Decent, but why introduce a BX chipset product at this point
Written: Jun 25 '00 (Updated Jun 25 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good, fast stable
Cons: Poor choice of front side bus speeds, 1/2 AGP multiplier on BX chipset
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| stevelarrison's Full Review: Asus CUBX |
I have long admired Asus motherboards. Their products have always been know for speed, and rock solid stability and compatibility with everything. With the introduction of the P3B-F, Asus finally switched to BIOS controls for front side bus multipliers and CPU core voltages. They are beginning to become a serious competitor in the overclocking arena. This review will take a look at Asus's newest BX chipset based motherboard.
What is the spec?
Well, as you will notice in the picture, this is a socket 370 based motherboard, not a slot 1. You can use a PPGA Celeron, or a FC-PGA Pentium III or Celeron II on this motherboard. It supports the Intel BX 440 chipset, therefore it has the standard overclocking limitations presented by lack of a 1/2 AGP divider. (Running AGP Video Card too far out of spec can limit overclockability of your processor. This is why Via Apollo Pro 133A chipset motherboards are popular.) This motherboard supports 6 PCI slots, 1 AGP slot, 1 ISA slot, 4 SDRAM slots, and the aforementioned socket 370 processor. As far as bus speeds are concerned, this motherboard supports the following speeds : 66 / 75 / 83 / 100 / 103 / 105 / 110 / 112 / 115 / 120 / 124 / 133 / 140 / 150. Being a typical Asus product, stability, and compatibility with everything is asured.
Comments on the spec
While the socket 370 based slot is appreciated, and 6 PCI slots is very generous, I am concerned about the front side bus speeds. Of particular interest are the large gaps between 124 MHz and 133, and the gap between 133MHz and 140. (Celeron overclockers will be more concerned about the gap between 83 and 100MHz. Coverage over 100MHz is adequate, although not the best I have seen.). In practical terms, this can limit the top speed you can achieve. For example, the Pentium III 650 in my primary machine is stable on a 138MHz Front Side Bus for a top speed of 897MHz, but it won't do 140MHz. On the Asus CUBX, I would be limited to 866MHz instead of 897. People who can't make the jump from 124 MHz to 133MHz will suffer an even worse performance hit. It would be nice to see Asus take a clue from ABIT. The 1MHz Front Side Bus increments available on newer ABIT boards is something every vendor should emulate.
You also have to question the timing of the release of this product. While it appears that the BX chipset will be faster than the Solano (i815) chipset about to be released, the lack of 1/2 AGP multiplier really prevents the BX chipset from expressing its' maximum potential. Therefore, even though a Solano motherboard will be slower than a BX at the same speed, you should be able to push a system with the Solano further than a system with a BX motherboard. Therefore, at this point in time, it is hard to recommend this motherboard. (Also, serious attention needs to be paid to RAMBUS prices. 128MB of PC800 can be had for under $400 at pricewatch.com. This makes i840 an attractive solution for power users.)
I would recommend that the person considering this motherboard either wait for a Solano, spend a few extra dollars and get a RAMBUS/i840 solution, or if they don't have the money and need a motherboard now, look at a Via Apollo Pro 133A solution from Asus or Soyo.
Recommended:
No
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stevelarrison
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Member: Steve Larrison
Location: Scottsdale, Az. USA
Reviews written: 171
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