Bundle and presentation
You've not seen a motherboard bundle until you've laid eyes on this one. This DFI carries a LANPARTY reference in its full name, you'll see why in a second or two.
The back of the box spells out all the extras one gets. Tipping the scales on the wrong side of 4kg, it certainly features the greatest number of extras we've yet seen.
Apart from the obvious motherboard that we'll discuss on the following page, the DFI LP PRO875 is packaged with four internal boxes. The space above the three on the left is larger than a standard ATX motherboard. From that alone one should be able to guesstimate the relative size of the bundle.
The most interesting accessory, perhaps, is the PC Transpo on the right.
It's literally a case holder that's engineered to accommodate most reasonably-sized cases. The handle on the top allows easy maneuverability and handling of your prized possession, probably at LAN gatherings. It's a nice, unusual touch.
DFI's FrontX is their unique front-mounted module. The modular nature of this breakout box allows one to choose which features are incorporated into a 5.25" drive bay. As standard, the FrontX houses 2 USB2.0 ports and microphone-in / sound-out ports, which hook up to the motherboard via the lengthy cables we can see in the above picture.
The DFI LANPARTY is certainly no slouch when it comes to the bundle itself. An excellent quickstart guide will be useful to novice motherboard installers. A sticker continues the groovy theme of this idiosyncratic motherboard. A detailed multi-language main instruction manual is quite thorough and easy to follow for most users. A second manual offers extra advice on making the most of the motherboard's extra features.
Cables-wise, 2 red S-ATA cables are provided, yet only a single power cable is bundled here. Rounded ATA cables seem to be all the rage these days. To this end, DFI bundle a couple of ATA133-compatible, UV-reactive cables. A matched floppy cable completes the impressive cabling. In the very centre of the picture you can see a S/PDIF cable. Extremely handy for those that want to base their home A/V setup around their PC, this cable provides S/PDIF in and out via RCA (coax) plugs. Too many motherboards skimp on this valuable feature by not providing this necessary cable. A GAME port cable and custom I/O shield are pretty much obligatory these days.
We have plenty of hardware extras at our disposal, it seems, so what's available on the software side of things ?. DFI plump for InterVideo's WinCinema package for maximising your multimedia use. This particular version contains WinDVD 4.1 and WinRip 2.1 for DVD and CD-based software. Quite handy. The second CD, a standard driver CD, contains the latest chipset drivers, hardware drivers, hardware monitoring programs, and a method of updating your BIOS through an OS setup. All very spick and span.
