|
Advice Beginners BIOS Guide CPUs Links Mainboards Memory Network Storage Video/Sound Cards Contact Forum SiteMap Sponsors WebNews Home |
. | . |
|
Prices: CPU Intel P4 2.4C-800 P4 2.6C-800 P4 2.8C-800 P4 3.0-800 P4 3.2-800 AMD AthlonXP XP 1700+ XP 2000+ XP 2400+ XP 2500+ XP 2700+ XP 3000+ XP 3200+ Athlon64 Athlon64 3200+ Athlon64 FX-51 Opteron Opteron 240 Opteron 242 Opteron 244 Opteron 246 Memory Corsair Crucial Kingston Mushkin OCZ |
LOSTCIRCUITS |
|
SHORTCUTS:
Top Page The FS40 inside Features, Chipset Overview Board Details BIOS and Issues The Case and the Cooler Cables, Powersupply Test Configuration, Squeezing Voodoo 2D, SiSoft Memory and Cache HDTach, Winstones Gaming Performance Illusions of Grandeur Best Online Prices for Shuttle Products |
| Shuttle SS40 A Cult Is Born | ||
| (Review by MS, July 8, 2002) |
The FS40 pushes integration to the extreme without sacrificing the fundamentals of mainboard design. To start with the obvious, the board features the established Intersil HIP6301 power controller in a three phase configuration. This is, however, where the obvious similarities end, even in terms of power supply design, the FS40 holds an Ace up its sleeve with an additional power plug using a standard drive 4-prong interface like the ASUS SmartPlug. The rationale behind this addition is that with the amount of integration and add-ons given on the FS40, the four 5V rails going into the ATX power connector may not suffice with current high-end and future AMD SocketA processors. Suffice it to say that the additional power reduces wear and tear on the mainboard, in this particular case, an important consideration since it is not possible to go to the nearest computer store and pick out the latest replacement.
A solution usually found only in Intel Pentium4 designs is the auxiliary power to the mainboard. Considering the number of integrated peripherals, this solution based on an adaptation of a drive power connector makes more than sense, especially when endurance and longevity are taken into account.
Otherwise, we are looking at some sort of repetition of the SV50 layout. That is, take the hacksaw, cut off 2/3 of the bottom and place the necessary connectors all the way at the top. The victim in this case is primarily the floppy connector and for that one, longer traces really don't matter that much anyway.
We still have the two DDR slots with a theoretical capacity of 1 GB each even though this density is currently not available except for registered DIMMs that are not supported by the chipset to begin with. The IDE connectors are in their classical position on the very far side of the DIMM slots. What remains are the diverse on-board peripherals as the CMedia 6-channel audio, the RealTek 8100B network controller, the Lucent FW323 IEEE 1394 Firewire controller and the SIS TV-out converter. All onboard connectors are custom tailored to meet the SS40 case so there is no real point in going into more details.
The ATX-I/O panel of the FS40 makes the rear-panel of the SS40. Note the absence of a parallel port and the additional four thumb screws used to fasten the exhaust fan assembly but we'll talk about this a bit later.
The Rear End
The most interesting part of the FS40 is without doubt the ATX I/O panel as seen in the back-view of the SS40, featuring an ungodly variety of connectors and jacks for firewire, USB, S-video, audio and standard VGA. Suffice it to say that the only thing missing is the parallel port, just the same as in the case of the SS50.
next page: => BIOS =>