ECS P6VAP-A+ VIA Apollo Pro133A
Monday, October 16, 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 P6VAP-A+ rev: 1.0
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1.1c
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VIA Pro133A
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VIA pack 12.19
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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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Intel CuMine 866Mhz
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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
Micron 128Mb Sdram PC133 CAS2
Transcend 128Mb Sdram PC133
Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Ziff Davis Winstone99 - Winbench99
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Winbench CPUmark99
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78.47
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Business Winstone99
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32.5
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Content Creation 2000
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31.23
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Bapco Sysmark2000
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Benchmark
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Official Run
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183
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Video sub-system tests
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Quake2 version 3.20
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Intel CuMine
866Mhz @ 866Mhz
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Intel CuMine
866Mhz @ 975Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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179.40 FPS
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182.43
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Quake3
Test 1.08
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Intel CuMine
866Mhz @ 866Mhz
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Intel CuMine
866Mhz @ 975Mhz
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800 X 600 X 75Hz X 16-bit
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99.6 FPS
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101.87
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As you can see here, we were able to get our CPU to 975MHz by boosting the FSB to 150MHz.
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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ECS P6VAP-A+ VIA Apollo Pro133A
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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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1
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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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4
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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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2
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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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5
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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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3
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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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4
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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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5
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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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4
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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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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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4
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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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2
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Total Score obtainned for this motherboard
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70 points out of 100
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Features color codes: Blue = supported, Red = optional, Black = not supported
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Conclusions
The weak points
No Vcore function in the BIOS
No ability to manually assign IRQs
Little hardware included
Skimpy software pack
Low-quality condensors
The strong points
Irreproachable performance
Great stability
Very responsive to Overclocking
Independant memory bus
Integrated hardware-monitoring
Integrated AC"97 sound-card
For more information, visit Elitegroup web site.
You can discuss this article in the Forum
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