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15th October 2000
News Front | Archives | Reviews | The Forum | SG Pricelist | Links | Our Info | News Headlines Reviews Quick Summary HW1: ABIT SE6 & AOpen AX34 PRO Review Abit SP-50 Speaker System Review Improve SCV->HW1 speed Part 2 Fuji S1 Pro first comments 900 Mhz vs. 2.4 Ghz Cordless Phones ABit SlotKET III New SuperOrb Canon PowerShot G1: Second Opinion Dell Inspiron 5000e & 3dfx VPCI Improve SCV->HW1 speed NVIDIA Question & Answer Microprocessor Tidbits Rivals Blast Intel Centaurs, Dragons, DDRRAM & Rambus. Fujifilm Finepix 4900 ABIT SE6 ABIT SE6 & AOpen AX34 PRO Page 1 of 10 Author: kptan Date of review: 15-October-2000 Type Of Review: Mainboards

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Features This is an i815E solution from ABIT which features:

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66/100/133MHz FSB support ATA33/66/100 support AGP4x 1AGP/1AIMM/6PCI/1CNR layout 4 USB ports 3 DIMM slots (512MB max) integrated AGP video and sound
Physical The board has largely good basic layout and a good number of PCI slots. The 512MB
Table of Contents Executive Summary Intro, Specs i815x Chipset ABIT SE6 AOpen AX34PRO Bundle, Testbench, Overclocking SiSoft Sandra, Any hope? Winbench 3DMark, Q3A Verdict
memory max limit imposed by the i815 chipset is annoying, but not something too restrictive. The built in VGA and sound makes it attractive OEM material, but adds cost to the high performance enthusiants DIYers where it is not welcomed. Overclocking The SE6 did not overclock as well as expected -- while it managed to maintain 150MHz FSB with the 550E test CPU, CAS latency had to be increased to CAS3 instead of CAS2, and CPU core voltage set to 1.75V Performance SiSoft Sandra: Good performance on par with the reference BX system except (1) poor memory performance compared with even the VIA 133A PRO chipset, (2) high disk access latency despite the ATA100 interface. Winbench 99: Good 2D graphics and disk performance. CPU and FPU benchmarks are on par with the reference BX system. However, the price to pay for the higher disk performance is higher CPU utilisation. 3DMark 2000 and Quake 3 Arena timedemo: Decent 640x480 performance -- albeit below the BX system. Performance at higher resolutions assisted by the AGP4x capability. Verdict The SE6 is an average buy. It has a few annoyances originating from the i815x chipset itself -- nothing particularly major. But nothing particularly outstanding either. It does not yet take the BX cake, but it comes close enough such that if you want official 133MHz support, it is a decent enough buy. Overclocked to FSB above 133MHz does give it the little snarling edge to make it worth a look.

AOpen AX34PRO

Features This is a VIA Apollo 133A Pro solution from AOpen which features:

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66/100/133MHz FSB support ATA33/66 support AGP4x 1AGP/1AMR/4PCI/1ISA(shared) layout
4 USB ports 3 DIMM slots (1.5GB max) integrated sound
Physical AOpen excels in good basic layout. Unique features include: a backup "Die-Hard BIOS" feature, 24K gold plated heatsink over the Northbridge, high quality ESR capacitor wall design. The major layout issue is the limited number of PCI slots -- essentially an OEM friendly layout. Overclocking The AX34PRO overclocked well -- it maintained 150MHz FSB with the 550E test CPU at CAS2 with 4-way memory interleaving. Performance SiSoft Sandra: Good performance on par with the reference BX system except -- especially notable is pretty decent memory benchmarks in interleaving mode. However, this does not seem to help in the other tests. Winbench 99: 2D performance came behind the BX and SE6. CPU and FPU benchmarks are on par with the reference BX system. Disk performance was commendable although lowet than the higher speced i815E SE6. 3DMark 2000 and Quake 3 Arena timedemo: Generally poor 3D performance compared with the BX and i815 boards. Verdict For the AOpen AX34PRO, the introduction of the i815x chipset puts the spoilers on its VIA133A Pro chipset. It seems more an OEM-friendly board.

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Product - SE6

[ SE6 ] -
PentiumIII/II i815E Based ATX Mainboard With CPU SoftMenuII & Ultra DMA 100 Technology
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[ SE6 PentiumIII 815E Based ATX Mainboard With SoftMenuTMII Technology ]
The much anticipates i815("solano")chipset has arrives and it performs. The SE6 includes integrated audio and graphics features such as AC'97 2.1 CODEC,2X 3D Graphics Acceleration as well as an AGP Slot and a CNR Slot. With a 133MHz capable front -side bus, Ultra ATA 100 , ICH2and up to 4 USB ports, this mainboard is ready for you today ; it's ready foryou tomorrow. [ Specifications ]
CPU 1. Intel Pentium III 500~1GHz processor sockets based on 100 & 133MHz FSB 2. Intel Celeron 566~677MHz processor sockets based on 66MHz FSB 3. Reserves support for future Intel Pentium III /Celeron processors
http://www.abit.com.tw/english/product/motherboards/se6.htm (1 of 2) [18/09/2000 21:06:24]
Chipset 1. Intel 815E (ICH2) chipset 2. Supports 66/100/133MHz(Front Side Bus) 3. Supports AGP 1X/2X/4X (Sideband) 1.5/3.3V device. 4. Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI) 5. Supports Ultra ATA/100,Ultra ATA/66,Ultra ATA/33 mode. Graphics 1. Chipset integrated AGP 2X 3D graphics acceleration. 2. Support AIMM (AGP In-line Memory Module) Memory 1. Three 168-pin DIMM sockets support SDRAM module 2. Supports up to 512MB MAX. ( 64, 128,256MB SDRAM) 3. Support 100MHz,133MHz SDRAM interface Audio 1. AC'97 2-channel Audio CODEC on board 2. Audio driver included System BIOS 1. CPU SOFT MENUTM II technology and DIP switche funtion. 2. Award Plug and Play BIOS supports APM, DMI 3. Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS. Multi I/O Functions 1. 2 channels bus Master IDE Ports support Ultra DMA 33/66/100 (up to 4 devices) 2. PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Mouse Connectors 3. 1 Floppy Port (up to 2.88MB) 4. 1 Parallel Port (EPP/ECP) 5. 2 Serial Ports 6. 2 USB Connectors 7. On board USB header for two extra USB channels 8.1 standard 15 pin VGA connector. 9. Audio connector (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in, and Game Port) Miscellaneous 1. Support STR(Suspend to DRAM) 2. ATX form factor 3. 1 universal AGP slot, 6 PCI slots and 1 CNR slot 4. Hardware monitoring - Including fan speed, voltages, System environment temperature,and one Thermal header for CPU or other temperature monitoring 5. Keyboard and Mouse Power On 6. Built-in Wake on LAN /Wake on Modem/Open Chassis header 7. Built-in IrDA TX/RX header 8. VL-Bus Supports Flat Panel display or TV out (option)
ABIT Note: All brand names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. *Specifications and information contained in this catalogue are subject to change without notice.
http://www.abit.com.tw/english/product/motherboards/se6.htm (2 of 2) [18/09/2000 21:06:24]