Introduction
DFI LANPPARTY 865PEI first encountered a motherboard manufactured by DFI (Diamond Flower International) just over a year ago. The NB80-EA Granite Bay (dual-channel chipset with 533MHz FSB support) board ran with utter stability and performed in the top echelons of E7205 motherboards. DFI, in our eyes at least, has further cemented its claim to be considered a viable option in a world dominated by 4 or 5 players. Its LANPARTY range of boards, characterised by including some interesting extras and excellent layout, has become a real alternative to the deluxe boards pumped out by the larger manufacturers. We reviewed the Canterwood version some time ago. The only problem we foresaw was price. By its very nature, the Canterwood chipset isn't cheap. The PRO875 would have to fight it out with the best of the rest.
It didn't take a moment of true genius to understand that the LANPARTY ethos could be applied to the cheaper Springdale chipset. We also knew that tweaked i865PE boards often matched their Canterwood brothers in performance. The DFI LANPARTY 865PE is that cheaper board. Let's see if it still has enough of the right stuff to be considered an essential Intel candidate.
