The board is not surprising at all. We have received a preproduction sample
even without a user guide and with a CD containing only drivers. That is why there
is nothing to say about its accessories. The layout has typical drawbacks:
the audio-ins are in front of the PCI slots, when a video
card is installed it's difficult to handle the memory modules,
and positions of the connectors for additional USB modules
and for a cable of the smart card reader. 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 10 capacitors of 1500
uF. The following controllers are integrated: - audio controller
based on the chipset's capabilities and VIA VT1616 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1
audio systems;
- network controller based on the VIA VT6105 chip
and supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX
Thanks to the ITE IT8705F I/O
controller the board supports (and has a connector) a reader for smart cards.
The board incorporates the following technologies:
- BIOS-Protect Easy (protects a BIOS chip from recording);
-
LogoEasy II (displays images of 800x600x32 during booting of a computer);
-
RecoveryEasy II (backup copy on a hard drive);
- StepEasy II (changes
a CPU's frequency from Windows);
- BootEasy (accelerated system booting).
+5
V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the red LED. Non-unsoldered
connectors: none. The system monitoring is supported by the ITE IT8705F chip.
What is controlled: - processor voltage, +2.5, +3.3, +5 and +-12
V, +3.3 and +5 V SB;
- speed of 3 fans;
- temperatures
of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor).
There
are 2 connectors for adjustable and 3 for unadjustable connection of fans (it
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/ 6 PCI/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions
- 305x240 mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches | Jumper
to clear up the CMOS | | | Jumpers for setting
a FSB frequency | 100, 133, 166 MHz | | Switches
to set a processor multiplier | x5-x12.5 | | Jumper
to enable/disable an audio controller | | | Jumper
to select a type of the temperature monitoring of processor | Athlon XP/Others |
| Jumper to enable/disable a network controller | |
| Switches to enable/disable a second floppy drive | |
| 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, Write Recovery Time, tWTR. | | Setup of memory frequency | + | Auto,
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, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 133,
138, 142, 144, 150, 154 MHz | | Changeable CPU multiplier | - | |
| Changeable core voltage | - | | | Changeable
memory voltage | - | | | Changeable chipset
voltage | - | | | Changeable AGP bus voltage | - | |
We used the latest available version of the BIOS - BIOS 1.0.
The board won't attract those who are looking for the maximum functionality
and high overclocking potential, but it works stably and is relatively cheap.
Test results:
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