to the front panel connectors. This
is the second of only two fan headers. Case fans are usually run directly off
the power supply or a rheobus but manufacturers should place this fan header
at the top right of the board behind the backplane because a rear exhaust fan
at the top of the case is far more effective at cooling than a front intake
fan.

Gigabyte continues to color code the front panel connectors.

 

 

Two 1394 headers are found along the bottom edge.

 

Gigabyte’s DualBIOS provide for a main BIOS, which the computer operates from,
and a secondary “backup” BIOS. The backup BIOS would take over on
the next system startup if ever the main should fail due to hardware failure
or a bad BIOS flash. The main BIOS can be re-flashed from the backup bios.

 

S/PDIF and game ports are found below the five PCI slots. Gigabyte
includes an optical/RCA S/PDIF cable.

 

 

The AUX IN and SUR_CEN are located towards the back of board
behind the PCI slots.

 

The digital CD IN connector is located next to the front audio connector jumper/connection
pins. It would be more convenient if manufacturers were to place this nearer
to the top right of the motherboard above the EIDE/Floppy headers for proximity
to a front audio peripheral device.

The backplane features 4 USB ports, 1/8″ connections pulling double duty
for LINE IN (Rear Speakers), LINE OUT (Front Speakers) and MIC IN (Center and
Subwoofer). The GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 is not a Dolby 5.1 equipped motherboard. Dolby 5.1
will have to be software processed or fed to an external decoder through this
or the S/PDIF output.

BIOS

Gigabyte has a main BIOS menu with limited function and an advanced version
that can be accessed by pressing the CTL and F1 key simultaneously. The standard
CMOS features rarely change from motherboard to motherboard.

 

There is nothing new in the ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES menu.

 

The ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES menu is entirely missing from the manual. The
menu allows for fine tuning of RAM timings, control of the CPC, DPM and an oddity
feature; PSB parking. Here the MIB (Memory Intelligence Booster) can be enabled.
MIB apparently is “designed to maximize performance and boost memory bandwidth
up to 10% by optimizing data transmission between the CPU, north bridge and
memory.”

 

The INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu allows for mostly enabling or
disabling peripheral devices such as 1394, SATA, etc.

 

 

 

POWER MANAGEMENT, PNP/PCI CONFIGURATION menus are straightforward.

 

 

SMART FAN technology is found in the PC HEALTH STATUS menu. Smart Fan Technology
will reduce the processor cooling fan speed in relation to CPU temperature.

The FREQUENCY/VOLTAGE CONTROL section is where overclockers will turn their
attention to besides RAM timings found in the ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES area.
Gigabyte continues to use the C.I.A. (CPU Intelligent Accelerator) Technology.
This is designed to automatically detect the load on the processor and “boost”
or accelerate the processor to accommodate for the extra load. How much depends
the 1 of 5 available choices.

 

Memory frequency gives fixed values.

 

 

There isn’t a lot of voltage control for DIMM modules or the
AGP slot.

 

CPU clock control is available from 100-355 Mhz and the dividers are fixed
from 66/33/100 to 96/48/145 for AGP/PCI/SRC.

CPU voltage can be adjusted from 0.925 volts to 1.76 volts. Hardware modification
would have to be done to achieve higher voltages.

 

It’s good to see a manufacturer who caters to many language bases.

It is clear that the GA-81PE1000
Pro 2 is not a true enthusiast’s motherboard. This is a mid-range product
with a lot of control in the BIOS for a mid-range motherboard. The extra features
allow for a novice to experiment and tweak without risk of too much trouble.
The DualBIOS feature will and can be a big safety feature for the want to be
enthusiast who tweaks without reading up first.

Benchmarks.

The test systems.

• Intel P4 2.4C 512KB
  800 MHz processor (HT enabled)
• Gigabyte
  GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO 128 MB Video
  Card Catalyst 4.1 drivers (Application preference ticked for Anti-Aliasing
  and Anisotropic Filtering in both Direct 3D and OpenGL, VSYNC disabled BIOS
  AGP aperture set to 128)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 TWINX DDR RAM in DIMM 2 and 4
• Sony 52x CD
• 60 GB Seagate Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse
• Retail INTEL HSF packaged with processor
• AMK SX1000
  modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated.

Programs used

• 
  Sisoft Sandra 2004
• MadOnion
  3DMark 2001 SE
• MadOnion
  3DMark 2003
• Quake
  III Arena
• GL
  Excess
• SpecviewPerf 7.1
• Serious Sam SE
• Aquamark3
• Jurassic Park Operation Genesis
• Call of Duty demo
• X2
  Demo
• Wolfenstein Enemy Territory
• Fraps
• Adobe After Effects 5.5
• Softimage 2.0.1

All tests were run at default video card settings with VSYNC disabled. Anti-Aliasing
and Anisotropic Filtering was left ticked for application preference. AGP aperture
was set in BIOS to match the memory amount of the video card. DirectX 8.1 was
used only for 3DMARK 2001 SE tests and Splinter Cell timedemo. DirectX 90b was
installed for all other tests. Windows visual effects was set for ADJUST FOR
BEST PERFORMANCE. Windows was restarted before each test. An process idle command
was executed before each test.

