With the new mainstream Springdale (i865PE) Pentium 4 chipset on the market we're starting to see the influx of new boards which always accompanies such a release. Of course if you're looking for a new motherboard, determining which one to get can be a difficult decision.

Like the i845PE chipset before it, some might argue that the difference between one i865PE based motherboard and the next is virtually nil. In other words, i865PE-based motherboards all follow similar design guidelines and so they tend to perform within a few percentages of each other under the same circumstances. This doesn't take into account quality or reliability which can very between manufacturers rather substantially.

So this begs the question; should you spend a bit more for a motherboard with a lot of features or should you buy the least expensive option and to the "extra's" when you need it?

In this review we are testing out the new Magic-Pro MP-P6PE-1000 motherboard which is based on the i865PE Springdale chipset. With a retail price of just $170 CDN ($125 US) by way of Canada Computers the MP-P6PE-1000 in the middle of the pack in terms of pricing. Luckily, the P6PE-1000 does come with a few goodies.

The board has native Serial ATA support (then again all i865 and i875P based motherboards do as well), onboard 3Com 10/100 LAN and a 5.1 soundcard.

The Magic Pro P6PE-1000 supports 400/533/800 MHz FSB based Pentium 4 Northwood processors, and its four DIMM slots handle up to 4GB of PC1600/2100/2700/3200 DDR RAM. However for those workstation users out there, keep in mind that the i865PE chipset does not support ECC memory.

magic-pro mp-p6pe-1000
	Ships with the following: 2x IDE ATA66/100 Cable FDD Cable Serial ATA Cable Serial ATA HDD Power Cable User Manual
	Brackets:
	4 Port USB Bracket

From the Magic Pro boards we have on hand right now it would seem that the company does a lot of OEM work with well known motherboard makers. For example, it you're saying to yourself that the Magic Pro MP-P6PE-1000 looks a heck of a lot like the Albatron PX865PE Pro, you're actually quite right. The boards are identical (prices are just about the same I might add) and pealing back the Magic Pro sticker we even find "Albatron PX865PE Pro" silk screened right on the PCB. So, what Magic Pro have called the MP-P6PE-1000 is in actuality the Albatron PX856PE Pro. Well, at least we know the build quality is good.

Overall the layout of the MP-P6PE-1000 is pretty good; the IDE and main ATX power connector are in a great location to the right of the DIMM slots and the headers are well labeled. All headers save one USB header are located at the bottom of the motherboard which keeps the cables away from the other system devices.

Like most motherboards in the MP-P6PE-1000's class, since most Serial ATA HDD's are not sold with the accompanying Serial ATA power connector we were glad to see Magic-Pro included one with the motherboard.

While we usually do not talk about user manuals but the one that accompanies the MP-P6PE-1000 is very detailed and everything is explained in laymens terms. First timers need not worry as this motherboard is very user friendly.

I must have talked about this a thousand times but the location of the floppy drive connector is in the worst possible spot. Heck, we even had problems attaching the floppy with our test system layout flat on the table!

I was extremely surprised to find that the Magic-Pro MP-P6PE-1000 did not come with any driver CD or additional software. The absence of the driver CD is unacceptable but I do understand that these type of things do happen now and then so hopefully the test sample was a one off.

Probably my biggest qualms with the motherboard however is how close the Northbridge heatsink is to the AGP slot. Those of you with after market videocard coolers like the Zalman ZM80A-HP please note that heatsink will not work with this motherboard as the Northbridge Heatsink gets in the way.

For those of you who are interested in learning about i865PE technology please read our AOpen AX4SPE Max motherboard review.