Intel P35 / X38 Motherboards Roundup
ECS P35T-A (Intel P35; DDR2)
ECS P35T-A is one of the most affordable products in the 100$ to 120$ price range. Let's see what we get for this relatively small amount.
First, in terms of support for new Intel processors, P35T-A makes no difference from its more expensive competitors. At expansion options, the board looks interesting enough, although there are some fine points. In particular, it uses the south bridge ICH9DH which supports 6 SerialATA II links (like in ICH9R) but does not support RAID. Besides, the board uses an additional SerialATA II/ParallelATA RAID JMB361 controller with support for one SATA II and PATA links. The remaining options are almost standard: one high-speed network controller, 12 USB2.0 ports, and 8-channel integrated audio.
Like on most motherboards based on P35, ECS P35T-A uses two PCI Express x16 slots but the real distribution of links is performed following the 16+4 scheme.
Also, there are three PCI and one PCI Express x1 slots onboard.
The rear panel is specific in that the board uses only one COM port (instead of the second port, there is a SATA port), and the LPT can be connected via a bracket (missing in the bundle).
The section in charge of memory settings offers only the basic set of latency timings:
The system monitoring settings are middling:
The board displays the current temperatures of the CPU and the system, keeps track of the voltage levels and rotational speeds of the two fans. There is also the feature for adjusting the rotational speed of the CPU cooler depending on the CPU temperature.
The overclocking features have been implemented just as a"tick off".
In particular, the board allows adjusting the FSB speed within 200 to 500 MHz, raising the CPU voltage to 1.5 V , on the memory - to 2.0V, as well as raising voltage on the north bridge by +12%. The most essential is that at real overclocking the motherboard showed poor results - a stable operation at FSB=375 MHz.
Pros:
- High stability and good performance level;
- Two PCI Express x16 slots;
- Support for SerialATA II/RAID (7 links; ICH9DH + JMB361);
- Support for one P-ATA link (JMB363);
- Integrated 8-channel HDA audio and the Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller;
- Support for the USB2.0 interface (12 ports);
Cons:
The board's specific features:
- CPU overclocking results are below the average;
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