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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/363
A-Trend ATC-6254M BX Slot-1
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 22, 1999 8:22 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
The last time a motherboard by this manufacturer was reviewed on AnandTech was August '98, and the product was yet another Super7 motherboard for the increasingly popular K6-2 processor. While the board was a decent priced solution, it wasn't anything that really excited us when it arrived in our lab last year. This time around, A-Trend made a much bigger impact on us. The trend towards producing motherboard solutions with integrated video, sound and other such options has definitely picked up in pace since just a few years ago. Chipsets like the VIA MVP4 and the Intel 810 have raised the bar on quality for highly integrated motherboards, but the general consensus (at least from hardware enthusiasts like most of you) is that although the convenience of these motherboards is wonderful, the performance is horrid.
A-Trend set out to change that with their first performance gamer oriented motherboard, with integrated video and sound. What did they do on the ATC-6254M that is so radically different from what others have done in the past? Let's find out...
CPU Interface | Slot-1 (SC242) |
Chipset | Intel 440BX |
L2 Cache | N/A (On-Chip) |
Form Factor | ATX |
Bus Speeds | 66 / 75 / 78 / 81 / 83 / 90 / 95 / 100 105 / 110 / 112 / 113 / 115 / 117 / 118 / 120 122 / 124 / 126 / 133 / 135 / 137 / 138 140 / 142 / 144 / 150 / 155MHz |
Clock Multipliers | 1.5x - 8.0x |
Voltages Supported | 2.0v / 2.8v (Auto-Detect) |
Memory Slots | 4 168pin DIMM Slots |
Expansion Slots | 0 AMR 0 AGP 4 PCI Slots (3 Full Length) 2 ISA Slots (0 Full Length) |
BIOS | Award BIOS 4.51PG |
The Good
The 6254M is obviously an attention grabber, the red PCB and colorful heatsink on the 443BX North Bridge are the first things that your eyes are drawn to. But you aren't looking at this board because of pretty colors, there are other motives in mind, primarily the contents beneath the second heatsink on the board, a considerably larger, black heatsink to be more specific. | |
Now you've probably heard of integrated ATI Rage Pro controllers, integrated Rage 128 controllers, and even integrated i740 controllers, but have you ever seen a motherboard with an integrated Voodoo3? Beneath the hefty black heatsink is a 3dfx Voodoo3 2000, the same chip found on the $99 gaming card. The four chips that encircle it are 4MB Samsung 7-ns SDRAM modules that add up to the standard 16MB memory configuration supported by the Voodoo3. |
The Voodoo3 2000 core on the board is clocked at the default 143MHz core with the 7ns memory clocked at 143MHz as well. For overclockers, the 7ns SEC SDRAM can be pushed up to the 166MHz clock the Voodoo3 3000 defaults it at, however if you remember the basic rules of the Voodoo3's architecture, the core and memory clock speeds always run at the same frequency. The next logical question is how far can the core be pushed? Luckily the core is the same 2000 featured on the retail boards, which generally hit the 166MHz level of the Voodoo3 3000, and as you can expect the 6254M exhibited a similar overclocking capability.
Since the 6254M was originally intended to be an OEM's board, the 2000 features no fan, however the beauty of the heatsink is that it is the perfect fit for an old 486 fan if you're looking to do a little extra cooling (or overclocking for that matter). A helpful addition to the 6254M is the thermal compound placed between the heatsink and the chip itself, something most retail graphics board manufacturers fail to include. The 6254M's design calls for an optional Voodoo 3000 part to be used, however with the aforementioned overclocking potential of the on-board 2000, a 3000 isn't really necessary. Because of the added features (TV/FM-input, etc...) it is highly unlikely that the 6254M or a variation of the board will ever be shipped with an on-board Voodoo3 3500, although it would be a nice setup.
The integrated sound on the 6254M is provided courtesy of the Yamaha 740 sound controller and in compliance with the PC'99 specification are the yellow audio I/O connectors that are an extension of the ATX backpanel.
The board is laid out in an interesting fashion, mostly because A-Trend had to accommodate the addition of the Voodoo3 on the PCB. The layout features no AGP slot (the Voodoo3 is the integrated AGP device) and the expansion potential is provided courtesy of the 4 PCI and 2 ISA slots. Of the four PCI slots, 3 of them are capable of accepting full length cards. The last PCI slot has a capacitor placed very close to the edge of the slot which, depending on the particular card installed, may or may not prevent the installation of a full length PCI card. Both ISA slots are hindered by the 3rd fan connector and the front panel connector block that seems to be an oh-so-common mistake for motherboard manufacturers when it comes to layouts.
