Soltek 8KAN2E-GR nForce3 250Gb S754 Motherboard --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

The kind of BIOSEs that we at We like. Performance tinkering is split into 2 sections: Frequency/Voltage Control and Advanced Chipset Features. Let's take a look at the former first.

The K8AN2E-GR allows the user to change the CPU's multiplier from anywhere between 4X and 20X (4GHz!), CPU permitting. I had no problem in selected multipliers below a Sempron 3100's 9X but, as you can imagine, was unable to run with anything above the CPU's native setting. CPU voltage when using a 1.4v Sempron 3100+ ranged from 0.8-1.55 in 0.025v increments. AGP's topped out at 1.8v, DDR's at 2.8v and the chipset's at 1.9v. It's the kind of voltage adjustment you'd expect from a responsible manufacturer.

The other tinkering half lies under Advanced Chipset Features. Here one can adjust the CPU's driven clock from 200MHz-300MHz in 1MHz increments. The presence of explicit AGP frequencies suggest that Soltek has managed to include a bus-locking feature here. Frequencies range from the default 66MHz-100MHz, also in 1MHz increments. Pretty robust thus far.

RAM timings can play a large part in improving default performance. Low-latency memory adds a performance kick to board performance. I was able to run 2-2-2-2 1T timings through the use of some of OCZ's finest RAM. Like other nForce3 250Gb boards, the K8AN2E-GR has a maximum memory clock mode that limits RAM speed to pre-defined settings of 100MHz, 133MHHz, 166MHz, and Auto (200MHz, DDR400). The idea is to control RAM speed in relation to the CPU's low-latency, high-speed memory controller.

There's not much need for the so-called Anti-Burn Shield if the reported core temperature of 19c is correct. It's a shame for Soltek that it's not. I wonder why motherboard manufacturers still report wildly varying temperatures on CPUs cooled in identical ways. Put the same Sempron on an EpoX VIA K8T800 Pro board, for example, and you'll notice a 20c 'increase'. I'm also perplexed as to why DDR, chipset and AGP voltage isn't shown here.

All in all, a BIOS that tries to cater for the enthusiast but is let down by poor voltage reporting.

[Pages]
   Last Page
   [1]· Introduction
   [2]· Layout and features
   [3]· Bundle and accessories
   [4]· BIOS
   [5]· System setup and notes
   [6]· ScienceMark 2.0 and Pifast
   [7]· Media encoding, Raytracing, KribiBench
   [8]· Gaming
   [9]· Overclocking and final thoughts
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