Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/239



A computer science professor once said that if you’re going to enter into a business, regardless of the nature, your goal should be to find something that no one else has done, and do it. Although it is a highly idealistic approach when applied to many situations, that is the philosophy of one mainboard manufacturer that is truly a rags to riches story to tell the tweaking children of the future.

The manufacturer is none other than ABIT, a company that originally received its fame by offering arguably the world’s first (QDI also claims this title) "jumperless" mainboard, a dream come true to users that were simply too intimidated by jumpers to take on configuring their own systems, while it may seem silly to some, it is a reality to others. Since ABIT’s introduction a few years back, they have grown to become a welcome force among the overclocking/tweaking population, and mimicking the philosophy of that very same professor, ABIT took it upon themselves to always stay one step ahead of the competition, doing things their own way like they’ve never been done before.

As soon as the Pentium II processor was released, ABIT jumped on the bandwagon with a motherboard in the works, however their first Pentium II motherboard didn’t make it out until the release of the LX chipset, and even then it basically featured the same patented SoftMenu Jumperless CPU setup we’ve all come to expect from ABIT. It wasn’t until the release of the BX chipset that ABIT separated themselves from the competition with the classic BX6. The BX6’s SoftMenu II Jumperless CPU setup brought the world’s first core voltage manipulation option for the Pentium II into the BIOS setup of the board, making the BX6 the ideal motherboard for overclockers. The demand for more PCI slots and a smaller footprint inspired the BX6’s cousin, the BH6 which brought all of the features of SoftMenu II and added the now useless SEL66/100# setting.

With the release of the Pentium III just around the corner, it’s time for ABIT to step up to the scene once again with their latest creation, the ABIT BX6 Revision 2.0. How well can ABIT stand in a market that has quickly become much more competitive? It’s going to be a rough ride for ABIT as AnandTech cracks down on the latest revision of the BX6, putting it through its paces and giving it the standard test of champions…the results?


New Anand Tech Report Card Rating
86/B
Do not compare newer ratings to older ones, the newer ratings are much more aggressive

Motherboard Specifications

CPU Interface Slot-1
Chipset Intel 440BX
L2 Cache N/A (on-chip)
Form Factor ATX
Bus Speeds 66 / 68 / 75 / 83
100 / 103 / 112 / 117 / 124 / 129
133 / 138 / 143 / 148 / 153
Clock Multipliers 1.5x - 8.0x
Voltages Supported 1.40v - 3.2v (0.05v increments)
Memory Slots 4 168pin DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots 1 AGP Slot
5 PCI Slots (5 Full Length)
2 ISA Slots (1 Shared / 2 Full Length)
BIOS Award BIOS

The Good

If you were to breed a BX6 and a BH6 the resultant would almost surely be ABIT’s new BX6 Revision 2.0, the board boasts the same 5/2/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP) expansion slot configuration as the BH6, keeping with the times by allowing for a greater amount of PCI cards to be installed while still taking into account the fact that many users still have at least one ISA peripheral they just can’t let go of. ABIT's Second Try...
The new BX6 also sees the return of the 4 DIMM slots from the original BX6, and to improve stability when using all 4 memory banks, the 6-chip Texas Instruments external DRAM buffer has made its way onto the BX6 Revision 2 as well.

All 5 PCI slots accept full length cards, and in improving on the flaw in the BH6’s design ABIT allows IRQ’s to be assigned to individual PCI slots as to avoid the compatibility problems some users were reporting.   An option in the BIOS allows for the IRQ of any specific PCI slot to be statically assigned, not only eliminating many problems with unfriendly PCI devices that simply refuse to work in certain configurations, but also making transferring hard drives from one system to another quite a bit easier as you can assign the IRQ's for all devices to specifically reflect a previous configuration.  The static IRQ assignment of the BX6 Revision 2 was a feature highly demanded by many owners of the BH6 and the original BX6 and is a feature that is quickly appearing in the BIOS setup utilities of most other motherboards.   The BIOS also now allows for CPU temperature monitoring.

The physical layout of the BX6 Revision 2 is comparable to that of the BH6 with a few new modifications.  As mentioned before, the memory buffer in addition to the 4th DIMM slot made their way onto the PCB of the BX6 Revision 2, which naturally increased the length of the board by approximately an inch over the original BH6's measurements.  The increased length does very little for case-incompatibility issues, making the BX6 Revision 2 a better fit solution for most ATX mid-towers than the longer original BX6 motherboard, but be aware of the fact that the newer Revision 2, albeit shorter than the BX6, is still longer than the BH6. 

