Board Layout

Click here for a 3000x2500 high-res shot of the board (3 MB download), the backside is here.


There could be a little bit more space around the CPU socket area. The chipset cooler is quite close to the CPU and rather tall. However the available space is well within the specifications set by Intel.


From left to right the IO backpanel has PS/2 mouse and keyboard, Parallel Port, TV Out, Analog VGA Out, Firewire, 4x USB, Gigabit Ethernet and audio.


The memory slots are color coded for easier setup of Dual-Channel DDR2. Dual-Channel is enabled by putting modules in slots of the same color.


When first installing a PCI-E x16 video card I had major problems getting it running. After browsing a few reviews from other sites I found out that you have to change these small jumpers to use an external video card. If the jumpers are installed, the port is disabled. After removing all jumpers from both blocks everything worked fine. The manual does not mention this.

Connectors

Both ATX power connectors are placed in a good location. Putting the ATX12V connector further to the left (in the image) would have sure helped avoid cable length issues with some cases or PSUs.


Intel's four SATA ports are located where you would expect them, near the southbridge of the motherboard. The additional two SATA ports which are provided by a Silicon Image SATA controller are located a bit further away the connectors are colored Grey.


You can connect up to two IDE devices to one available PATA port.


Color-coded headers, with proper labels on the board, make first time installation very easy.


Four fan headers are available on the board. A fifth near the PCI slot area would have been nice though.


A unique feature of this motherboard is that it is capable of outputting HDTV component directly without the need of any video card. The adapter with its Cinch connectors is included in the package.

Slots

The board offers one PCI-E x16 slot for the video card, two PCI-E x1 slots and three PCI slots.