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With the July release of Intel's new Tualatin
processor, we are seeing an ever increasing number
motherboard manufacturers incorporating support for the new
processor into their designs. And why not? The PIII Tualatin CPU,
based on a 0.13-micron manufacturing process, it capable of
running at faster speeds while requiring less power than its
predecessors based on a .18-micron process.
Marry those qualities up with the i815EP's B-stepping and
you have the makings of a high-performance system, capable
of running virtually any of today's most intensive
applications.
Today we are spotlighting
the first of these "Tualatin"-ready motherboards to be
produced by
Soyo, the SY-TISU. Incorporating the
features we just mentioned, as well as a few other nice
qualities, the SY-TISU looked promising right out of the
box. So without delay, let's move on to the product
specs and see what this board brings to the table.
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| Specifications of the
Soyo SY-TISU Motherboard |
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A Well Rounded
System... |
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DESCRIPTION
66/100/133MHz FSB Socket 370 Based ATX Motherboard
PROCESSOR
Support Intel FC-PGA 2
Tualatin Processor
Support Intel FC-PGA Pentium III and Celeron Processors
CHIPSET
Intel 815EP B-step Chipset
Supports 66/100/133 MHz FSB
SYSTEM MEMORY
Three 168-pin SDRAM DIMM sockets support up to 512MB
EXPANSION
SLOTS
Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (v2.2 compliant)
One AGP slots (4x mode)
One CNR Connector
On Board Audio Subsystem
AC97 CODEC on board to provide audio solution
ON BOARD
ULTRA I/O CHIP
Two RS-232 serial ports (16550 UART compatible)
One Parallel printer port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
One FDD port (Supports LS120, 3 mode, 1.2/1.44/2.88MB
FDD)
Provides IrDA port with optional cable for transceiver
Provides 4 USB ports (2 rear, 2 font)
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TWO ULTRA
DMA-33/66/100 IDE PORTS
Two independent channels for four IDE devices
Supports up to PIO mode 5 and Ultra DMA 33/66/100
BOARD
DIMENSIONS
Four layers, 30.5 cm x 22 cm (12"x8.66")
ATX form factor
BOOT-BLOCK
FLASH BIOS
Award PCI BIOS with green, ACPI, APM, PnP, DMI functions
Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE/SCSI/CD-ROM/FDD/ZIP
2 Mbit Flash ROM
ENHANCED PC
HEALTH MONITORING
Built-in I/O chip hardware monitoring functions
On-board voltage monitors for CPU Vcore, Vtt, +12V,
3.3V, Vbat (TBD)
CPU and system fan speed monitor
Precision CPU temperature monitoring through CPU on-die
thermal diode
DOUBLE STACK
BACK-PANEL I/O CONNECTORS
PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports
Two USB ports
One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
Two D-Sub 9-pin serial port
FCC CLASS B
AND CE EMI REGULATION COMPLIANT
| Included with
the package we received for review, aside from the
motherboard itself, was an Owners Manual, Drivers CD,
a floppy cable, and an 80-Pin IDE cable. Additionally,
there was a CD titled "Super 8-in-1 Bonus Pack", which
included such titles as Norton Ghost, Norton AntiVirus 2000,
and Adobe ActiveShare to name a few. The one thing
that was a bit disappointing for this reviewer was the lack
of any USB hardware. All too often we review quality
motherboards that boast additional USB headers, yet the
manufacturer does not provide the means to take advantage of
this feature. With some diligence, we could surely
locate such hardware, but it seems that this is not always
an easy task.
Let us go on and
review the boards construction and some of its finer
features...
Quality, Setup, and the BIOS...
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