As we have all come to expect from ABIT, the BX6 Revision 2 features the latest and greatest version of their SoftMenu II Jumperless CPU setup.  With the BH6, ABIT introduced the ability to modify the SEL66/100# setting, enabling the user to effectively unlock the clock lock on 100MHz FSB processors running at the 100MHz FSB.  For example, the original Pentium II 350 only allowed a 3.5x clock multiplier when using the 100MHz FSB, making 400MHz impossible, and anything greater than 350MHz impossible without the use of a higher FSB setting (i.e. 112MHz).   Setting the SEL66/100# setting to "Low" allowed for the removal of this lock, giving many users the ability to run their 350MHz Pentium II processors at 100MHz x 4.0 or 100MHz x 4.5, and their 400MHz Pentium II's at 100 x 4.5.  The SEL66/100# feature has made its way into the SoftMenu II setup of the BX6 Revision 2, however its usefulness has been jeopardized by Intel's anti-remarking methods, which remove the ability to configure the SEL66/100# setting on all newer Pentium II processors.  If you happen to have an older Pentium II, one made before August 1998, you'll be able to take advantage of this feature, otherwise your chances are next to nothing. 

The BX6 Revision 2 would have little to offer over the BH6 if it weren't for a few more modifications to SoftMenu II, ABIT's sole reason for existence right now in the overclocking market.  The BX6 Revision 2's SoftMenu II brings a few new settings, such as the inclusion of the new higher frequency FSB settings (138MHz, 143MHz, 148MHz, 153MHz) as well as "in-between" settings such as the 117MHz and 129MHz options for those users that just can't seem to hit 124MHz or 133MHz with their systems.  The board also supports the 1/4 PCI clock divider with all > 100MHz FSB settings to keep the PCI frequency as close to the specified 33MHz setting as possible, for those with extremely tolerant PCI peripherals.

The AGP clock is also derived from the FSB frequency, and the BX6 Revision 2's SoftMenu II does offer the ability to select from a 1:1 or a 2:3 FSB ratio for the derivation of the AGP frequency, keeping the clock as close to the rated 66MHz frequency as possible.  Complaining about ABIT not including any other AGP ratios is quite futile as the motherboard has nothing to do with the AGP frequency, which is actually stored in the chipset itself and only selected through the motherboard, leaving the 1:1 and 2:3 ratios as the only two options with the BX chipset.   It looks like we'll have to wait for Intel's 440JX (Camino) chipset before we can see any other AGP clock ratios. 

Another unique feature of the BX6 Revision 2 is its ability to manually select the core voltage of the Pentium II processor for a more tweaked setup, especially for overclockers.  The board supports core voltages from 1.40v up to 3.2v in 0.05v increments, a feature which has been known to make a huge difference in the stability of an overclocked system.  Why include such low voltages though?  The BX6 Revision 2 is actually one of the first motherboards to support the Intel Pentium III, which requires a 1.8v core voltage setting instead of the 2.0v setting of the newer Pentium IIs based on the Deschutes core and the newer Celerons based on the Mendocino core.  Other ABIT boards should be able to add Pentium III support with a quick BIOS update, but the BX6 Revision 2 supports the upcoming processor out of the box.  

ABIT's highly regarded User's Manual makes its presence felt in the box of the BX6 Revision 2, giving users a step-by-step installation and a configuration guide for their system.  The ABIT manual includes a fairly easy to read and useful explanation of the BIOS and CPU setup, and makes the overall experience with the new BX6 (especially for first time system builders) a pleasant one.

The overclocked stability of the BX6 Revision 2 is quite high due to the ability to control the CPU's core voltage, especially for Celeron 300A users that plan on overclocking to 450MHz.  It is quite amazing what a 0.1v increase in the core voltage can do for an overclocked system acting a little flaky.



The Bad

The layout of the BX6 Revision 2 does reflect the same poor placement of the ATX power connector as the BH6, which leaves the power connector behind the slot-1 SEC connector, forcing you to extend the power supply cable over the processor in order to plug it in.

ABIT's SEL66/100# configuration option no longer holds the unique value it once held in the market now that Intel has pretty much addressed the oversight that ABIT exploited.  Leaving the SoftMenu II setup without the unique advantage it once held over the competition, with AOpen already offering a jumperless setup on their AX6BC.  The only reason a user would have for opting for the BX6 Revision 2 would be for the ability to adjust the core voltage of their CPU for overclocking purposes, a feature, that to a non-overclocker, can be quite useless.

The stability of the BX6 Revision 2 is on the lower end of the spectrum when compared to the more well rounded solutions, such as AOpen's aforementioned AX6BC.  The board's lack luster stability, a result of a general lack of high quality capacitors near critical components, brings down the overall quality of the board and the purchase value for those users that won't be overclocking to any great degree.  AnandTech's test system crashed an average amount of times during the stability tests, leaving the BX6 Revision 2 on-par with many lower class motherboards in terms of stability and separating it by a great distance from the competing AX6BC.  

