ECS P4IBAD versus Transcend TSABR4

Name: ECS P4IBAD versus Transcend TSABR4
Brand: ECS

by HH Editor — Wednesday, March 27, 2002, 11:00 PM EDT

ECS P4IBAD versus Transcend TSABR4 - Page 1

ECS P4IBAD versus Transcend TS-ABR4
Budget i845s Do Battle!

By, Marco Chiappetta
March 28, 2002

When the Pentium 4 was initially introduced, the only motherboards available were based on the Intel i850 chipset, which required the use of relatively expensive (at the time) RDRAM. While the performance of an i850 / Pentium 4 combo was excellent, the price was prohibitive and kept Intel's new CPU out of the hands of many users. Intel took too long to ready an alternate chipset that used less expensive memory types, which opened the door for companies like SiS and VIA to snatch up some of the Pentium 4 chipset market. A Pentium 4 coupled with a SiS 645 or VIA P4X266A and some quality DDR RAM proved to be competent, high performance platform, at a significantly lower cost than the i850 with RDRAM. This scenario prompted Intel to hasten the release of their DDR enabled chipset, the i845, which is the foundation of the two motherboards we'll be looking at today.

The ECS P4IBAD and Transcend TS-ABR4 are entry level motherboards designed to bring the performance of DDR memory to the Pentium 4, without the higher cost associated of legacy RDRAM based platforms. We ran these two boards through our usual battery of test and compared them to one another throughout. What do you say we find out how they fared...

Specifications / Features of the ECS and Transcend i845s

Bits and Pieces

Click any Image for an Enlarged view...

ECS P4IBAD PROCESSORS: Socket 478 supports the Intel Pentium 4 processor CHIPSET: Intel 82845 & 82801BA -- Memory Controller Hub (MCH), I/O Controller Hub 2 (ICH2) & Firmware Hub (FWH) FEATURES: Supports 4X AGP (AGP 2.0 Specification), 1.5V only LPC I/O: ITE 8712F HPT372 IDE RAID Controller with UDMA133 support (optional) AC97 Audio Codec Compliant with AC97 2.2 specification MEMORY: Two 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets for 2.5V DDR SDRAM (DDR266/DDR200) Maximum: 2GB SYSTEM BIOS: Award BIOS with Flash ROM in Firmware Hub (FWH) Supports Plug and Play 1.0A, AMP 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI Full support for ACPI revision 1.0A specification I/O INTERFACE: Supports Plug and Play function PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse connectors Dual USB Ports One - EPP/ECP mode parallel port Two - 16550 high-speed serial I/O port Audio Ports (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in, CD-in and game port) Supports 360K~2.88M Byte, 3 Mode FDDs or LS120 Support eight ATA/ATAPI devices (four optional) Standard: Dual PCI IDE interfaces - support four IDE devices (PIO Mode 4, DMA Mode 2, Ultra DMA66/100) Option: Two independent ATA channels for another four IDE devices (PIO Mode 4, DMA Mode 2, Ultra DMA66/100/133) ATX Power Supply Connector PORTS HEADERS AND OTHERS: IrDA header Additional two USB ports (LUSB1 or USB2) Front Panel MIC/Line-Out header Chassis open detector header Smart Card Reader header HDD LED, ACPI MSG LED, Reset Switch, Power Switch headers CPU, Power and Case Fan headers LAN Card Wake Up / Internal Modem Ring Wake Up headers RTC & BATTERY Intel I/O Controller Hub 2 (ICH2) included 256 bytes of CMOS SRAM With CMOS SRAM hardware clear jumper EXPANSION SLOTS: 6 PCI slots 1 AGP slot 1 CNR slot FORM FACTOR: ATX (304mm*244mm) 4 Layers	Transcend TS-ABR4 PROCESSORS: Intel Pentium 4 socket 478 CPU CHIPSET: Intel 845 SYSTEM BUS: FSB 400 MHz SYSTEM MEMORY: 2 x 184-pin DDR SDRAM support up to 2 GB Support 1GB DDR SDRAM at 200/266 MHz IDE: 2 x PCI Bus Master IDE Ports, support up to 4 devices Supports DMA mode 2, PIO mode 3/4 Ultra DMA 33/66/100 ON-BOARD AUDIO: Built-in AC97 CODEC audio control EXPANSION SLOTS: 1 x AGP Pro 4x slot (1.5V AGP only) 5 x PCI slots (PCI v2.2 compliant) I/O PORTS: 1 x FDD port (3 mode, 1.2/1.44/2.88MB FDD, LS120 ) 1 x PS/2 Mouse port 1 x PS/2 Keyboard port 1 x Parallel port (SPP/EPP/ECP) 2 x RS232 port(16550 Fast UART compatible) 4 x USB ports (2 by cable) 1 x Audio Line-out/Line-in/MIC-in jack 1 x Game/MIDI connector 1 x IrDA port PC99 color coding compliant BIOS FUNCTIONS: ezBIOS Live update, Anti-Virus, BIOS Protect, Linear Overclocking and ezLOGO Award BIOS with Green, APM, Plug and Play, DMI functions Enhanced ACPI Feature SYSTEM HARDWARE MONITOR: System voltage, temperature & fan status monitor 2 x fan status monitors with F/W programmable fan speed CPU overheat alarm OTHER FEATURES: Alarm/Modem ring on Software power off control PC99/PC2001 compliant Wake on LAN Boot-up virus warning Suspend to RAM (STR) Power failure resume CPU Core voltage adjustable FORM FACTOR: ATX Form Factor 4 layers PCB 9.5" x 12" (24.5cm x 30.5cm)
THE BUNDLES: The ECS P4IBAD and Transcend TS-ABR4 both ship with what we'd consider a minimal bundle. Inside their boxes, you won't find multiple UDMA/100 IDE cables, supplemental USB connectors, or plates for external Digital Audio outputs. These boards weren't brought to market to impress you with their bundles though. With these products, it's all about cost. Packaged with both boards we found User's Manuals, single UDMA/100 IDE cables, floppy cables and a CD contain all of the necessary drivers and software to get the boards up and running. The bundles may be a far cry from what a company like Soyo is offering, but they are adequate and don't require buyers to purchase anything extra, that is unless you want to utilize the secondary USB header.