Socket 754 Roundup, Part 3: Asus, Soltek & DFI
by Wesley Fink on September 14, 2004 12:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Soltek K8AN2E-GR: Features and Layout
| Soltek K8AN2E-GR Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 754 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | nVidia nForce3-250Gb |
| CPU Ratios | 4 to 20X in 1X increments |
| Bus Speeds | 200MHz to 250MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| PCI/AGP Speeds | Auto, 66MHz to 100MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| HyperTransport | 1x-5x (200MHz to 1GHz) |
| Core Voltage | 0.8V-1.55V in .025V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 2.6V to 2.8V in 0.1V increments |
| AGP Voltage | 1.5V to 1.8V in 0.1V increments |
| Chipset Voltage | 1.6V to 1.9V in 0.1V increments |
| Memory Slots | Two 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Unbuffered Memory to 2GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot 5 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | nVidia 2-Drive SATA by nF3-250 RAID 0, 1, JBOD PLUS 2 SATA by Promise PDC20579 RAID 0, 1, JBOD |
| Onboard IDE/RAID | Two nVidia ATA133/100/66 by nF3-250Gb (4 drives) RAID 0, 1, JBOD plus One Promise RAID IDE (2 drives) by PDC20579 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by nF3-250 No FireWire ports |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet by Cicada CIS8201 PHY |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC650 6-Channel with SPDIF |
| BIOS | Version 1.1 (9/02/2004) |
The Soltek is smaller than a standard ATX board. While it is clear that Soltek has designed the K8AN2E for value, like the Chaintech VNF3-250, it is interesting that Soltek decided to implement most of the unique features of the nF3-250 family by using the premium 250Gb chipset instead of the cheaper nF3-250. Vendors stocking the Soltek are selling it for less than $100, and the 250Gb brings you the nVidia on-chip LAN and Firewall/RAID capabilities of the Gb chipset.
It would have been an even better board if Soltek had fully implemented the nVidia SATA RAID capabilities, but you can see that the additional 2 SATA channels and an added IDE channel are provided by the Promise controller. Once again, this arrangement proved to limit overclocking capabilities with a SATA drive, though the board was still capable with an IDE hard drive.
The range of overclocking controls and options on the Soltek are quite good, as we have come to expect of Soltek boards. The memory voltage extends to 2.8V, better than the Asus K8N-E but still on the low side. There is also a useful range of chipset voltage adjustments missing from the Asus, and an HT range to 5X. The only puzzle here is the CPU range to just 250 with the latest BIOS. Our evaluation BIOS extended to 300, so we were surprised to see that Soltek cut the range on the latest BIOS. Frankly, 250 is not enough for an nForce3-250 board with working PCI/AGP lock, and we hope that Soltek can correct this with a new BIOS. The CPU voltage options to just 1.55V are also limited for a CPU rated at 1.5V.
All-in-all, Soltek makes fewer compromises than the Chaintech VNF3-250 in their effort to control price of the 754 board. The only real feature missing from the Soltek is IEE 1394 Firewire ports. So, if this is an important feature, look elsewhere or plan to use an accessory PCI Firewire controller. However, the Chaintech still succeeds better than almost any value 754 in the area of overclocking.
The Soltek is smaller than a full ATX size, but the layout is very good, better than you might expect in a smaller board. The main IDE connectors are located in the preferred upper right edge. The 24-pin ATX power and 4-pin 12V are both near board edges where they do not interfere with other components. The floppy location will be a concern to some with a lower right edge location, but this will not likely be a problem in the cases that are most likely to be combined with the value Soltek board. The Promise SATA and IDE connections are also located at the lower right.
Another departure from the usual for Soltek is the use of two DIMM connectors instead of the more common 3 connectors, which will be an issue to some end users. There is clearly room for 3 connectors; it even appears the board was designed for 3 dimm slots. However, Soltek uses just 2 dimm slots on the K8AN2E.
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Term - Monday, September 27, 2004 - link
Uhm.. the new ASUS bios fix the OC stability problem with SATA right?Wesley Fink - Saturday, September 18, 2004 - link
#34 - The Asus K8N-E manual does state 3MB of memory as the maximum capacity. The specifications have been corrected in the review.LocutusX - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
Daxzus,For more accurate "real-world advice" concerning the K8N-E, please see the unofficial thread for that mobo at the Anandtech forums. There are people there who have been using it extensively for the last 2 months, who have tried a wide variety of components/overclocking on it.
justly - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
#27 – WesleyThank you for the explanation about your testing methodology, now I feel more comfortable knowing that you do check for these minor deviations when comparing new products against older ones.
#28 – Wesley (again)
I agree about it being a shame that SiS seems to always get dumped on by big name motherboard manufactures and that even when a good product hits the street it seems to get forgotten about or overlooked. The thing is I still think you are just as guilty as many others reviewers. If you don’t understand what I mean then just look at #32 (by PrinceGaz) since I would have said the EXACT same thing.
This might be a little arrogant of me, but would it really hurt to mention their product when talking about a section of the market that they perform so well in (non-overclockers).
Daxzus - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
also...I was wondering if anyone has a good powersupply and case that might work good for me for a good price.Daxzus - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
I read every thing that was in the review about the 3 diffrent motherboards and I have some questions.In the review it was said that the Asus K8N-E deluxe maxed out at 2GB of memory, but at newegg and some all the other places I can buy it from-and even Asus homepage, say that the Asus K8N-E deluxe has a max of 3GB of memory. What this in error in the reveiw or am I looking at buying the wrong board?
Also I was thinking about buying the Asus K8N-E deluxe and I have a college budget and I was wanting to get some recomendation as to some really good cheap memory to get for it. Also maybe some good budget video cards. I saw that in the review that ATI 9800 was used...wouldn't a Nvidia video card work better considering the chip set?
but all in all thank for the info that you put into the reviews Fink!
Dax
AtaStrumf - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
I just hope that your upcoming OC article will at least mention sempron 3100+, since you (AT)did promise to OC it, but untill now you have not done so.PrinceGaz - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
#28 Wesley Fink-From the aricle- "If overclocking is not particularly important to you, then one of the first generation boards based on the VIA chipset might also meet your needs at a lower price."
And your reply- "There is actually another complaint about Sis. None of the Sis A64 cipsets I have tested, including the 939 Reference Board, have a working PCI/AGP lock."
If overclocking is not particularly important to someone, the lack of a PCI/AGP lock wouldn't matter.
jwix - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
The article mentions overclocking difficulties with SATA drives with the DFI board being the exception. I wonder....if running 2 drives in a raid 1 config, would it make it any more difficult to overclock on the DFI?LocutusX - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
"The problem is ports 1 and 2 on nVidia are coupled with the PHY Gigabit LAN and generally will not overclock very well."Source?