In spite of ABIT's efforts to stay competitive, their newly introduced FSB settings are almost entirely useless.  While the competing AX6BC made it up to the 143MHz FSB in AnandTech's tests, an identically configured BX6 Revision 2.0 system had problems booting at frequencies greater than 124MHz.  Attempting to run a system with an AGP card at any speed greater than 124MHz will probably be a problem in any case since most AGP video cards have troubles operating at frequencies derived from such high FSB settings, so the inability for the BX6 Revision 2 to operate reliably at anything above 129MHz should degrade the value of the purchase any unless you will be using a PCI video card (which can run at 129MHz+ * 1/4).


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 (140MHz): LG Semiconductor PC100 SDRAM (7ns)
SDRAM Tested (140MHz): 1 x 64MB LGS PC100 SDRAM

SDRAM Tested (< 140MHz): 1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Web-Site: 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.

How I Tested

  • Each benchmark was run a minimum of 2 times and a maximum of 5 times, if the motherboard failed to complete a single test within the 5 allocated test runs the OS/Software was re-installed on a freshly formatted Hard Drive and the BIOS settings were adjusted to prevent the test from failing again.  All such encounters were noted at the exact time of their occurrence.

  • Business Winstone 98 & 3D Winbench 98 was run at each individually tested clock speed, if reliable scores were achieved with the first two test runs of the suite an average of the two was taken and recorded as the final score at that clock speed.  If the test system displayed erratic behavior while the tests were running or the results were incredibly low/high the tests were re-run up to 5 times and an average of all the test runs was taken and recorded at the final score at that clock speed

  • All video tests were conducted using an AGP video accelerator

  • No foreign drivers were present in the test system other than those required for the system to function to the best of its ability

  • All foreign installation files were moved to a separate partition during the test as to prevent them from effecting the test results

  • All tests were conducted at 1024 x 768 x 16-bit color

  • Quake 2 tests were conducted at 800 x 600 x 16-bit color in Software Rendering Mode



Test Configuration

Processor(s): Intel Pentium II 400 OEM
RAM: 1 - 64MB LGS PC100 SDRAM DIMM
1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM
1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar AC35100 - UltraATA
Video Card(s): Matrox Millennium G200 (8MB SGRAM - AGP)
Bus Master Drivers: Microsoft Win98 DMA Drivers
Video Drivers: MGA Millennium G200 Release 1677-411
Operation System(s): Windows 98
Motherboard Revision: ABIT BX6 Revision 2.0

 

Windows 98 Performance

  Winstone Quake 2
Business 98 Business 99 Quake 2 demo1.dm2 crusher.dm2
Intel Pentium II 400 (100MHz x 4.0) 27.8 19.2 18.6 12.8
Intel Pentium II 468 (117MHz x 4.0) 30.3 20.8 21.7 14.8

The Final Decision

If you're an overclocker considering a new system, the BX6 Revision 2 is the absolute best ABIT motherboard to hit the market to date, while owners of the BX6 and BH6 will probably want to hang on to their prized possessions until the next major upgrade is deemed necessary by the market. 

Non-overclockers will most likely want to pass the BX6 Revision 2 up for the AOpen AX6BC, since they are both equally easy to configure in terms of their jumperless setup utilities, with the AOpen AX6BC still being a much more stable solution for a much more stable system. 

ABIT did a wonderful job with the BX6 Revision 2.0, unfortunately the market seems to be getting entirely too competitive for the manufacturer to leave out such major considerations as overall system stability in favor of added overclocking options.


How it Rates

AnandTech Motherboard Rating

  Business
Performance 85%
Price 85%
Ease of Use 94%
Overclocked Stability 95%
General Stability 78%
Quality 80%
Documentation 95%
Reliability 75%
Overall Rating 86%

The New Rating System
Each motherboard is rated in 8 areas, Performance, Price, Ease of Use, Overclocked Stability, Stability, Quality, Documentation, and Reliability.

Do not compare newer scores to older ones, the newer scores are much more aggressive

  • Performance - How well the motherboard compares to others in its class

  • Price - How competitive the price of the motherboard is when compared to others in its class

  • Ease of Use - How easy it is to setup the motherboard, jumper settings, jumperless configuration etc...

  • Overclocked Stability - How stable the motherboard is at overclocked CPU/Bus speeds

  • Stability - How stable the motherboard is at normal CPU/Bus speeds

  • Quality - How much effort went into producing the motherboard

  • Documentation - How helpful is the manual and bundled support manuals

  • Reliability - How long will this motherboard last, will it fail? Deals with quantity/size of capacitors, known bugs, etc...

  • Overall Rating - an average of the eight above areas

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