Biostar
P4TDK (i845E) Mainboard
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Once you cast a glance at this board, you will see that this is a budget solution
with minimal requirements for functionality. Accessories:
- Package of a standard design;
- Documentation: brief user manual
in English and Spanish;
- Cables: 1 ATA66/100/133 and FDD;
-
2 CDs containing:
- drivers;
- electronic user
guides for a number of company's boards;
- system monitoring utility;
-
DirectX 8.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
- Adobe Acrobat eBook
Reader;
- Norton Antivirus 2002;
- Norton Personal Firewall
2002;
- Norton Ghost.
The layout is ordinary except the fact that IDE and FDD connectors are not
easy to reach. Besides, the audio-ins are and some other connectors are located
along the left side of the board, and when a video card is installed it's difficult
to handle the memory modules. It can be difficult to reach some jumpers when the
board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.
The 2-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 8 capacitors of 3300
uF and 2 of 2200 uF. The following controllers are integrated:
- audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and C-Media CMI9738
AC'97 codec supporting 4.1 audio systems and having a connector for front audio
inputs;
There is a special protection on the back for the textolite
from massive processor coolers.
Non-unsoldered
connectors: an interface of the FlashCard Reader controller with connectors, IEEE
1394 bus controller with connectors, network controller and RJ45 connector.
The system monitoring is supported by the Winbond W83627HF-AW chip. What is
controlled: - processor voltage, AGP bus, +3.3, +5 and +-12 V, VBAT
and +5 V Standby;
- speed of 2 fans;
- temperatures
of the processor (a built-in sensor) .
There are 2 connectors for
adjustable connection of fans. Brief characteristics of the board:
memory slots - 4 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/
LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x245 mm. Adjustment can be carried
out with:
| jumpers and switches |
Jumper to clear up the CMOS |
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| Jumper for starting up computer from a PS/2 keyboard |
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| Switches for starting up the system from a USB keyboard |
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| BIOS based on the Phoenix AwardBIOS 6.00PG |
Setup of memory timings |
+ |
CAS Latency, Active To Precharge Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS
Precharge |
| Setup of memory frequency |
+ |
Auto, DDR200, DDR266 |
| Setup of AGP bus |
- |
|
| Setup of PCI bus |
- |
|
| Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses |
- |
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| Manual assignment of interrupts |
- |
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| Changeable FSB frequency |
+ |
100-200 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| Changeable CPU multiplier |
+ |
x8-x50 |
| Changeable core voltage |
+ |
1.25-2,0 V in 0.025V steps |
| Changeable memory voltage |
+ |
2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8 V |
| Changeable chipset voltage |
- |
|
| Changeable AGP bus voltage |
+ |
1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 V |
We used the BIOS of 18.10.2002 as the latest available
version. The board can be a good choice for a user who doesn't expect
much as its speed and functions are not brilliant. Test results:
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