And in this box is... another box!
I don't usually put pictures of motherboard boxes into a review, but in the LANParty Pro875's case, I decided to make an exception. Why? Because just a picture of the box makes a good statement about the scope of the LANParty Pro875.

So here's an unassuming shot of the box itself. Note, however, the drivers CD leaning up against the box. The really large, five inch deep box. What in the hell could require such a large box?

After I opened the box and removed the cardboard tray containing the motherboard, I took another picture, which reveals.... four more boxes! It's like a Matryoshka doll in here.

First is a box containing two round IDE cables and one round floppy cable. They're orange. Day-glo orange. Here, have a look:

Next up is the "accessory kit" box, which contains a lot of miscellaneous items. There are two Serial ATA data cables, one Serial ATA-Molex power adapter, an I/O shield for the port cluster, and some heatsink paste. Also in this box are the two PCI backplates, one with a MIDI/game connector and another with coaxial digital input and output connectors. One minor gripe here: These ports are small enough that they could've been combined onto one backplate. Depending on how many cards you have, you might be running short on expansion slots to screw these things into. To ship two when one would've worked is annoying, though not that big a deal.

If you read the tech specs carefully, you noticed that the board provides front line outs, line in and mic in. It's not mentioned anywhere in the manual, but you can configure the line in and mic in through the drivers to be the rear line outs and center/bass line outs. Alternately, DFI lists a "card-edge bracket mounted with a 4-channel audio output" as optional; my review unit didn't come with it, so who knows how easy it would be to get one if you wanted it. Considering the bounty of stuff included with the Pro875, it seems silly not to throw this in as well.

Next up is the FrontX connector. This is a port cluster that fits into a 5.25" drive bay and provides a variety of ports. The above shots show the FrontX with its included door closed and open. In the open shot, you can see the connectors included with the LANParty Pro875, including two USB 2.0 connectors, a mic in, and a headphone out. You'll notice that there are plastic blanks in the locations not occupied by the included ports, which enable you to purchase additional ports for your specific needs and add them later on. This arrangement brings a lot more versatility than most similar front port solutions.

Finally, there is the PC Transpo, probably the most "LAN party"-themed accessory of all. Basically, it straps around a PC's case and provides a shoulder strap, a carrying handle, and a pouch to store the keyboard, mouse, etc. Needless to say, it's a big improvement over simply carrying your machine around by hand. I was going to model this myself, but I figured that it would go over better if I just ripped off the picture from Geoff's LANParty KT400A and NFII Ultra review.

There are also a few additional items that I haven't mentioned up until now. A package of five extra jumpers is included, along with a large "LANParty" sticker and a smaller case badge. Disks include two floppies (one for the ICH5R RAID drivers, one for the Highpoint 372N RAID drivers) and two CDs (one "mainboard utility" CD with drivers and DFI software, and one with included WinDVD and WinRIP software).

The LANParty Pro875 comes with two manuals, one a "User's Manual" and the other a "Features" manual. The former is 178 pages long, but 122 of those are in French, German, Spanish or Russian. The English portion first consists of a Quick Setup Guide that covers port and jumper locations and pinouts, as well as an overview of the BIOS screens. The other part covers board features and memory and software installation. Finally, the "Features" manual covers additional software, installation of the FrontX, and RAID configuration and driver installation. Also included is a full-color "Quick Installation Guide" with plenty of pictures which walks you through a typical PC build.

As you can see, DFI has created a really impressive bundle to go with the LANParty Pro875 board. Though I can't say the inclusions are perfect, it does bring together just about everything you need and then some.