Individual performance will vary with any particular or specific timings or
tweaks enabled by you. A 1024 MB page file was moved to D: partition. Temporary
Internet files moved to L: partition at end of drive. OS installed to C: and
programs installed to E:. All programs were benchmarked with initial monitor
settings at 1024×768@75Hz.

Sisoft Sandra 2004

 

 

3DMark 2001 SE

3D Mark 2001 SE and it’s replacement, 3D Mark 2003, answer the simple question
of how fast the hardware is; all of the hardware that powers the game.

3DMark 2003

3D Mark 2003 was originally designed to measure performance specifically in
shader-heavy titles.

 

 

 

 

 

Aquamark3

Aquamark3 is a newer benchmark from Massive Development. For the most part
it is a DirectX 8.1 benchmark though it is run with DirectX 90b installed. Four
measurement sets were used. The first has high and low detail with Anti Aliasing
and Anisotropic filtering turned off. The second has high and low detail with
Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic filtering set at max.

 

 

GL Excess

GL Excess is an OPENGL benchmark that is optimized for DX8.1 as can be seen
by the differences between DirectX software.

Quake III high quality

Quake III continues to hang around. This benchmark is one that
most can’t just let go of and it retains grandfather rights in the community.
Many of today’s games are based upon the Quake engine. But look at those scores
at 1600×1200! Over 160 FPS! It wasn’t too long ago that we thought topping 100
FSP was fast. Now we sit at over 200 FPS with the screen set to a high resolution
and detail.

Serious Sam

Wolfenstein Enemy Territory: Railgun timedemo

 

Wolfenstein Enemy Territory uses an improved version of the heavily
modified Quake III engine from Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The Railgun time
demo results were recorded.

 

 

X2 Rolling Demo

 

X2 – The Threat is a teaser with a benchmark option for Egosoft’s
upcoming release. It does not use pixel shaders.

 

 

Specviewperf 7.1

SpecviewPerf measures the 3D rendering performance of systems
running under OPENGL. The improved 9800 with its massive amounts of memory only
make the 9700 look silly.

The following two tests are targeted mainly towards CPU performance and will
show if any “flaws” are in board design affecting the ability of the
CPU to crunch through the data. While in render mode the two test programs virtually
bypass ram and GPU.

Adobe After Effects 5.5

Adobe After Effects is a tool to produce motion
graphics and visual effects for film, video, multimedia and the web. It is primarily
a 2D application using imported graphics or digital footage or self generated
effects. A project was created that was a combination of many video footage
files, resizing and rasterizing effects, text animations and multiple layer
effects. This “average” combination was felt to best demonstrate advantages
and/or disadvantages that a real world user may experience rather than isolating
and benchmarking a particular effect.

There is no official benchmark for After Effects
but tasks can be timed to show specific results. Rendering, or the task of building
and compiling frames, is mainly CPU intensive and After Effects generally bypasses
the video card and relies solely on the processor for speed. The time taken
to render 900 frames basically shows how fast the processor is working on the
given task.

Softimage XSI can simply bring
any computer to its knees. It’s an incredibly powerful 3D animation program
that has the ability to become so complex that single processor systems have
been known to “think” for days when rendering an animation. Softimage works
on somewhat similar principle to After Effects. A faster and more powerful video
card will translate to a smoother interface where complex scenes can be manipulated
in real time. Note that Softimage does not have an interface to real-time preview
a finished frame as unlike After Effects. Users can manipulate objects in a
choice of views from wire frame mode to simulated real-time shading mode. In
order to look at a finished frame a user must render the frame to disk which
bypasses the GPU. A faster processor will result in the faster render. The amount
of RAM is not as great an issue as the user is working frame by frame and the
graphics card is doing the bulk of the work while working within the GUI.

This is a most basic overview and there are specialty
hardware components that can enhance the speed and interactivity of complex
3D scenes and programs. The designers working on the test system use Softimage
on a less complex level to provide enhancements and elements to commercials,
promos and station ID elements. Though their work is quite complex to some it
a far cry from that of special effects in major film productions.

C.I.A & M.I.B. in action

Gigabyte has two features in the BIOS. C.I.A (CPU Intelligent Accelerator)
Technology. This is designed to automatically detect the load on the processor
and “boost” or accelerate the processor to accommodate for the extra
load. How much depends the 1 of 5 available choices. MIB (Memory Intelligence
Booster) apparently is “designed to maximize performance and boost memory
bandwidth up to 10% by optimizing data transmission between the CPU, north bridge
and memory.”

