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Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionEver since the trend moved towards modernization of the traditional PC into home entertainment consoles, there have been plenty of reasons for one to go for Small Form Factor (SFF) ...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
When Foxconn announced that they would be focusing on the gaming and enthusiast market space earlier this year, one of the last things that would have entered our minds is a board such as the G9657MA-8EKRS2H. You can say that we've gotten all caught up with the 'bigger, better, faster' mentality surrounding PC hardware, but the G9657MA-8EKRS2H has really gotten us to re-evaluate smaller form factor designs. With companies like Shuttle demonstrating that you can even run an SLI rig in an SFF PC, it really begs to question if we can build a compact PC with all the features of a traditional ATX rig.
The Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H is the latest board to support such a movement. Feature-wise, the Intel G965 chipset can support even the latest Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor and is proven to deliver similar performance as its discreet graphics cousins, the Intel P965 and 975X Express, while its onboard GMA X3000 provides a modern DirectX 9 capable GPU with hardware accelerated video decoding (Intel Clear Video Technology). The only problem of course, is that these specs are wasted with only a VGA output, low performance and drivers (which Intel has still yet to deliver one that fully capitalizes on this new graphics engine). We're also still waiting on next generation applications to see if the hybrid architecture of the GMA X300 can be realized. The ICH8R Southbridge on the other hand gives the board powerful storage capabilities, setting the board apart from the competition (like the Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3) and Foxconn has also included a decent array of supporting features including FireWire, Gigabit LAN and HD Audio with S/PDIF connectivity.
The board has a decently spacious layout design and we like how the Foxconn hasn't tried to clutter all the connectors and headers together. The CPU socket and expansion slot areas have sufficient clearing and although we're going to nitpick on the IDE and Floppy layout, there isn't really anything to dislike about the board.
Full-featured, well balanced microATX board perfect for compact and quiet computing. |
The Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H has ATX-like features and ATX-like hardware support in a microATX body. However, not everything is perfect. While it is a commendable board by virtue of design and features, it overall performance is slightly lacking. From our benchmarks, it is clear that the memory subsystem of the board isn't as well optimized as the Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 and its BIOS implementation lacks polish. We will not penalize the board for its weak overclocking since it is more of a chipset issue, but these are the reasons that we've held back slightly on our scoring. If Foxconn can deliver a more matured BIOS with performance and stability optimizations, the G9657MA-8EKRS2H would deserve a 4.5 Star award.
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