Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/472
FIC KW15 i810E Slot-1/Socket-370 ATX
by Elliott Lee Hazen on February 5, 2000 9:48 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
FIC has been around since 1980 and has produced some of the lowest priced boards on the market, winning numerous Best Value awards. The i810E chipset is a perfect candidate for FIC to include on their board, because most i810E shoppers are looking for value. Recently, AnandTech recently reviewed FIC's Apollo Pro 133A board, mentioning that most FIC boards have been average and without frills, which makes the KW15's inclusion of both Slot-1 and Socket-370 interfaces unusual.
Intel's new i810E is almost identical to the i810 except for the addition of 133MHz FSB support. However, because the main advantage of the chipset is the low price due to onboard video and audio, quality construction might be compromised. Even though it might seem to bean odd combination to have a high end CPU with a low end chipset, this was the only solution Intel had while the i820 was delayed.
New Anand Tech Report Card Rating 80/C+
CPU Interface |
Slot-1 / Socket-370
|
Chipset |
Intel
810E
|
On-Board
Video
|
82810E
GMCH
|
I/O Controller |
82801
ICH
|
L2 Cache |
N/A (on-chip)
|
Form Factor |
ATX
|
Bus Speeds |
66
/ 68 / 75 |
Clock Multipliers |
3.0x - 8.0x
|
Voltages Supported |
Autodetect
|
Memory Slots |
2 168pin DIMM Slots
|
Expansion Slots |
1 AMR Slots
0 AGP Slot 5 PCI Slots (3 Full Length) 0 ISA Slots (1 optional) |
BIOS |
Award 6.00 PGMA
|
The Good
The first noticeable difference of FIC's KW15 from most ATX boards is the option for either a Slot-1 or Socket 370 CPU. The board we reviewed is equipped with a 5/1/0/0 (PCI/AMR/AGP/ISA) expansion slot configuration, though the ISA slot was optional. Unfortunately, the front panel connectors block two of the slots and the fan connector would block any full-length ISA cards if the option were exercised. The board sports two DIMM slots, the maximum allowed by the i810E chipset. While having both Socket 370 and Slot-1 CPU interfaces was useful, it seemed superfluous on a low-end board.
The layout of the KW15 follows the ATX specification and almost all of the components were placed to minimize cable clutter. All hard drive and floppy connectors are optimally located at the front of the board so that no cables are forced to run over either the CPU or the memory. Fortunately, the ATX power connector is placed at the side of the board, next to the CPU slot. This placement is much better than the common behind-the-CPU location. FIC included the standard green heatsink aboard the i810E chip. To be PC99 compliant, the standard colored connectors are included on the backpanel.
Intel's 82801 ICH allows full Ultra DMA/66 support, but the 82810E GMCH has 4MB of display cache which runs at 133MHz -- the main advantage of the i810E over the i810. Despite 133 MHz FSB support, the i810E chipset only runs the SDRAM at 100MHz -- probably because of Intel's push towards the RAMBUS of i820 boards.
As for all i810Es, the advantage of on-board video and sound can also be disadvantageous for users that desire peak graphical performance or maximum CPU power. However, both can be disabled, optimizing CPU power and allowing the addition of a more powerful video card. For basic audio, the AC97 CODEC is fine, but it utilizes the CPU for processing power. If needed, the CODEC can be disabled by a jumper allowing the addition of a PCI soundcard preserving CPU power and a PCI video card can be substituted for the integrated video.
There are eight 1200uF capacitors above the CPU slot and one 1200uF capacitor next to the DIMM slots. Even with a decent amount of capacitors, poor design seems to have led to low stability. Performance numbers did not differ much from the other i810E's tested.
The KW15 sports Award's popular 6.00 PGMA BIOS, allowing jumperless setup. Descriptions of the settings can be found in the right panel of the screen and there are many different system settings to allow for maximum overclockability -- a plus for hardcore hardware enthusiasts. This BIOS is highly customized by FIC with a feature called BIOS Guardian. During POST, a couple of hot keys are listed that give you access to fail safe defaults, performance defaults, clock speed configuration, and even the Award BIOS Flash program that is built into the BIOS. Trend Chip Away Anti-Virus is also integrated into the BIOS, as with many other FIC boards.
While FIC's webpage only mentioned 11 different FSB speeds, the board we tested had 13 to select from: 66 / 68.5 / 75 / 100 / 103 / 112 / 117 / 124 / 129 /133 / 138 / 140 / 150. The board is practically jumperless -- in fact there was no jumper block to set FSB speed, leaving everything up to the BIOS. The clock multiplier can be set in the BIOS from 3.0x - 8.0x; however, with all Intel CPUs multiplier locked, clock multiplier flexibility is no longer a big issue. The KW15 would not run our PIII 550E overclocked to 133 MHz even though it has run at that speed with other boards. Jumper's 2 and 10 are important to mention because they must both be set when choosing between Slot-1 and Socket-370 interfaces.
