ASRock K7S8XE versus Soltek 75FRN2L ("Golden Flame")
Soltek 75FRN2-L (nVidia nForce II) Board Features
Now let's look into a motherboard based on the nForce II chipset with support for the 400 MHz processor bus. This is Soltek 75FRN2-L board, which have already rounded up , based on the nForce II chipset. The new motherboard is an exact copy of the previous model (75FRN-L) with the only difference in the slight modifications of the PCB design and in the new revision of the chipset. We won't dwell on the package bundle or look into the board's design - instead, we'll present only the basic info.
Of note is the board's superb exterior: the combination of yellow and green colors in the PCB and the bright yellow color of slots and connectors look simply marvelous (that's why this series is dubbed "Golden Flame").
Soltek SL-75FRN2-L Specifications
| Soltek SL-75FRN-L |
| Processor |
- AMD Athlon/Athlon XP with the bus speeds 100/133/166/200 MHz;
- AMD Duron with the bus speed 100MHz;
- Socket 462 |
| Chipset - nVidia nForce II |
- North bridge nForce2 SPP;
- South bridge nForce2 MCP;
- Interbridge Bus - HyperTransport (800 MB/s); |
| System memory |
- Three 184-pin slots for the DDR SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 3 GB
- Supported memory types PC1600/PC2100/PC2700/PC3200
- 128-bit dual-channel memory access |
| Graphics |
- AGP slot supporting the 4x/8x modes |
| Expansion options |
- Five 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Six USB 2.0 ports (2 integrated + 4 additional)
- Integrated audio ALC650;
- nForce2 LAN controller |
| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable between 100MHz and 250 MHz in 1-5 MHz increments; multiplier adjustable;
- Processor/memory/chipset and AGP voltages adjustable. |
| Disk subsystem |
- 2 channel UltraDMA/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (with support for up to 4 ATAPI-devices)
- Optional: additional IDE Raid controller ( Promise PDC20376 chip, 1 channel IDE, supporting ATA33/66/100/133 & RAID 0, 1 with support for up to 2 ATAPI-devices)
- Optional: Support for SerialATA (2 channels)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS |
- 2MBit Flash ROM
- Award BIOS Phoenix with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features and Trend Chip Away Virus
|
| Miscellaneous |
- One FDD, two serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out
|
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer and USB
- Standard 20-pin power connector ATX (ATX-PW)
- Additional 4-pin power connector
|
| Monitoring |
- Processor temperatures, voltages and rotational speeds of the three fans are monitored
|
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 245mm x 305mm (9.63" x 12") |
As we see, the board's specifications remained unchanged: even the support for 200 (400DDR) MHz bus is missing in the User's manual (but is available on the company's website). However, a processor featuring such bus speed can be used absolutely safely, since there is nForce II of revision C1 onboard.
Even the caption "333Mhz FSB" on the package box stays the same.
The package contents also remains unchanged:
Package bundle
- 1x Motherboard
- 1x software & drivers CD
- 1x third-party software CD
- 1x ATA-133 cable, 1x FDD cable
- User's Manual in English
- Usage guides for 3rd party software
- 1x rear panel cap
As I already stated, no changes in the PCB design either: as before, the processor socket has no assembly holes for installing massive coolers.
On the other hand, now you can monitor the processor core temperature from within Windows. Reminding it that such function was also there on the SL-75FRN-L board, but it was possible to get the information only from within the BIOS. As we have seen in the roundup of SocketA coolers, it's just the core temperature which is the most precise indicator of efficiency for a cooler. Programmers at Soltek improved the monitoring utility and now it is able showing the core temperatures.
Then, the cooling of the chipset remained active. Although the new revision of the chipset heats up less than it used to (nVidia engineers even removed the metal heat distributor), active cooling is a must whenever the chipset voltage is raised (the board offers this feature).
As before, there are three DIMM slots, with the first being blocked by an AGP video card. The AGP slot lacks a latch, even though it is not shown on the photo.
In the set of expansion options, no changes either: the PCB design allows installing a Promise PDC20376 RAID controller chip (the related model is dubbed 75FRN2-RL).
Other expansion options haven't undergone any changes either: as before, there is integrated audio based on ALC650, integrated LAN controller and six USB 2.0 ports.
No changes are there in other components of the board: the BIOS is still based on Award Phoenix v6.00PG, and the set of parameters remained unchanged.
It's a pity no function for switching the system to the stand-by (or S3) mode has been added.
As regards to the overclocking options, very few changes have been introduced:
FSB speed variations between 100 and 250 MHz (on 75FRN-L up to 211MHz) in 1-5 MHz increments, the multiplier adjustable between 5 and 18 in 0.5-1 increments (without changes) (with the 4-bit encoding stayed); the memory voltage (Vmem) is variable between 2.5V and 2.8V (without changes), the AGP bus voltage - between 1.5V and 1.8V (without changes). At the same time, a new function for raising the chipset voltage (Vdd) has been added. Its variation range is between 1.6V and 1.8V.
In the board's power supply unit, no changes either: it uses a 2-phase power scheme with 3300 mkF plus four 1500 mkF capacitors installed.
Now regarding the factual overclocking. I was able attaining stable running at 220 MHz in the dual-channel synchronous mode. I used the same Kingston memory as was in the tests of the SL-75FRN-L board and didn't notice any issues with dependence on the slots used.
Resume: no doubt the Soltek 75FRN2-L board is more attractive in terms of overclocking than its predecessor 75FRN-L. The new chipset revision (C1) plus the possibility of raising voltage on the chipset (up to 1.8V) allows the experienced user to attain 220 MHz (or even higher, provided high-quality memory modules are used).
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