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Soltek 85ERV2 VIA P4X400 Based Mainboard



The board is almost identical to the previous model on the same chipset - 85ERV and differs only in stepping and in surrounding components of the memory modules, which let us work correctly (though not very efficiently) with PC3200(DDR400) memory. 

Accessories: 

  • Package of the standard design; 
  • Documentation: user manual, brief installation manual, software description - all in English; 
  • Cables: FDD, ATA66/100/133; 
  • 2 CDs containing: 
    • drivers; 
    • several system monitoring utilities; 
    • Adobe Acrobat Reader; 
    • Boostek; 
    • PC-cillin 2002; 
    • Virtual Drive 7; 
    • RestoreIT! 3 Lite; 
    • PartitionMagic 6 SE; 
    • DriveImage 4. 

The layout doesn't shine: audio-ins are in front of the PCI, and the IDE and FDD are behind them, an inserted video card will lock memory modules, and cables connected to the power supply connectors will worsen ventilation. It's not difficult to reach jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are not shown on the textolite. 

The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 7 capacitors of 2200 uF and 3 of 1500 uF. 

The following controllers are integrated: 

  • audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front audio outputs and for SPDIF. 

Thanks to the ITE IT8705F I/O controller the board supports (and have connectors) a SmartCard Reader. 

On the back you can see a plate that prevents twisting of the textolite in case of powerful CPU coolers. 




Non-unsoldered connectors: network controller and RJ45 connector. 

The system monitoring is supported by the ITE IT8712F-A chip. What is controlled: 

  • processor voltage, memory, +3.3, +-5 and +-12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby
  • speed of 2 fans; 
  • temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor) and an external sensor connected to the board. 

There are 2 connectors for adjustable and 2 for unadjustable 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 - 305x220 mm. 

Adjustment can be carried out with:
 

jumpers and switches Jumper to clear up the CMOS  
Jumper enabling BIOS write protection  
Jumper to set a FSB frequency Auto, 100 è 133 MHz
BIOS based on AMI's 3.31a Setup of memory timings + CAS Latency, Bank Interleave, Burst Length, Command Rate
Setup of memory frequency + Auto, DDR200, DDR266, DDR333, DDR400
Setup of AGP bus +  
Setup of PCI bus +  
Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses -  
Manual assignment of interrupts +  
Changeable FSB frequency + 100-200 MHz in 1MHz steps
Changeable CPU multiplier + x8-x32
Changeable core voltage + 1.1-1.85V in 0.025 V steps
Changeable memory voltage + 2.5-2.8 V in 0.1V steps
Changeable chipset voltage -  
Changeable AGP bus voltage + 1.5-1.8V in 0.1V steps

We used the BIOS AJ1.4 as the latest available version. 

The board is a bit more efficient than its predecessor and works stably with PC3200 memory, but it's inferior to the Intel-based solutions and can't boast of rich functionality. It can be of interest for those who want to save on a mainboard and overclock the system. 

Test results: 

 

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com
 


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