BIOS
The BIOS is quite ordinary. Foxconn didn't bother with providing a graphical interface, so it's a typical AMI BIOS for a Sandy Bridge motherboard. One minor advantage is a hotkey for choosing the bootable device.
As for overclocking, you can adjust CPU multiplier, change separate core multipliers in the Turbo Boost mode, and tune up bus frequency. The changeable memory timings are somewhat scarce: just the four primary ones.
Bundle and utilities
The bundle is also humble: a couple of SATA cables, a back-panel faceplate, a user's manual, and a software DVD.
It's interesting that Foxconn's proprietary tool responsible for overclocking, monitoring and fan control has remained "Fox One," although the correponsing chip is now marked "Fox 2."
I can't say much about Fox. It only offers the basics, no fan management even. Some screenshots, if you like.
Features
The set of interfaces is rather nice: two USB 3.0, six USB 2.0, two eSATA, two digital audio outputs, one PS/2 port. Perhaps a few more USB ports would be nice.
Foxconn P67A-S is based on the Intel P67 PCH. The list of onboard controllers is provided below.
- USB 3.0 based on NEC µPD720200 (PCIe x1). Supports two devices.
- Integrated audio based on the 7.1+2-channel Realtek ALC888S HDA codec. An optical (Toslink) and a coaxial S/PDIF-Out on the back panel.
- Gigabit Ethernet based on Realtek RTL8111E (PCIe x1).
- IDE/eSATA based on Marvell 88SE6121 (PCIe x1). Supports two ATA133 and two SATA-300 devices (as eSATA on the back panel).
- PCI based on the IDT 89HPEB383 PCIe-PCI bridge. There are two PCI slots on the board.
As you can see, this isn't most feature-rich, but USB 3.0 and IDE/eSATA will be sufficient for most users.
The audio codec doesn't support any special technologies, so we'll just test its analog outputs in the 16-bit/44kHz and 16-bit/48kHz modes using RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.0 and a Terratec DMX 6fire sound card.
| Test |
16-bit/44kHz |
16-bit/48kHz |
| Frequency response (40Hz to 15kHz), dB |
+0.01, -0.06 |
+0.02, -0.05 |
| Noise level, dB(A) |
-92.2 |
-92.3 |
| Dynamic range, dB(A) |
92.2 |
92.4 |
| THD, % |
0.0042 |
0.0044 |
| THD + noise, dB(A) |
-82.4 |
-82.3 |
| IMD + noise, % |
0.0083 |
0.0082 |
| Channel crosstalk, dB |
-90.6 |
-91.5 |
| IMD at 10 kHz, % |
0.0083 |
0.0080 |
| Overall grade |
Very good |
Very good |
We haven't encountered the IDT PEB383 bridge yet, but it performs just like the rest i.e. perfectly well. In fact there was only one PCI-related issue since we had started testing P67 motherboards — with ASRock P67 Pro3.
Conclusions
Foxconn P67A-S is a decent mid-end motherboard without any particular benefits which may force you to buy it instead of another board. Some features — modest CPU VRM, minimalistic bundle and software — hint at the mainstream nature. The functionality is nice, however. And a few interesting onboard solutions should make it useful for those who would appreciate the POST controller and the ability to monitor voltages with a multimeter. The only question that remains: how much does it cost? We haven't seen the board in stores yet.
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