Aligned parallel to the PCI slots is the SC242 (Slot-1) connector which overlooks the 443BX North Bridge and the integrated Voodoo3. The proximity of the SC242 connector to the Voodoo3 makes using a large heatsink/fan combo not a recommended option, the retail Intel heatsink/fan combo that ships standard on all Pentium II/III processors fits perfectly. On the other side of the BX and Voodoo3 chips are the 4 DIMM slots that are bordered by the conveniently placed ATX power supply connector two 1500uF electrolytic capacitors
The setup and configuration of the 6254M is essentially jumperless as only the clock multipliers are controlled on the motherboard (via a dip switch block), with all the FSB settings able to be manipulated in the Award BIOS chipset features setup. The available FSB settings are obviously geared towards towards the overclocking population, the clock generator provides support for the following settings: 66 / 75 / 78 / 81 / 83 / 90 / 95 / 100 105 / 110 / 112 / 113 / 115 / 117 / 118 / 120 122 / 124 / 126 / 133 / 135 / 137 / 138 140 / 142 / 144 / 150 and 155MHz. The mouthful of settings rival those found on the newer ABIT boards which are definitely overclocking oriented.
Hardware monitoring on the 6254M is provided courtesy of the Winbond 83781D chip located on the opposite side of the SC242 connector. The 83781D provides for the monitoring of up to three temperatures including the temperature of the chip itself with the other two temperatures supplied by the included thermistor headers on the board. Two of the three fan headers are also monitored by the chip, and A-Trend conveniently bundled a CD-ROM that includes the Intel LANDesk Client Manager software for system monitoring as well as the Intel BM IDE drivers and all patches for the BX chipset. A second CD is provided with all of the required drivers for the 3dfx Voodoo3, however for the most up to date drivers you'll want to pay a visit to www.3dfx.com.
The performance of the board, along with the on-board Voodoo3 is on-par with that of your standard BX board + Voodoo3 2000 combo so there are no worries there. As far as stability is concerned, the board exhibited average stability in our endurance tests and although it wasn't a top quality server-like solution, it is safe to say that most users will be fine with it.
The Bad
The first complaint comes from A-Trend's decision to make a motherboard targeted at a gaming audience without including integrated 3D sound. We have already seen examples of motherboards with integrated Aureal Vortex 1 controllers (that are pin compatible with the newer Vortex 2s), so it wouldn't be too difficult for A-Trend to have replaced the Yamaha 740 with a better gaming solution. Th sound quality of the Yamaha controller isn't bad, however it isn't the best gaming solution out there, especially for a board that is specifically targeted at gamers.
Since the 6254M features a Voodoo3 2000 controller, it would have been interesting to see A-Trend make the Voodoo3 2000 PCI integrated instead of taking up the sole AGP device the BX chipset supports with the Voodoo3. Considering that the benefit the Voodoo3 gets from being on the AGP bus is just the increased clock rate (66/133MHz AGP vs 33MHz PCI) as the chipset cannot take advantage of AGP texturing, it would make more sense to leave the AGP port unused and integrated a PCI Voodoo3 solution. This would open up quite a few interesting avenues for multi-monitor configurations, especially with AGP TNT2's dropping in price, however it isn't a necessary move for A-Trend.
The documentation the 6254M ships with isn't the best in the world, in spite of the helpful "How to Install LDCM" guide that came packaged, the 6254M could use a few touchups in the User's Manual before it's fit for use in the hands of a user that has very little or no experience with installing a motherboard (we all have to start somewhere).
Considering the number of FSB settings supported by the 6254M's clock generator it would've been a definite improvement to see A-Trend include support for voltage tweaking ala ABIT on the motherboard, especially for overclockers that have trouble pushing the limits of their chips at the standard 2.0 or 2.8v settings. Just a wish, not a demand...yet ;)
USB Compatibility
Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0
Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2
USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes
USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes
Recommended SDRAM
Recommended SDRAM:
Mushkin SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM; Memory Man SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 256MB
Corsair PC100 SDRAM DIMM (for compatibility testing only)
Manufacturer: The
Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com
Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.mushkin.com
The Test
In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.
Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.
Test Configuration |
|
Processor(s): | Intel Pentium III 500 |
RAM: | 1 x 64MB Mushkin
PC100 SDRAM 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM |
Hard Drive(s): | Western Digital Caviar AC28400 - UltraATA/33 |
Bus Master Drivers: | Microsoft Win98 DMA Drivers |
Video Card(s): | 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 (Integrated) |
Operation System(s): | Windows 98 SE |
Motherboard Revision: | A-Trend ATC6254M Revision 1.0 |
Windows 98 Performance |
||||
Business |
Q3 Test 1.08 demo1.dm3 | |||
Fastest | Fast | Normal | ||
Intel Pentium III 500 | 22.6 | 94.2 | 82.4 | 72.6 |
The A-Trend ATC-6254M is definitely an innovative product, and in this case, being innovative isn't the only thing it has going for it. The on-board Voodoo3 2000 (which is quite easily overclocked to the 166/166MHz clock of the Voodoo3 3000) combined with integrated sound, and a handful of helpful overclocked FSB settings make this a definite choice for gamers looking to save a few bucks by buying a motherboard with integrated video/sound (without sacrificing performance).
The board does leave a few things desired (i.e. voltage tweaking options) but overall left us with a positive feeling upon leaving the test bench. Expect the board to retail for around $200.
AnandTech Motherboard Rating |
|
Rating |
|
Performance | 86% |
Price | 88% |
Ease of Use | 88% |
Overclocked Stability | 86% |
General Stability | 84% |
Quality | 84% |
Documentation | 80% |
Reliability | 80% |
Overall Rating | 85% |
Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.