While computer enthusiasts
may not have Foxconn on their "short list" of favorite
motherboard brands, chances are they have some Foxconn parts
in their rig and just don't know it. For several years, Foxconn has
been a driving force in the computer industry, manufacturing
a wide range of computer components for various OEM's,
including motherboards, computer cases and electronic connectors.
And while they may not
be as well known as some other manufacturers, there is a good chance you have a Foxconn
component in your machine right now.
Recently, Foxconn decided to take
their years of experience and
branch further into the commercial market by offering their own branded versions of
popular computer components. Their latest offering is
the 875A02-6EKRS motherboard based on the Intel i875 "Canterwood"
chipset. With the extensive
connections Foxconn has in the PC market, making the jump
to their own branded models seems like a logical next step.
The only question is whether or not Foxconn would bring any compelling
changes to a very competitive market, that would persuade
potential buyers to consider them an alternative to the
mainstream...
System Memory
Provides four 184-pin DDR DIMM
Sockets
Supports for ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) and
non-ECC memory
Supports for PC3200/2700/2100
Supports for 128/256/512Mb/1GB technology up to 4GB
Supports Dual-channel DDR
Onboard Serial ATA 150MBps transfer
rate
Supports four S-ATA devices, such as HDD, etc.
Supports Raid 0, Raid 1 (SATA1/2 supported by ICH5R
(Southbridge),
SATA3/4 supported by Silicon 3112A Raid controller)
USB 2.0 Port Supports hot-plug
Eight USB 2.0 ports (four rear panel ports, two
onboard USB headers providing four extra ports)
Supports wake-up from S1 and S3 mode
Supports USB 2.0 Protocol up to 480Mbps transmission
rate
Onboard 1394 (Optional): IEEE1394 Supports hot-plug
With rate of transmission at 400Mbps
Self-configured addressing
Supports two independent 1394 units (1 rear, 1
front) synchronously at most, such as HDD, CD-ROM
Onboard LAN (Optional) LAN interface
built-in on board
10M/100M/1G LAN interface
BIOS Licensed advanced
AWARD (Phoenix)
BIOS, supports flash ROM, Plug-and-Play
Supports IDE CD-ROM, SCSI HDD or USB device boot up
Green Function Supports ACPI
(Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
Supports five system modes-SO (normal), S1 (power on
suspend), S3 (suspend to RAM), S4 (suspend to
disk-depends on OS), and S5 (soft-off)
Expansion Slots 5 PCI slots
1 AGP slot
AGP 8X support
AGP 8X (AGP 3.0) is the VGA interface
specification that enabled enhanced graphics
performance with high bandwidth speeds up to 2.12
GB/s.
Advanced Features
PCI 2.3 Specification Compliant
Supports Windows98/2000/ME/XP soft-off
Supports Wake-on-LAN function
Supports PC Health function (capable of monitoring
system voltage, CPU, system temperature, and fan
speed)
Intel® Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT) The Intel®
Performance Acceleration Technology deliver
additional system- level performance by optimizing
memory access between CPU and system memory on
800-MHz FSB and Dual Channel DDR400 configuration.
The Bundle:
Foxconn may be a
veteran in the manufacturing of computer components, but
developing commercial bundles is somewhat new territory for
them. Nonetheless, the packaging of the 875A02-6EKRS
was as polished and complete as we've seen. The outer
box had a clean, easy to read layout listing all of the
board's major features. Inside, we found a healthy
compliment of additional hardware and documentation. Foxconn included an easy to read
User's Manual that
thoroughly covered all facets of this motherboard, from its
features to its installation and configuration. It was
refreshing to see a clear, concise User's Manual, after
seeing a slew of poorly translated manuals recently. We often find
that user manuals were written in another language and then
directly translated to English, with little tweaking beyond that.
This can make the documentation a bit more difficult to
understand, which is a potential problem for the less experienced user.
With Foxconn's manual, the layout is intelligent, almost
resembling that of a text book, broken down into chapters
with clearly stated topics.
Along with a User's Manual for
the motherboard and SATA RAID controllers, a quick reference
diagram was included to help easily identify the board's
various components. Additionally, two floppy disks
were provided with drivers for both of the board's SATA RAID
controllers. The Motherboard Installation CD included
drivers for all of the board's components as well as copies
of Adobe Acrobat, Norton Internet Security 2004 and Foxconn's own
SuperUtility. SuperUtility consists of
3 modules, SuperStep for overclocking, SuperLogo for
customizing the board's boot image, and SuperUpdate which
can backup and update the system BIOS from within Windows.
SuperStep was a simple, yet
effective utility that offered a window showing the status of the
board's inner workings. We could monitor and set limits
for fan speeds and voltages, and could also raise the bus speed
on the fly. SuperLogo allowed an easy way to change
the boot image to a BMP or JPG of your choice, letting users
personalize their system a bit. Lastly, SuperUpdate offers a one stop
spot to check, download and
apply the latest BIOS available for the motherboard.
Clearly, the Foxconn 875A02
comes with a decent bundle that adds to the overall
experience of the product. The company paid close
attention to detail, most specifically with the
documentation, while providing a good collection of
additional hardware and software. Next we'll get
better acquainted with the motherboard itself.
