The layout
Albatron peppers the PX865PE Pro II with an array of multi-colored components, but nothing really clashes with the blue board. Personally, I prefer a more understated aesthetic or at least one that picks only a couple of colors to run with, but the PX865PE Pro II shouldn't look too bad through a case window.

Considering the number of expansion slots, ports, and peripheral chips that Albatron's engineers have squeezed onto the board, I almost feel bad griping about small layout issues, but I can't resist; the PX865PE Pro II's power plugs are a little too far from the top edge of the board for my liking. The four-pin plug is particularly cumbersome and requires that the power cord be routed around the processor heat sink. Ideally, I'd like to see both power connectors placed on the top edge of the board to keep power cable clutter to a minimum.

Like most recent Pentium 4 boards, the PX865PE Pro II's socket area is nice and open and easily accommodates larger heat sinks. I particularly like how Albatron has kept taller capacitors away from the heat sink cradle's retention clips, making it that much more difficult to accidentally bend a capacitor with a clumsy or careless heat sink installation.

Like just about every other Springdale- and Canterwood-based motherboard, the PX865PE Pro II sports two pairs of dual-channel DDR400 DIMM slots. Since dual-channel configurations require paired DIMMS for optimal performance, four DIMM slots should really be a minimum requirement for anyone looking for a dual-channel board that easily supports memory expansion.

The inclusion of four DIMM slots makes adding memory to the PX865PE Pro II a snap, but users will have to remove their AGP graphics cards first. There's just not enough clearance between the AGP and DIMM slots to fully disengage the DIMM retention tabs while a graphics card is installed.

As with every other Albatron motherboard I've tested, the PX865PE Pro II uses a nonstandard AGP card retention mechanism that actually works quite well. In fact, I prefer Albatron's retention mechanism, which easily slides back and forth along the AGP slot, to the standard AGP card retention hooks that I never seem to have nails long enough to flip back easily.

The PX865PE Pro II doesn't have six PCI slots, but as far as board real estate goes, it might as well. A couple of BIOS chips, USB headers, and the board's floppy port line the bottom of the board and push the PCI slots more than an inch away from the edge. Wondering where the PX865PE Pro II's AGP card/DIMM slot clearance problems are coming from? Right here.

Legacy PS/2, serial and parallel ports grace the PX865PE Pro II's port cluster alongside two USB 2.0/1.1 ports and the board's Gigabit Ethernet port. Six analog audio input and output ports make an appearance covering the board's 7.1 audio output channels, and its line and microphone inputs. But wait, there's more. A lot more.

Albatron packs the PX865PE Pro II with not one, not two, not three, but a total of four PCI headers to handle all sorts of expansion ports. A legacy game port and extra serial port get their own expansion header as do four of the board's USB 2.0/1.1 ports. Firewire has an expansion header all to itself, too. And let's not forget the board's digital S/PDIF input and output ports, which come in TOS-Link and RCA flavors on their own PCI header alongside a headphone jack and extra mic input.

Normally, I'm all for expansion ports, but this is beyond excessive. Yes, the dazzling array of PCI expansion headers does give users access to just about every peripheral device that the board offers, but the headers can potentially block access to the board's PCI slots depending on the system's enclosure. Albatron would be well-advised to include a few more of these expansion ports in the board's port cluster and possibly move a few of them up to a 5.25" drive bay that can be accessed from the front of the case.