Introduction
SHUTTLE I865PE AB60RS SPRINGDALE
Yours truly has seen enough Socket 478 boards to last him a lifetime. That, though, according to our intrepid editor, isn't enough boards by a long chalk. It's only after one has become familiar with a certain chipset that one can truly appreciate its merits and failings.
We've generally been impressed by the two new performance chipsets from Intel. We've had smiles on our faces when watching a Canterwood board comfortably surpass the benchmarks laid down by the previous performance champion, Granite Bay. We've marvelled at how a tweaked Springdale was able to give each and every Canterwood a bloody benchmarking nose. And we've been a little dismayed to find Intel not going the whole way with the new ICH5(/R) Southbridge. Not withstanding the excellent S-ATA inclusion, we'd had hoped to see inherent FireWire support and some form of Wireless connectivity present.
Shuttle, too, impressed us with the newest small form factor cube, the Springdale-equipped SB61G2. Now it's the turn of a full ATX motherboard to undergo a Springdale makeover. Let's see how it all pans out.
