Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo

The Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP Duo is the first motherboard we've seen to use Intel's new i915P chipset. It supports 800MHz FSB Pentium processors, DDR2 memory and PCI Express cards. When supporting graphics cards, PCI Express provides more than 3.5 times the bandwidth of AGP 4x.

The new chipset has a 775-pin socket, a radical departure from the 478-pin socket. Gone are the pins on the back of the processor, as they now make up part of the motherboard.

Gigabyte's board makes use of the new chipset offering two types of Dimm slot: DDR and DDR2. So with a new processor and graphics card you can use your old DDR400/333 memory.

The specifications for the new chipsets only include a single ATA port. If you don't have Sata (Serial ATA) you can only chain a single optical drive off your hard disk. Gigabyte provides two ATA Raid ports on the board which can be switched to normal ATA function for hard disks.

As well as a new processor, you will have to buy a new graphics card, as the only option on the board is a 16x PCI Express graphics slot. For expansion cards, there are two normal PCI and three 1x PCI Express slots. Integrated onto the board are two Gigabit Lan ports and 7.1 surround sound.

It's a great board to launch the new chipset, although the small number of PCI Express graphics cards and harsh upgrade requirements can be offputting.

Contact: Gigabyte
www.gigabyte.com.tw

Specifications:

• Socket 775-pin
• Pentium 4 (800/533MHz)
• Intel i915P chipset
• 4 Sata
• 2 PCI slots
• 3 1x PCI Express slots
• 7.1 audio