Thoughts
DFI's engineers set out to create a class-leading board with respect to performance. In that regard, it appears that they've succeeded. Once run with the optimal BIOS settings of 'Super PATCH' and tight, low latency memory timings, the DFI swaps benchmark blows with perhaps the finest Canterwood board that's presently in production - the ABIT IC7-MAX3. Matters are further helped via a flexible BIOS that contains a handy BIOS restore function under the heading of CMOS Reloaded. Voltages are good, DRAM timings are good and the hardware monitoring section is adequate. All of these features position the DFI i865PE INFINITY as an enthusiast's dream. One blot on the landscape appears to be a lack of clock locking for the AGP and PCI buses. Our sample managed to hit 250FSB with an unlocked CPU, but the buses were reported to be out of specification, and various freezes and instability lent wait to that assertion. It's rare to see an i865PE top out at 250MHz FSB, so the blame, so to speak, probably lay at the buses' door.
Performance, though, was far from disappointing. Each and every benchmark showed that PAT technology had been taken to the limit here with MAX3-equalling performances. The feature set was also decent - a number of desirable features had been carefully chosen and added. Gigabit Ethernet, quadruple SATA ports, FireWire, a passive North Bridge heatsink and coaxial S/PDIF connections to name but a few. Layout was subjectively excellent... the board was easy to work with and the components' location allowed for a neat-looking setup. One areA, we feel, that needs looking at is the accompanying bundle. Perhaps one along the lines of the popular LANParty series might be in order. The main motherboard manual requires an overhaul too.
It's very fast, stable, feature rich and should be aggressively priced. If DFI can iron out one or two presentation and overclocking problems it has the potential to be one of the very best consumer-level Intel-based motherboards. The CMOS Reloaded feature was an especially nice touch. A decent showing from DFI.
