Gigabyte GA-6WMM7 i810 Socket-370 microATX

Power management consists of pretty much the standard stuff these days. Wake on LAN and wake on modem ring headers are available to allow the system to power on in the presence of network activity or incoming call. The BIOS can be set to turn on the system at a specific time. The CPU fan can be shut off when the system suspends to quiet things down a bit. ACPI support is built into the BIOS for added power management under an ACPI compliant OS like Windows 98 or Windows 2000. The system can be configured to power on via hot key or mouse click as well, but what's interesting here is the option for USB keyboard power-on - a first for this reviewer.

As many other i810 boards are starting to do, Gigabyte has also included Suspend to RAM (STR) as another power management feature. STR uses the +5VSB power from your ATX power supply to continue to power the system RAM while everything else is power down (even the power supply) so that the system appears completely off. When the power switch is hit again, the system is up and running in just seconds. You'll need an ACPI compliant OS that is properly configured to take advantage of this feature. Fortunately, the manual covers the upgrade in Windows 98, the only publicly available OS currently to support ACPI. When enabled, an LED onboard lights up to let you know that the DIMM's are powered. Of course, since they are fully powered while the system is "off," you should completely unplug your ATX power supply before adding or removing memory.

A nice touch is the ability to configure what the system will do when AC power is restored after a power outage - either remain off, turn on, or resume last power state. This is a feature often overlooked since ATX and soft power became available, but is critical for anyone using their system where it must be on 24/7 or as close as possible. It also allows for users to shut the system on and off from a surge protector.

Although lacking details on installing a motherboard, the manual is otherwise pretty good for the experienced user and includes detailed information on all connector pin outs as well as the various BIOS settings. On the other hand, the CD is much better than the manual and includes Intel LANdesk Client Manager (LDCM) for hardware monitoring, Trend PC-Cillin 98 (OEM) anti-virus software, a suspend to disk utility, and even DirectX 6.1. Of course, there's also the traditional chipset patches and drivers. The CD is not board specific and does not include an online version of the manual.

The Bad

The front panel connectors are not labeled on the motherboard, despite the fact that just about everything else is. A slight annoyance when setting up a system without the manual handy.

Although we're finally seeing it from the likes of AOpen, Soyo, IWill, and Asus, there's still no sign of voltage tweaking options from Gigabyte. Another oversight by many manufacturers is also found here - the ability to assign a specific IRQ to a particular PCI slot. This has been a boon for many users trying to sort out fully loaded situations, but something Gigabyte users will have to do without for now.

As mentioned earlier, the manual is a bit weak in the installation section. Anyone that has never installed a motherboard before will not feel comfortable with the complete lack of information given in the Gigabyte manual on this topic.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2 (rear disabled when front enabled)

• 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: 1 x 64MB Mushkin SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man SEC Original PC100 SDRAM

SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Mushkin SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Memory-Man SEC Original PC100 SDRAM

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Website: http://www.mushkin.com