ASUS P5GDC-V Deluxe Vs. Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR - Intel 915G Doubleshot
The Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR Close Up
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| Chipset Intel 915G + ICH6 Processor CPU Socket 775 on board. Front Side Bus 800/533MHz Front Side Bus. Memory 4 x 184-pin DDR DIMM Sockets. Supporting unregistered non-ECC DDR 400/333 DRAM up to 4GB. Supporting Dual-Channel. Expansion Slots 1 x PCI Express*16 Slot. 3 x PCI Express*1 Slots. 2 x PCI Slots. On-Board EIDE 1 x ATA100/66/33 IDE connectors supporting up to 2 IDE devices. 2 x ATA 133/RAID IDE connectors supporting up to 4 IDE devices by ITE IT8212F. On-Board SATA 4 x Serial ATA connectors supporting 4 Serial ATA devices. (by ICH6) Integrated Super I/O 1 x Floppy Port. 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port. 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port. 1 x Gigabit LAN Port. 1 x Parallel Port. (via optional cable) 2 x Serial Ports. (1 integrated, 1 via optional cable) |
8 x USB 2.0/1.1 Ports. (4 integrated, 4 via optional cables Audio Ports.) 2 x IEEE1394 Ports. (1 integrated, 1 via optional cable) 1 x S/PDIF In Port. 1 x S/PDIF Out Port. RAID 2 x ATA133/RAID IDE Ports supported by ITE IT8212F. (RAID 0, 1, 0+1) IEEE1394 2 x IEEE1394 Ports. (1 integrated, 1 via optional cable) Audio 8-Channel AC'97 Audio. LAN Gigabit 10/100/1000 LAN Function. BIOS AMI BIOS. Flash Memory for easy upgrade. Form Factor ATX Form Factor(305mm x 245mm) Other Features BIOS FSB Setting. BIOS Writing Protection. BIOS AGP, DIMM, Vcore Voltage Setting. BIOS Multiplier Setting. SmartDoc. Anti-burning Shield. (optional) RedStorm Overclocking Technology. (optional) Soltek H/W Monitor. STR Function. (optional) Debug LED onboard. |
The SL-915GPro-FGR offers quite a bit in its package, blending current technology with future components like the ASUS model, with a few distinct differences. The first thing to note is that this particular board is a DDR solution only, leaving the DDR2 for future models. The other difference between the two is that the Soltek board does not require a new power supply or adapter because the ATX connector is a standard 20-Pin configuration. Lastly, the Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR offers onboard graphics as does the ASUS P5GDC-V Deluxe, but the Soltek model supports up to 8MB of memory, where the ASUS model peaked at 32MB.
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From a features standpoint, the SL-915GPro-FGR covers the spectrum well. The board comes with a combination of PCI flavors, including a single PCI-E 16X slot, three PCI-E 1X and two standard PCI slots. Four DIMM slots offer a maximum capacity of 4GB of DDR400 memory. The board's storage options are varied, including four SATA ports driven by the ICH6 Southbridge, as well as two IDE RAID ports driven by an IT8212F ITE RAID controller.
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We found the ATX placement good on this board, keeping both the ATX 20-Pin and ATX 4-Pin connectors in close proximity to each other, away from the CPU and Fan. All too often we find these split from one side of the board to the other which can make for cumbersome cable management in some cases. With the newer stock coolers for the Pentium 4, the fan is much more susceptible to a cable interfering with or even stopping the fan, so proper ATX placement is paramount. Soltek also added a diagnostic LED to the board which can be useful in determining what is wrong if errors arise.
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The rear of the board offers access to many of the system's integrated features. The integrated VGA connector rides atop a standard COM port, adjacent to the PS/2 ports. Where we would normally find the COM2 port, we instead found two S/PIDF In/Out ports followed by four USB ports, two topped with a single FireWire port and the other two topped with an RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port.
Overall, the Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR offered a healthy collection of features and options, with the most notable one missing being SATA RAID. Aside from that, the board is a good looking product with a lot to offer and expansion capability for both today and the future.
Next, we'll take a closer look at the BIOS driving the Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR experience.
