Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/300



A new chipset, a new set of motherboards, it's about time Intel released the 810 chipset, the motherboard market was getting boring very quickly. With their claim to fame as being the first manufacturer with a widely available i810 based motherboard, DFI is betting that their PW65-D will enjoy the benefits of being the first 810 board on the market. Unfortunately, the lack of information about the 810 chipset, and the general fear of the infant 810 motherboard market will keep sales of this board somewhat lower than expected. When dealing with releasing the first motherboard based on a completely new chipset design, as a manufacturer, you don't benefit from being the first, rather you benefit from entering the market as the best out of a group of initial risk takers. Taking the plunge on your own is not the most profitable course of action for a motherboard manufacturer, but from a user's perspective, if the motherboard is high in quality then the company's business plan doesn't really come into sight now does it?

How well will the PW65-D satisfy your needs as the first readily available 810 based motherboard? With a new set of standards, let's see how the DFI board fares in AnandTech's first close look at an 810 based motherboard.


New Anand Tech Report Card Rating
75/D+

Motherboard Specifications

CPU Interface Slot-1
Chipset Intel 810-DC100
On-Board Video 810-DC100 GMCH
I/O Controller 801 ICH
L2 Cache N/A (on-chip)
Form Factor ATX
Bus Speeds 66 / 100
Clock Multipliers 1.5x - 7.5x
Voltages Supported 2.8v / 2.0v (Auto-Detect)
Memory Slots 2 168pin DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots 0 AGP Slot
1 AMR Slot
5 PCI Slots (5 Full Length)
0 ISA Slots
BIOS Award BIOS

The Good

PC99 compliance is here guys 'n gals, and the 810 boards will be the first in line to show off the new specification. The PC99 specification first calls for a "Packard Bell-ish" color coding system of the rear ATX I/O ports, as scary as this may sound, your favorite motherboards in a few months will be boasting this same color code. The reason behind that is simply to make things easier for the novice, which isn't a bad thing to do at all, just get used to the bright new colors.

dfi_sm.jpg (12256 bytes)
Click to Enlarge

The expansion slot configuration of the PW65-D is also inspired by the PC99 specification, the absence of any ISA slots being the tip in that case. The board features a soon to be commonplace 1/5/0 expansion slot configuration (AMR/PCI/ISA), and maxes out the 810's chipset limitation by including 2 SDRAM banks for memory expansion.

The layout of the board was done quite intelligently, with the front panel LED/switch connectors bent towards the front of the motherboard, therefore allowing all 5 PCI slots to accept full length PCI cards. The ATX power supply connector is placed out of the way to the far right of the PCB, and the SC242 (Slot-1) connector features a universal CPU retention bracket that goes along with the P2/P3/Celeron compatibility motif the PW65-D boasts. The board features a multitude of power indicator LEDs, one that indicates whether or not the board is receiving power, one that indicates whether the memory banks are receiving power (comes in handy when the new Suspend to RAM feature is used), and one that indicates when the CPU is receiving power. The LEDs are very helpful especially if you're prone to installing components while a computer is running, it's not as rare an occurrence as you may think.

At the heart of the PW65-D is the Intel 810-DC100 Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH), the 'DC100' extension indicating the presence of the 4MB - 100MHz Display Cache. The two SDRAM chips that make up the 4MB display cache are manufactured by Samsung and are SEC's '-G8' chips (K416S1020CT-G8). The Award BIOS setup allows for the DC frequency to be adjusted from the standard 100MHz to the "overclocked" 133MHz setting for a small performance boost. The PW65-D makes use of the 801AA I/O Controller Hub (ICH) meaning the board is capable of taking advantage of up to 6 PCI master slots and supports the Ultra ATA 66 specification.

The Award BIOS v6.00PG setup utility located on the Firmware Hub (FWH) of the PW65-D powers a fully jumperless CPU setup. The clock generator on the PW65-D supports the standard 66/100MHz FSB frequencies, in addition to the 75/83/95/112/117/124/133/138/143/150MHz settings. Courtesy of the 810 chipset, the memory bus always operates at 100MHz regardless of the FSB frequency resulting in the increased ability to overclock due to a lack of dependence on the quality of your SDRAM. The Award BIOS setup features a handful of options including the ability to enable/disable the AC'97 codecs on-board, set DC latency timings, and configure such options as the Processor Serial Number enable/disable.

Included with the PW65-D is a standard drivers/utility CD as well as the User's Manual. The bundled CD contains all the necessary drivers, directly from Intel, required to get your system up and running. The Manual provides basic documentation as to the features and capabilities of the motherboard, nothing too special there.



The Bad

For a "revolutionary" chipset, the PW65-D doesn't do the 810 much justice. A 1/6/0 expansion slot configuration would've been desired, however 5 PCI slots isn't anything to complain about either. The lack of a heatsink on the relatively hot 810-DC100 GMCH isn't too reassuring and definitely doesn't contribute to the board's stability to any positive extent. The lack of a manual voltage adjustment feature in the BIOS is also a downside for die hard overclockers, although the inclusion of the 95MHz FSB setting isn't a bad move at all.

The User's Manual bundled with the PW65-D is nothing more than a more in-depth regurgitation of the i810 press release and the spec sheet for the motherboard itself, if only the PC99 specification had a clause for including basic installation instructions in written documentation... DFI doesn't get points for user friendliness in that sense, not the most comforting motherboard for the first time builder.

Considering the average nature of the PW65-D, the $120+ price is definitely not justified, you're better off spending your money in a few weeks on something a little spicier.


USB Compatibility

  • Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0

  • Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

  • USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

  • USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes


Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: Mushkin SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM; Memory Man SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 256MB Corsair PC100 SDRAM DIMM (for compatibility testing only)

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.mushkin.com

USB Compatibility

  • Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0

  • Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

  • USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

  • USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes



The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

AnandTech Motherboard Testing Methodology

Test Configuration

Processor(s): Intel Celeron 433
RAM: 1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM
1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar AC35100 - UltraATA
Video Card(s): 810-DC100 w/ 4MB DC
Bus Master Drivers: Microsoft Win98 DMA Drivers
Operation System(s): Windows 98
Motherboard Revision: DFI PW65-D Revision A

Windows 98 Performance

Winstone Quake 2
Business 99 Quake 2 demo1.dm2
Intel Celeron 433 19.3 23.6

The Final Decision

Is there anything wrong with the PW65-D? Not really, but then again, there's no reason to go crazy over this motherboard. I can say for sure that something more exciting will come along, MSI has an excellent 810 board close to shipping and ABIT should be showing off their 810 board at this year's Computex in Taipei. For those of you that are desperate for an 810 board now, the PW65-D isn't a bad board, it's just not a great one.


How it Rates

AnandTech Motherboard Rating

Business
Performance 75%
Price 68%
Ease of Use 94%
Overclocked Stability 78%
General Stability 78%
Quality 70%
Documentation 65%
Reliability 70%
Overall Rating 75%

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.

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