For hardware monitoring, the I/O chip has integrated hardware monitoring. The IT8712 I/O chip monitors 8voltages, 3 fan speeds, up to 2 thermistors and CPU temperature. Also, the temperature is read from the CPU's on die thermal diode instead of being reported via thermistor. The inclusion of three fan connectors -- one above the CPU, one to the left of it and one on the bottom right of the board -- allows for plenty of cooling options.
The power management options are the same as most other boards these days. For the users who wish the computer to turn on in the presence of network activity or an incoming call, both wake on LAN and wake on modem ring headers are available. Also, the BIOS can be set to turn on the system at a specific time so the computer can wake up before you. 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. Another nice feature which is often disregarded is the added ability to choose what power state to return to after a power outage (or when using a surge protector). If 24/7 system operation is mandatory, this feature is perfect.
The manual is better than what most motherboard companies include, but it was difficult to obtain from the internet -- it came in 7 separate pdf files. FIC included a driver disk and two fully loaded CD-ROMs. The included driver CD has all chipset and driver updates to get the system running but must be manually found on the CD-ROM. Also included is FIC's hardware monitoring utility which is sufficient for hardware monitoring support. The second CD included Norton's Ghost, AntiVirus and Virtual Drive -- much more than most companies have supplied. Also, the second serial port was included, which is needed for almost anyone not using USB components.
The Bad
As with almost all i810 or i810E motherboards, neither the audio CODEC nor the GMCH are the best choice for gamers or music enthusiasts -- the audio CODEC uses CPU power and the GMCH provides less than ideal video. However, both can be disabled, allowing for the addition of either a PCI video or sound card to reduce CPU usage. Because of the low price of the AC 97 CODEC, it is a likely addition on most future motherboards.
The lack of FSB options, especially when overclocking a 66 MHz CPU was noticed. Overclockers may be a bit disappointed that the KW15 does not support any sort of manipulation of the CPU's core voltage. This feat can be accomplished by motherboard manufacturers, but it does take a little time and effort to implement. However, with the lack of AGP support, overclockers are not the most likely patrons of i810E boards.
This board crashed multiple times when run at 550 MHz and when overclocked. The board would not run our PIII 550E at 133 MHz, instead only running up to 117 MHz. However, the 733 MHz Pentium III would boot into Windows. Again, this situation suggests that the Slot-1 connector is more efficient than the Socket-370, which ran very poorly in our tests.
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: 1 x 64MB Mushkin SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin SEC Original PC133 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Mushkin SEC Original PC133 SDRAM
Manufacturer:
The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com
Manufacturer:
Mushkin
Purchase Website: 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): | |
RAM: |
1
x 128MB Samsung Original PC133 SDRAM
Provided by Mushkin |
Hard Drive(s): |
Western Digital Expert 418000
- UltraATA/66
|
Bus Master Drivers: |
Microsoft
Win98 DMA Drivers
|
Video Card(s): |
82810E
w/ 4MB DC
|
Video Drivers: |
Intel 810 Chipset Graphics Driver
PV2.0
|
Operation System(s): |
Windows
98 SE
|
Motherboard Revision: |
FIC
KW15 Revision 1.2
|
Windows 98 Performance |
||
|
Sysmark 2000 |
Content Creation
Winstone 2000 |
Intel
Pentium III 550EB (5.5 x 100) |
130
|
21.7
|
Intel Pentium III 643EB (5.5 x 117) |
133
|
23.4
|
Intel Pentium III 733EB (5.5 x 133) |
137
|
25.1
|
After reviewing Supermicro's i810E PIIISED, FIC's KW15 was very disappointing. Low stability, scant overclocking options and somewhat confusing documentation made this board less than ideal. The addational CDs were nice to see, but they do not make up for the aforementioned problems.
If performance is not the top priority and low price is the primary concern when constructing a system, the FIC could fill that role. However, if you feel that stability is important, there are better boards to look into.
AnandTech Motherboard Rating |
|
Business
|
|
Performance |
83%
|
Price |
86%
|
Ease of Use |
83%
|
Overclocked Stability |
70%
|
General Stability |
75%
|
Quality |
75%
|
Documentation |
88%
|
Reliability |
78%
|
Overall Rating |
80%
|
Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.