Fic AZ11 VIA KT133
Monday, September 11, 2000
The performance tests results
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Motherboard
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BIOS
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Chipset
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Drivers
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Fic AZ11
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VDA42
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VIA KT-133
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VIA 4-in-1 4.20
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Processor
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Memory
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Hard disk drive
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Graphic card
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AMD Athlon T-Bird 1Ghz
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128Mb PC133 CAS2
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Quantum KA 9.1
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GeForce 256 SDR
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Operating system
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Built
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Video drivers
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DirectX
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Windows98
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4.10 1998
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Nvidia 4.11.01.0368
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7.0a
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Game
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Resolution
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Refresh
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Vsync
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Color
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Texture
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Filtration
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Quake2 3.20
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800 X 600
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75Hz
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Off
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16-bit
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16-bit
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bi-linear
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Game
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Resolution
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Refresh
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Vsync
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Color
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Texture
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Filtration
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Quake3 1.08
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800 X 600
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75Hz
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Off
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16-bit
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16-bit
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Tri-linear
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Suggested memory to use
Corsair 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2
Mushkin 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2 = Tested
Transcend 128Mb Sdram PC133
Micron 128Mb Sdram PC133
Ziff Davis Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Benchmark
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Winbench CPUmark99
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90.56
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Business Winstone99
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33.47
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Content Creation 2000
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34.56
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Bapco Sysmark2000
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Benchmark
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Official Run
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189
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Video sub-system tests
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Quake2 version 3.20
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AMD Athlon
Classique 1Ghz @ 1Ghz
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AMD Athlon
Classique @ 1040hz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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181.78 FPS
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181.60
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Quake3
Test 1.08
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AMD Athlon
Classique 1Ghz @ 1Ghz
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AMD Athlon
Classique 1Ghz @ 1040Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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99.33 FPS
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98.36
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The Overclocking tests, as you can see, show a diminuation of performance in Overclocked mode. These results are indicative of the fact that it was necessary to increase the memory latency to 3 cycles, and reduce the memory bus frequency to a setting equal to that of the FSB, which operated at 104MHz. Under these conditions, the benefits from Overclocking were negligible, or else negative. It was also impossible to raise the FSB setting above 104MHz, even under the best circumstances.
Disk sub-system test
Overall Quality Evaluation
The evaluation table below shows both the strong and weak points of the tested motherboard. No need to remind you that performance is not the sole purchasing criteria in a motherboard. Most of today's motherboards exhibit performance very close to each other, so we need additional information in order to help us distinguish the real advantages of a motherboard compared to its competitors. This is exactly where this evaluation table comes in handy.
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Feature
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Evaluation
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Design Originality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Component Layout
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Heatsink space around CPU
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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3
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Capacitiors
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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CPU Retention Mechanism
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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3
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Amounts of Expansion Slots
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Amount of Memory sockets
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Ease of installation
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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BIOS Setup Design
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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3
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Performance
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Overclockability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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1
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Stability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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2
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Bundled Software
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Bundled Hardware
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Users Manual Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Packing Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Features supported
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ATA66
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PC133
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Wake On LAN
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Modem ring
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Pwr Fail Res
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5
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Features supported (suite)
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Sensor
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AMR
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Mouse Pwr On
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Susp. to RAM
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Susp. to Disk
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2
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Features supported (suite)
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IRDA
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SCSI
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Keyb. Pwr On
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Hardw. mon.
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Vcore adj.
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3
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Features supported (suite)
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RAID
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Alarm
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Jumperless
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L2 latency adj.
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IRQ assign.
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3
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Total Score obtainned for this motherboard
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77 points out of 100
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Features color codes: Blue = supported, Red = optional, Black = not supported
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Conclusions
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The weak points
Little space provided for the installation of a heatsink
Plastic CPU retention bar
Mediocre electrical filtration
No ISA slots
Restrained Overclocking
Limited hardware monitoring
BIOS includes few Overclocking functions
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The strong points
Excellent performance
Independant memory bus
Interesting software bundle
Highly detailed user's manual
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