ECS K7VZM KT133
Friday, September 15, 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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ECS K7VZM
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1.0B
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VIA KT-133
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VIA 4-in-1 4.23
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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 = Tested
Mushkin 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2 = Tested
Micron 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2 = Tested
Transcend 128Mb Sdram PC133
Ziff Davis Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Benchmark
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Winbench CPUmark99
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90.3
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Business Winstone99
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32.96
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Content Creation 2000
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33.83
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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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NA
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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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NA
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The Overclocking tests served to demonstate the impossibility of Overclocking the K7VZM. In fact, even at 105MHz - the lowest Overclocking frequency available - it was not possible to boot the system.
Disk sub-system tests
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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4
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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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5
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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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5
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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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2
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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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3
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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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1
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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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4
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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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3
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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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3
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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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4
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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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3
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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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72 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
No ISA slots
No Overclocking ability
Mediocre stability
No Vcore adjustment
BIOS includes only a few Overclocking functions
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The strong points
Great performance
Independant memory bus
Superior electrical system
Plenty of space for a heatsink
Ability to manually assign IRQs
Metal CPU retention locking lever
Integrated network card (optional?)
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For more information, visit Elitegroup web site.
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