Thoughts
The 915P-A is one of the most interesting products to make its way into Casa Del Rys for review in a long time. Giving the upgrader to Intel's new P4 platform the means to take two of the most important and expensive of their existing components with them, the 915P-A hits the spot, and hits it hard. The performance of the AGP Express slot leaves a little to be desired, but it's nothing you can't stomach if you have a decent graphics card already. It also brings flexibility to your display configurationPerformance is competetive with either DDR or DDR-II memory installed and you get all the benefits of the ICH6 southbridge and HD Audio technologies and features.
The bundle is bare and it's definitely the low point, but otherwise the 915P-A makes a very attractive case for itself. It's not a tweaker's mainboard at the moment, the BIOS options seeing to that, but ECS claim new BIOS versions in the works will add to things a little. I'll revisit that when I can, if possible.
At £88 from DirectFrom, including dreaded U.K. value added tax, if you're looking to make your way slowly into the world of LGA775 P4 and PCI Express, the 915P-A is your good friend.
Recommended if it fits your needs. ECS carry on executing well, I look forward to their next round of mainboards.
Score
Pros
Performs great with both memory typesPerforms well overall
The upgrader's dream
Flexible display setups possible, using both AGP and PCI Express (and PCI Conventional) graphics cards
Cons
Not for tweakersLight bundle
Not easy to find in the U.K. at the time of writing
HEXUS Awards
