Even the built-in gigabit Ethernet controller (82547EI) on the board is a step up from many other Xeon boards with weightier price tags. The 875P is the only chipset that allows you to connect a network controller directly to the MCH or the north bridge using CSA (communications streaming architecture). This reduces latency times and the load on the processor and the I/O bus between the MCH and the ICH5. The downside of this set-up is that it costs more; however, that isn't a real issue if you're shopping for a Xeon board.

The cooling fins on the 875P and the voltage converters next to it have been positioned so that the air flow from the front to the back of the case is as rapid as possible. The processor sockets have also been arranged so that - assuming you have the proper coolers (see image below) - the air can be easily drawn up and out by the case fan on the back.

Enter the heavyweights! Two Intel Xeon processors at 3.06 GHz and with 1-MB L3 cache each.

Four 11GB DIMMs max out the PC-DL and the 875P chipset.

The ICH5 supports five PCI slots, two UltraATA/100 channels and two serial ATA ports. The 82801ER shown here can even handle RAID 0 or 1 to boot.

An AGP slot based on the 3.0 standard (AGP 8X) is a must-have for modern graphics boards.

The placement of the cooling fins enhances the fan ventilation.

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