Gigabyte GA-6BXU i440BX ATX Slot-1 SCSI

Here at AnandTech, we've come to expect solid, extremely reliable and stable boards from Gigabyte. What we've also noticed is that they usually support overclocking, but make an exception for their high end boards, such as the dual processor GA-6BXDS. What happens when you get the GA-6BXU, a board that's debatably high end? You get a few overclocking options but not many.

New Anand Tech Report Card Rating
87/B

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The Good

Although such a board seems fairly rare these days, Gigabyte's GA-6BXU is a single processor Slot-1 solution with onboard SCSI all on a standard sized PCB. The Intel i440BX chipset is at the heart of the GA-6BXU, with Adaptec's 7890AP handling dual channel SCSI duties. One of those channels is Ultra 2 Wide LVD SCSI and the other is standard Ultra Wide SCSI.

The 4/3/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP) slot configuration is a little dated these days, but since SCSI is integrated on the board, it's not as much of an issue as it usually is. All 4 PCI and 1 of the ISA slots are full length. Fortunately, four DIMM slots are provided to allow for maximum memory expansion. ATX specifications are followed fairly closely, with all HDD/FDD/SCSI connectors located just in front of the DIMM slots. The ATX power connector is along the right edge of the board and shouldn't cause any cable clutter. The PCB is a little larger than the ABIT BH6, so should fit fine in any standard ATX case.

Eight beefy 1200uF capacitors surround the CPU slot with a few smaller ones spread out around the board. Two 3 pin fan connectors are located next to the CPU slots for use with fans with a tachometer output. A fold down CPU retention mechanism is preinstalled and will hold any Celeron, Pentium II, or Pentium III CPU securely in place. An external SCSI port/backplate is included as well so that external SCSI devices may be used without additional adapters.