It's got everything, but you pay for it
Written: Sep 30 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: features, overall quality
Cons: cost
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| markjmiller's Full Review: Asus CUSL2 |
I purchased this motherboard for about $160 after tax and shipping and everything, and thus far things seem to be working decently. I was actually building two systems for my sister and I, and I wanted to overclock both-- and this model seems by far to be the choice to do that with. Also, as anyone in the know would tell you, Asus (perhaps tied with Abit) is the preferred choice of many computer geeks not only because of the options available to overclockers and the relative simplicity of their BIOS setup, but because they support their chips with regular BIOS updates (some say almost every week).
This was my first time actually building my own system, so I went reputation. Some of the Abit alternatives were cheaper, but they didn't offer the same jumper-free setup. I also actually wanted the built-in video card, because I didn't intend the systems to be gaming consoles-- but I did want that option . With the CUSL2 (actually, the entire i815 line) this is fairly easily done. Each board comes with a built-in (albeit ultralow-performance) video card, and some come with an audio card as well (mine didn't, although I thought they would. This worked out alright because I had planned to use my own SoundBlaster cards anyway). If you ever wish for better graphics, all you have to do is plug in a new video card into the AGP 4x slot and that will disable the motherboard's internal video card. NOTE: this only applies to the i815 chipset. The i810's video card cannot be disabled, and the i820 and i840 do not come with an internal card.
Other reasons for going with this board:
<ul>
<li> Full support for PC133Mhz SDRAM. The i820 and i840 force RDRAM on users, which has so far been more expensive, scarcer, and slower. Why would Intel go with this type of RAM? They have a stake in Rambus, which makes RDRAM. Anyway, 133 SDRAM is the way to go.
<li> USB ports. Each board comes with two ports directly on the motherboard, and an adapter that gives you three more. I don't actually have any USB devices, but this sounded cool anyway.
<li> Asus BIOS Updates. Mentioned above, these allow you to flash the BIOS quite easily. Goooood stuff.
<li> 2 CNR slots - Communication Network Risers, for modems and NICs. Haven't seen any of these yet, but who knows. Maybe soon.
<li> 6 PCI slots. More than I'll ever need.
</ul>
You might be coming to the conclusion by now that I spent more than I should have for options that I'll never use. I am too. To hell with it though, on with the review.
The BAD
Now, the downside to this board obvious: I actually paid extra for that video card (how much? Can't really say), those USB slots, all the other slots. This is not totally bad, and it's not like the costs outweigh the benefits of a stable, versatile board. The video card, for example, works well for me. I don't need a good video card right now, so I have the default one to use until I do. And when I do feel like getting one, the i815 chipset won't get in my way and prevent me from doing so, like the i810 does. Stupid bad intel. Dumb i810 chipset.
Overclocking-- I haven't actually tested the overclockability yet. One problem I noted was that, in the limited time I spent checking things out, it seems difficult to overclock using 133MHz RAM without pushing that up beyond specification (to 143 or 150 or something like that). I wanted rock solid memory so I didn't want to go with this option. If anybody knows how to increase the FSB while keeping my RAM speed at 133, please let me know.
I should also mention that the first motherboard I got was dead. Or maybe I killed it playing with jumpers. Anyway, the moral is: buy from a reputable dealer (I like directron.com-- they replaced it without any hassle, and they also seem like very nice people.)
So, in sum: It's a good board, but possibly not a good deal. I'd still recommend it to myself.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160
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Epinions.com ID:
markjmiller
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Member: Mark Miller
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 18 members
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