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Features
One aspect with the 925XE that we noticed most of all was how feature filled
this motherboard is. It has everything AND even more than one can possibly
imagine. 8 SATA ports, 2 Gigabit Ethernet jacks, excellent active cooling, and
most welcome of all considering Foxconn's history is the addition of voltage
options in the BIOS. This board is so frightening loaded that I kept looking for
signs that it was manufactured by someone else. Some of the features are better
observed through digital camera, so here goes!!
The board layout is excellent with power connections placed
accordingly. One of the nicer aspects of PCI-X is that no longer will you have
to remove your AGP card to install or remove your memory.
This stack of stuff actually came with the 925XE. Look at it
this way, you won't have to check your local computer shop for a floppy cable or
an extra IDE, even SATA cables are neatly tucked in for you.
The Silicon Image module controls 50% of the SATA solution on
the 925XE...
4 ports for SATA RAID, and another..
4 ports for your disk plethora pleasure. ;)
The SATA options in this motherboard are just one of the many
aspects that attract me to this board. Using Intels solution may offer faster
access times for the OS, and then backups can be made, or just plain storage on
the Silicon Image. Many may have read that the ICH6R offers what is known is
Matrix RAID which allows you to run separate RAID's on the same channel using
Intel's software. This board has that option as well..
Two Gigabit
Ethernet ports are part of the 925XE... This
makes it a must for those of you wanting to run a dedicated game server much
like we arranged while testing the board. It was more solid than anyone can
possibly imagine. The 7 channel audio is typical Realtek, but is a step up from
typical 7.1 arrangements. The software took three reboots to install everything!
Active cooling is a must for those of you that want the most
out of your components when the subject of overclocking comes up. This fan is
probably the largest active cooling solution I have ever seen! Its also a bit
loud but still a welcome addition from Foxconn. Even if you're not an
Overclocker, the active chipset cooling will help in the stability of
motherboard operation...
You may not be able to see the other PCI express connection
but there are three of them, which puts this board as a design that is pretty
much ahead of PCI express hardware, but that should change shortly after the new
year. Directly above the PCI express slots are four onboard firewire solutions!
Those of you that have or are planning on using firewire components, this board
is for you! The PCI Express 16 slot is being occupied right now with our test
card a Apollo 6600GT which you'll soon see has fairly good performance for its
price..
The controversial LGA-775 Zif which we've become accustomed
to now, and just so you readers know we've taken these CPU's out on several
occasions, and we can actually welcome it after bending a few pins on our socket
939 platform. Pins are evil now when you make them smaller and put more onto a
smaller space. Intel was more than likely thinking of that when they designed
the LGA processor. Lack of room around the socket hasn't been an issue thus far,
but I'll bet some of you are bound to find a cooler that may not fit. We used
the retail Intel heatsink for testing and temps never went beyond 50C.
The DDR2 DIMM slots. Notice that the ATX connection faces in
the correct orientation instead of the clip facing the DIMM's. No more removing
DIMMs to pull the plug, and vice versa...
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