SUMMARY: Not long ago Intel graced us with their greatest DDR platform yet, the Canterwood 875P chipset for the Pentium 4 platform with 800MHz FSB support, PAT and Dual Channel DDR-400 support. However not everyone can afford the high asking price of Canterwood based motherboards, Intel's answer is the cheaper Springdale. Today Cameron "Sov" Johnson bench tests the non-PAT Springdale 865PE compared directly to the Canterwood.
By far, the I865P chipset is the cheapest variation. Costing $33US per 1000 units this is the ultimate in cheap chipsets. The I865P supports only the 400/533FSB processors, this one is designed to replace the I845 series of chipsets and compete with the SiS 655 chipset. While having the Dual Channel DDR controller, this chipset only supports DDR-266 or DDR-333 memory modules. Intel only allows 400Mhz DDR on 800Mhz FSB boards, so this one misses out. Another of the major features Intel ahs come up with is the CSA interface. This allows for the inclusion of the CSA Gigabit Ethernet controller.
While being somewhat limited in the MCH, you can pair the I865P with either the ICH5 or ICH5R chipset. This allows you to get the best performance out of their Serial ATA drives along with 8 USB 2.0 ports.
