The board of the second-echelon manufacturer is traditional and doesn't differ
much from other VIA KT400 based solutions.
Accessories:
-
Big package of a standard design;
- Documentation: user manual in
English;
- Cables: 1 ATA66/100/133 and FDD;
- Bracket
for the rear computer panel;
- CD containing:
-
drivers;
- several system monitoring utilities;
- user
guides for several mainboards in PDF;
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
-
McAfee VirusScan.
The complains about the board's layout are obvious: IDE, power supply and audio
connectors are not convenient. It can be difficult to reach some jumpers when
the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.
The 2-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 8 capacitors of 3300
uF and 2 of 2200 uF.
The following controllers are integrated:
- audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and Avance Logic
ALC650 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front
audio outputs.
Thanks to the Winbond W83697SF Smart I/O controller
the board supports (and have a connector) a reader for SD/MS flash cards.
Non-unsoldered connectors: IDE RAID controllers and it connectors, a connector
for the SmartCard reader.
The system monitoring is supported by the Winbond
W83637HF-AW chip. What is controlled:
- processor voltage, +3.3,
+5 and +12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby;
- speed of 2 fans;
-
temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor).
There
are 2 connectors for adjustable and 2 for unadjustable connection of fans (one
of them is connected to a fan on the heatsink of the chipset's north bridge).
Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion
slots - AGP/ 5 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 5 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x245
mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches | Jumper
to clear up the CMOS | |
| Jumpers to fix the
FSB frequency | 100, 133 and 166 MHz |
| BIOS
based on the AwardBIOS 6.00PG of Phoenix | Setup of memory timings | + | CAS
Latency, Bank Interleave, Precharge to Active, Active to Precharge, Active to
CMD, Burst Length, Queue Depth, Command Rate, tWTR, Recovery Time |
| Setup
of memory frequency | + | By SPD, DDR200, DDR266, DDR333,
DDR400 |
| Setup of AGP bus | + | |
| Setup of PCI bus | + | |
| Changeable
scaler of AGP and PCI buses | - | |
| Manual
assignment of interrupts | + | |
| Changeable
FSB frequency | + | 100-250 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| Changeable CPU multiplier | - | |
| Changeable
core voltage | + | 1.125-1.85 V in 0.025V steps |
| Changeable memory voltage | + | 2.5, 2.6 V |
| Changeable chipset voltage | - | |
| Changeable
AGP bus voltage | - | |
We used the
BIOS of 15.10.2002 as the latest available version.
The board is not
rich in functions and the accessory pack is scanty - this model will be a good
choice for those who need smooth joining the world of modern technologies at a
relatively low price.
Test results:
