[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Soltek SL-75DRV SocketA
DDR Motherboard
Not too long ago I posted my
review of the
FIC AD11 DDR motherboard. DDR was definately something we had waited a
long time for and the wait was well worth it. Other manufacturers are releasing
their DDR products and now we are seeing boards with different configurations
hit the market. Soltek sent in their recently released SL-75DRV to be placed
under our microscope. It features the new KT266 chipset instead of the AMD
sourced 761 northbridge with the VIA 686B southbridge of the AD11. Misr
Corp was kind enough to send us the evaluation unit.
|
Features |
The
Board |
- Socket A AMD
CPU support
- DDR SDRAM support
- VIA KT266 (VT8366
+ VT8233)
- ATA-100 Support
- 1 AGP, 5 PCI,
1 CNR
- 3 DDR Dimm slots
- 3D PCI sound
on board
- 220mm x 305mm
- Support for up
to 6 USB ports
|
|
First
Impressions
One of the first things that
jumps out at you when you first look at the SL-75DRV is that it is very well
laid out. The tall heatsinks that surround the AD11's CPU socket are gone,
and as it turned out, not necesary. The biggest thing that struck me was that
this board has support for 3 DDR modules.
Soltek did a very good job of
placing the capacitors that surround the CPU socket a good distance away.
That is great news for anyone who wants to use a very large heatsink fan unit
(HSF). I easily fit the massive Big
MoFoHO heatsink/fan unit that 1CoolPC sent for review on this board. About
the only unusual thing I found on this board is that the connectors for the
floppy and IDE cables are positioned horizontally and not vertically as on
most motherboards. That is something new for me but after looking at a couple
of other boards at Soltek's site this is their design practice. This shouldn't
be detrimental in any way but it did mean that I had to route my cables a
little more carefully to ensure that I didn't block the airflow from my intake
fans.
