Specs and bundle
| Gigabyte 81PE775-G 'Springdale' | |
| CPU Support | All LGA775 processors |
| Northbridge | Intel i865PE Springdale |
| Memory Support | 4 slots, DDR1 only. 266MHz, 333MHz, and 400MHz 200MHz FSB. 4GB max, dual-channel |
| AGP | One slot, 8x AGP |
| PEG16X | None |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH5 |
| Audio | Realtek ALC850 8-channel CODEC from AC'97 Rev 2.3 |
| PCI | 5x32-bit 33MHz PCI 2.1 slots |
| PCI Express | None |
| IDE | 2 ATA133 compliant port from ICH5 |
| IDE RAID | None |
| SATA | 2 ports from ICH5 |
| SATA RAID | None |
| Networking | Gigabit Ethernet Controller from Marvell 88E8001-LKJ PCI-based controller |
| USB | ICH5, 4x backplane USB2.0, 2xI/O USB2.0 |
| FireWire | None |
| Other I/O | PS/2, Serial, Parallel |
A reasonable feature set for a £75 package that takes every LGA755 processor currently available.
Bundle and accessories
The bundle also reflects the keen pricing. There's no flashy gizmos or superfluous additions. An extra 2 USB 2.0 ports are provided by the bracket pictured on the left, bringing the total up to 6. The driver CD contains Gigabyte's excellent Xpress Install one-touch installation software that takes the tedious work of installing required drivers one at a time. There's also the useful EasyTune4 utility that allows the user to adjust FSB speeds and voltages from within the OS. For some reason, our bundle shipped without a manual. We're adamant that all shipping 8IPE775-Gs will contain the usual comprehensive Gigabyte literature.
Rather geekily, Gigabyte includes a couple of technologies under the acronyms of CIA (CPU Intelligent Accelerator) and MIB (Memory Intelligent Booster). The former dynamically overclocks the CPU when load is greatest. The latter is Gigabyte's answer to PAT technology, and I found it strangely lacking in functionality on the latest F3 BIOS.
