Transcends TSASL3 i815E Motherboard

By Dave "Davo" Altavilla
12/5/00

  
Content Creation Winstone 2001 taxes the system more with applications like Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Macromedia Director 8.0 and Sonic Foundry Sound Forge.  Let's see how the ASL3 does under the strain.

Head-to-Head Content Creation Winstone Performance Tests Versus the Abit SA6R and the MSI MS-6337, Transcend's ASL3 does not disappoint

The marks are even closer on this playing field with all contenders coming in at almost virtually the same level.  In fact, the variance shown here is within this specific test's margin of error.

Let's finish the job with a quick Quake 3 frame rate score at low resolution.

We see pretty much the same story here as was expected.  With less than a 2% difference in frame rate.  At higher resolutions the performance was identical.

So, with the performance of the ASL3 on par with most leading i815E boards, we are left with the question, on what basis do we judge the total package?

With most top quality i815E boards from major name manufacturers, performance in the field is within about 5% of each other.  As a result, we are compelled to pass judgment based almost soley on features, stability, quality, overclocking capabilities and cost.  We have seen the ASL3 listing at about $130 with some on line vendors (Fry's carries them fairly regularly, for those of you that need to inspect your PC gear personally first) and so on this level versus others at $150+, it is an excellent buy.  Furthermore, stability with this board is second to none that we have tested thus far and there have been many.

Finally, this full featured i815E board also has a bit of "maverick" under the hood with its ample FSB selections and voltage tweaks.  It clearly will overclock your processor, should you choose to do so, along with the best of the field.  There were no real drawbacks with this board with the minor exception that you need to make sure you obtain revision 1.04 or later, of the design.

We'll give the Transcend TS -ASL3 a Heat Meter Rating of....

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