DFI PRO875 (875P): Introducing the LAN Party Series

DFI PRO875: Basic Features

DFI decided to go with a lesser known codec in the form of C-Media’s CMI9739A. In general you should be able to get fairly decent sound quality from this codec.

DFI is yet another manufacturer to implement Intel’s new CSA (Communications Streaming Architecture) bus for Gigabit Ethernet.  Currently the only CSA compliant GbE controller is Intel’s PRO/1000CT, an expensive solution but the only ticket to CSA support on 875P/865PE motherboards. DFI includes support for CSA by using this PRO/1000CT chip; this controller is also found on several other motherboards including Gigabyte's 8KNXP/Ultra, MSI's 875P Neo-FIS2R, ABIT’s IC7-G, Albatron PX865PE Pro II, and Soyo's 875P DRAGON 2. The average desktop user won't have much of a use for this technology, but anyone that is transferring a significant amount of data over gigabit Ethernet will enjoy the bus. We've illustrated the benefit of CSA technology in previous articles, an example of which can be found here in our 875P chipset article.

DFI included some fairly nice I/O ports to their PRO875 board. This includes two PS/2 ports, two serial ports, one parallel port, four rear USB 2.0 ports, one Gigabit LAN port, and Mic In, Line In, and Line Out, which drive the onboard sound. One rear IEEE 1394 FireWire port would have been a nice touch, but since the PRO875 doesn’t come with IEEE 1394 FireWire to begin with so this is a moot point. 

Like all motherboards with an 875P/ICH5(R) chipset combination, there are two Serial ATA connectors located next to the ICH5(R) South Bridge. In case you’ve forgotten, the new ICH5 South Bridge has its own link that allows a stream of 266MB/s of data to each of the two Serial ATA connectors, which is certainly better than the PCI bus constrained 133MB/s. This is good for users that have so lots of devices running through the PCI bus, which makes native SATA support a plus. 

The PRO875 utilizes HighPoint’s HPT372 controller for onboard IDE RAID, capable of RAID 0, 1, and 0 + 1 support. This ATA133 complaint controller is capable of supporting up to two IDE drives via the two orange IDE connectors located at the bottom of the motherboard. In combination with the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors, two Serial ATA connectors, and the two HighPoint RAID connectors the PRO875 is capable of supporting up to a total of ten IDE drives.

One of the nicest things the PRO875 brings to the table is its bundle of accessories. The most interesting piece is the PC Transpo, which is essentially a light backpack for carrying your tower around; mostly to LAN parties (hence the reason DFI is marketing the PRO875 as a “LAN Party” motherboard). This backpack is a very nice feature to have if you’re someone who travels a lot and doesn’t want to sacrifice any performance like you would have to by carrying a laptop around. This is truer for gamers more than any other audience, especially when you consider the large gap in performance between mobile and desktop GPUs. Of course, if you’re not really a hardcore gamer and can’t stand lugging around your tower in a backpack, the PC Transpo probably isn’t a benefit for you.

Another accessory included with the PRO875 is a FrontX panel which includes two USB 2.0 ports and two audio ports for sound. DFI also includes a two-port USB 2.0 bracket to round out the eight possible USB 2.0 ports you can use with the PRO875. FrontX is an excellent addition to the PRO875’s accessory package as it is convenient for those that don’t like to hook up their USB and/or audio devices to the back of their tower.