Intel D875PBZ Motherboard (Intel-BOXD875PBZLK)

Reviewed by: vette68

Strengths: Nice motherboard, once it's set up

Weaknesses: Does not support Prescot chips out of the box.

Overall: I had the same problems that others seem to have had. I purchased this motherboard with a Pentium 4 3E Ghz processor, 800Mhz FSB, 1Mb L2. THe system would not boot up at all. The cooling fans would spin up for about a second then immediately power down. After doing some investigation I was able to determine that it wasn't a faulty board, or any other problem. This board just won't support a Prescot chip out of the box. Fortunately I had a PC at work with a 2.4 Ghz, 533 Mhz FSB processor that I was able to "borrow" the processor for the weekend. Without that, there is no way to flash the BIOS to support a Prescot chip. So, if you are looking for a board that will work with any processor out of the box, this is not your board. Be prepared to "borrow" someones slower processor to make this board work with faster processors.

Reviewed by: deepzone31

Strengths: No idea since I never got it to work.

Weaknesses: Does not play well with 800FSB processors.

Overall: I purchased this based on a combination of the positive reviews I had read, the features that the board advertises and the price. It ended up being the most aggravating computer purchase I've ever made. I went through two thinking that the board was bad. Turns out you need to flash the BIOS to get the thing to work with an 800FSB processor. I wish I had read flyboi4u's review before I purchased this. I will be sure to read up on stuff a little better in the future. Bottom line, avoid this motherboard of you're putting together an 800FSB system.

Reviewed by: blobzorz3

Strengths: Intel Chipset, Intel Mobo, Intel Proc. All 3 = Stable.AGP/PCI Lock

Weaknesses: Overclocking does not meet my requirements... (4% increase isnt very good...)

Overall: Great stable mobo from Intel, but if you like to overclock stay away from this... Although there is a program out there that allows you to change FSB (Clockgen ICS952607)

Reviewed by: gator_33

Strengths: Very stable. Has what you need and no unnecessary fluff. Good documentation on included CD and Intel?s website. Nice temperature and fan Active Monitor utility. Good Stress Test Utilities.

Weaknesses: Auto web update utility performance is questionable. Better to just manually download and install drivers from website.

Overall: This is a great board and I have had no problems with it at all (once I got the proper board revision for my CPU). My always-on computer never fails. The board was easy to install and very stable (read the documentation on the included CD). Recognized my Corsair low-latency memory (TWINX512-3200LLPT). Intel's website is very informative and has the latest chipset drivers and BIOS updates. Make sure you use latest drivers for board and peripherals (especially Creative SBLive Value sound cards - the driver on the WinXP disk will make this board fail and spontaneously reboot).When powering up your board for the first time, immediately update the bios to the latest revision using the Iflash bootable diskette utility on Intel's website.Beware buying this board from ZipZoomFly. The links from NexTag and Pricegrabber to purchase the Intel D875PBZLK are for an older, less expensive board revision that does not support the Prescott CPU.ZipZoomFly's website does not state this in the linked-item's description.If you have a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (Prescott) you need to get a newer board revision that is listed on ZipZoomFly's website as a DIFFERENT item at a more expensive price. Refer to Intel's website at http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bz/bz_proc.htm for specific info on matching board revisions to processors. It is easier to spend $30 more and just buy the board from a retail store so you can verify CPU compatibility via the board revision numbers listed on the retail box.Furthermore, if you have to return the incompatible board you are hit with the restocking fee and shipping even though the lower priced and older board revision does not state that it does not support Prescott.

Reviewed by: QuietStormX

Weaknesses: No 1394a (Firewire)

Overall: I guess when they reviewed and wrote the article in the March 04' issue of the magazine, they must have confused it with the (865PL) Board? If not what Intel board were they using? 3 1394a ports are listed on the site page and mag...