The system was not stable when C.I.A. was set to “full thrust”. Turbo
was used instead and M.I.B. was enabled.

 

 

 

A little under 2% increase for 3D Mark 2003 at 1024×768 (75Hz).

 

 

Aquamark showed anywhere from 1% to 20% increase. A lot depended
on the 9700 PRO video card.

 

 

 

 

 

Serious Sam SE showed just over 3% increase at 1024×768 (75Hz).

 

 

Wolfenstein showed an 8% increase at 1024×768 (75Hz).

 

 

Specview 7.1 showed a minor increase.

 

 

Adobe After Effects 5.5 had an approximate 2% boost for the
test.

 

Overclocking

Gigabyte’s included EASYTUNE4 utility promises easy overclocking for the novice.
EASYTUNE4 has been hit and miss with Short-Media. It’s a great utility for the
novice user…when it works. We are of the mind set that any utility, especially
with the word “easy” should be just that; easy.

The user who is new to overclocking may use the EASYTUNE4 utility with one
of two results. The first result may be what appears to be a high overclock
achieved with relative ease.

Check WCPUID and the story is a little different even after a system reboot
with the new overclocked EASYTUNE4 settings in place.

So into the BIOS we went bumping and grinding voltage and bus speed. The Achilles
Heel when overclocking this motherboard is the missing CLEAR CMOS jumper. The
lack of the jumper requires the CMOS battery to be physically removed to reset
the BIOS when the system is set to high and thus will no longer boot into BIOS.
Nevertheless with a bit of fiddling the 2.4 Intel P4 processor made it to a
stable 2.7 GHz. This is not outstandingly impressive as 2.4 processors have
been known to make an easy 3.0 GHz.

Conclusion

What is expected of the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 determines how it will be received.
The GT offers a lot of features: 1394, 8 x USB, 6-channel audio, SATA and support
for the latest INTEL processors and DDR 400 RAM. The BIOS allows for extensive
tuning for the mid-level user.

The strongest features of the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 is the inclusion of:

• Wireless NIC card (802.11b)
• S/PDIF bracket
• 1394 bracket
• 2 x SATA cables

Many motherboards have found themselves on the Short-Media examination table
and many do not include the necessary peripheral cables to enjoy the “bonus”
features of 1394 and S/PDIF. Gigabyte scores well for including these cables
and two SATA cables instead of just one. The wireless NIC card is the distinctive
selling feature but it does occupy one of the two internal USB headers.

Gigabyte has set the MSRP at 155 USD. Motherboards with the same chipset, SATA,
1394 and near the same number of USB ports ring up at approximately $100-$120
USD and more. Those motherboards often don’t have the included S/PDIF and 1394
brackets. Add the $20 USD cost of a least expensive generic wireless 802.11b
NIC and the price is fair. Wireless LAN PCI cards, even 802.11b, can get expensive
in a hurry.

The GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 “GT” wasn’t without its quirks. The review
sample did not post with Corsair PC3200 TwinX memory in DIMM 1 and 3 but did
with the memory in DIMM 2 and 4. Unreal Tournament 2003 would play fine but
benchmarking modules would not function. This odd behaviour along with Call
of Duty locking after 30 seconds leads us to look to video card drivers as the
first culprit.

Overall the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 presents a good platform with a lot of features.
Similar platforms may be able to support S/PDIF and 1394 but may not come with
the PCI brackets. A motherboard that has similar features may cost less but
then add a separate wireless 802.11b LAN card and the GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 becomes
more attractive. The GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 “GT” isn’t for the overclocker
but it is for the PC buyer who wants a platform designed to support a whole
lot.

The GA-81PE1000 Pro 2 “GT” is another innovative product from Gigabyte.
More features, more inclusions and more value!

Our thanks to Gigabyte
for their support of this and many other sites.

Scores Breakdown

Attribute	Score	Comments
Bonus items & software	9	802.11b wireless equipped. Comes with 1394 & S/PDIF brackets
Design & layout	9	System fan header could have been in a more convenient location.
Documentation	8.5	BIOS manual was missing an entire menu.
Features & options	9	LAN, 2 x 1394, 6-channel audio, 8 x USB, C.I.A,, M.I.B., S/PDIF, Wireless.
Fine-tuning features	8.5	A good BIOS. CIA and MIB makes it easy for a performance boost for novice users.
Overclocking features	8.5	Good for the novice user.
Performance & stability	8	Some memory compatibility problems. Memory problems with Corsair TwinX DDR400 memory.
Presentation	9.5	Gigabyte does an excellent job.
Price / value	8.5	A feature rich board with wireless which puts it on par with non-wireless boards plus the cost of a PCI wireless device.
Total score	78.5/90	87.2%