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ASUS P4B533-V(i845G) Mainboard




As usual, the board possesses a wide set of functions and accessories. The quality is certainly superb. 

Accessories: 

  • Package of a standard design; 
  • Documentation: user manual in English; brief installation guide in 11 languages; 
  • Cables: 1 ATA66/100/133, 1 ATA33 and FDD; 
  • Bracket with 2 USB ports and a Game-port; 
  • Bracket with a serial port; 
  • Bracket for the rear computer panel; 
  • CD containing: 
    • drivers; 
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader; 
    • 3Deep; 
    • CyberLink VideoLive Mail; 
    • CyberLink PowerPlayer SE; 
    • ASUS Live Update; 
    • ASUS HotKey; 
    • ASUS Logo; 
    • ASUS PCProbe; 
    • ASUS Screensaver; 
    • Winbond Voice Editor; 
    • DirectX 8.1. 

The layout is almost ideal, only audio-ins are not in very good positions, and when a video card is installed it's difficult to handle memory modules. But it's not difficult to reach jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite. 

The 2-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 5 capacitors of 3300 uF and 3 of 1200 uF. 

The following controllers are integrated: 

  • audio controller based on the C-Media CMI8738/PCI-6ch-MX chip supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front audio inputs/outputs and for SPDIF; 
  • network controller based on the chipset's capabilities and supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX. 
The ITE IT8708F-A I/O controller provides support (and a connector) for smart card reading. 

The board incorporates ASUS Multi-Language BIOS, ASUS POST Reporter (reports about problems during booting), ASUS MyLogo2 (for displaying your images when the system boots), ASUS EZ Plug (allows using a power unit which doesn't comply with the ATX 2.03 standard), ASUS Q-Fan (auto fan speed control) and ASUS EZ Flash. 

+5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with a green LED, and when a 3.3V card is inserted into the AGP slot you will see a red LED which means that the card is incompatible (it's impossible to turn on the computer even with the Power button). 

Non-unsoldered connectors: flash card reader interface controller and its connectors, CNR slot. 

The system monitoring is supported by the ASUS ASB100-A Bach chip. What is controlled: 

  • processor voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V; 
  • speed of 3 fans; 
  • temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor), the board (a built-in sensor) and an external sensor connected to the board. 
There are 3 connectors for adjustable connection of fans. 

Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x230 mm. 




Adjustment can be carried out with:
 

jumpers and switches Jumper to clear up the CMOS  
Jumpers to choose a FSB frequency 100, 101, 105, 107, 109, 114, 117, 120, 133, 135, 137, 141, 143, 150 and 166 MHz
Switches for setting processor's multiplier x8-x24
Jumper for starting up computer from PS/2 keyboard  
Jumpers for starting up computer from USB keyboard  
Jumper for making Vcore voltage range wider Disable/Enable
Jumper for choosing an ASUS POST Reporter output Buzzer/Line-Out
Jumper to enable/disable SMBus 2.0  
Jumper for choosing a mode of the Bass/Center channel Bass/Center / Center/Bass
BIOS based on the 6.00 version from Award Setup of memory timings + CAS Latency, Active To Precharge Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, Turbo Mode
Setup of memory frequency + Auto, DDR200, DDR266, DDR333
Setup of AGP bus +  
Setup of PCI bus +  
Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses + Auto, 33/66, 37,5/75, 44/88 MHz
Manual assignment of interrupts +  
Changeable FSB frequency + 100-200 MHz in 1MHz steps
Changeable CPU multiplier + x8-x50
Changeable core voltage + 1.5-1.95 V in 0.025V steps
Changeable memory voltage + Auto, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9 V
Changeable chipset voltage -  
Changeable AGP bus voltage + Auto, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 V

We used the latest available version of the BIOS - 1004 beta 007. 

The board will be a good choice both for those who prefer stable operation in normal conditions and for extremal overclockers. A rich suite of settings, interesting technologies, and excellent performance let us say that this is one of the best solutions on the Intel 845G chipset. 
 


Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)
Sergei Pikalov (peek@ixbt.com)

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