The Chaintech Zenith V915P is a good product that balances essential functionality with price. Because it does not implement some key features like RAID, SPDIF output, or Firewire, the Zenith V915P will appeal to those looking to get core functionality without extra unneeded features inflating the price. So if you're looking to save some money on the latest Intel chipset and can live without some of the other features, then this product is for you.
So what does the Zenith V915P have going for it? Aside from the cheaper price, its real competitive feature is the fact it performs about the same as the more expensive DDR2 implementation of the Intel 915P chipset. With a few exceptions, for the most part the Zenith V915P matches the DDR2 version which should make many of you happy since you can keep using your old DDR RAM and expect some decent performance.
The audio component is strong thanks to the Realtek ALC880 Intel HD Audio compliant chip, and there is enough connectivity to get most of you off the ground.
Overclocking and enthusiast support is decent with a full compliment of basic features like voltage and frequency controls. Memory tweaks are limited to your four basic settings which should be enough for most of you. There are no special BIOS features like fan speed controls, or dynamic overclocking like that seen on Asus or ABIT boards. However, the Chaintech V915P does overclock pretty well to 240MHz with just stock cooling.
I encountered some quirks with the V915P during testing, but nothing serious. In the case of real problems, you will want to know your warranty. Unfortunately Chaintech's website and manuals do not state any warranty information. Doing my own research I found that it may be a 2 year warranty period or just warranty support through your vendor. If warranty is important to you, you should ask your retailer about warranty before purchasing.
Overall the Chaintech Zenith V915P is a decent no nonsense board. It has all the basic functionality you need and skips on some advanced features to save you money. It goes without saying that you will find other competitive motherboards with more features on the market, but the V915P is worth considering if you want an easy upgrade path to PCI-Express and LGA775 without breaking the bank.
Strong Points: | Other Considerations: |
- Lower price
- Nearly the same performance as DDR2 Intel 915P
- Intel HD Audio compliant
- Decent compliment of enthusiast features and overclocks fairly well.
| - Missing some advanced features: RAID, SPDIF output, and Firewire.
- Warranty undocumented. Confirm coverage with your retailer.
- Overclocking often required rolling back to a stable setting before advancing.
- Use caution if using Wasay software on the bonus CD.
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