*Update*One helluva mobo that's now cheep!
Written: Sep 29 '00 (Updated Oct 08 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Feature rich, outstanding software support, very stable
Cons: used to cost more than other i815e motherboards!
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| psykosis_fc's Full Review: Asus CUSL2 |
**Update**
This motherboard is now alot more available than it was when I was shopping for it about 4months ago--It's now only about $100 or so. Since the price has come down by about $50 and there's been a new BIOS rev that gives a little better memory performance, I see no reason not to recommend this motherboard as a Socket370 celeron/celeron2/P][/P3 solution for PPGA processors; go out and get one now! =)
I have to get 2 things off my chest up front; I'm a big Asus fan, and I'm not an Intel motherboard fan. I have the unfortunate experience of enduring the utter waste of money that is the i820 chipset---bleh. Not that i820 is bad--actually it's pretty good if you use PC800 RDRAM, but it was *supposed* to work equally as well with SDRAM, and well things didn't quite work out that way. Enter the i815e chipset. Supposedly aimed at the value PC OEM market, Asus delivers more features with the CUSL2 than I imagine were originally inted by Intel. Unfortunately, these features come at a premium compared to i815 offerings from other manufacturers. Why did I choose this mobo? Well, here's a short list of features;
Socket370 supporting CuMineP3 450-933+, PPGA celeron333-566+
3 Dimm slots / 256Mb non-buffered SDRAM max support
66/100/133 FSB settings
AGP/AGPro slot
6 PCI 2.2 slots
2 CNR slots (does anyone even *make* CNR devices?)
dual channel UltraDMA100 controller
5USB ports
2 serial ports
1 ECP/EPP parallel port
ATX 2.1 compliant
So, essentially all the goodies of your average top-quality motherboard. Stand-out features are the usual ultra-high quality manual that every manufacturer in the industry should take lessons from, Trend Chip-Away virus protection (that's actually pretty good at defeating most low-level attacks) and a fairly decent Award BIOS setup menu.
The feature that really sold me was the flexibility that this board gives you when overclocking, as it has both a ratio setting for the ram clock to the FSB clock, but also a ratio setting for te PCI bus as well. In theory, it will allow you to overclock the CPU and keep the RAM and PCI bus in spec, or keep the PCI bus and CPU in spec and up the frequency of the RAM only. Example--you've just blown your cash on a new 800eb (133Mhz part), but you've still got 256Mb of PC100 RAM that's not quite good enough to take a 133Mhz FSB setting....no problem. With the settings, you can keep the RAM at 100Mhz while running the FSB at 133Mhz. You can do the opposite as well--keep your FSB at 100 while running the RAM at 133Mhz. What's nice about this flexibility is that you can theoretically push the CPU as far as it can go with your cooling setup and not have to worry (as much) about the ability of the rest of the components in the system. This becomes especially critical when you are pushing past the 160Mhz mark and trying to keep the hard drives from being corrupted from the massive PCI overclock...
There are also settings specific to memory that are also worth mentioning. More and more we are seeing BIOSes that support setting of the RAM timings more than just selecting "by SPD" or "PC100/PC133" and the CUSL@ is no different. With individual settings for timing, delay, precharge, latency, cycle time and closing policy you can in effect eek alot higher frequency out of your RAM than you normally would. Performance takes a hit, but at least you won't have to spend another $200 on a stick or 2 of sweet Mushkin PC150--you could make do with your old PC100 until the bucks pile up again. Nice.
The system that I build with this board was based on a P3 750e. I chose this part primarily since at 133Mhz, the chip runs at a nice even 1G. It took a fair amount of cooling to get it there, but essentially it's running like a $700 CPU for about $250. A problem that the CUSL2 has that a majority of current Asus boards have is the clockgen chip overheating. Every new system that I'm building, I'm putting a small heatsink on the PLL IC (usually near the DIMM slots, towards front of case) to keep things stable. If you are having problems with system stability, check the clockgen--I bet it's scorching hot.
In the end though, I can't say that I was more successful with the CUSL2 than I would've been with any other motherboard, but the extensive list of features and Asus' usual expedience with BIOS updates makes the effort that much easier. It was also a tad difficult to find this board and I had to pay a premium price for it at a computer show--About $150
The software that comes with the motherboard is, as usual to Asus, excellent. New to me, was the AsusUpdate utility. It works simular to Windows update, and will (mostly) automatically search the web for an updated BIOS revision and even flash the update from within windows. All I can say is, ABOUT TIME! LOL. With WinME having a lack of true DOS support, flashing BIOS could've become a bit of a chore, now with this automated utility it's easier than before.
Bottom line: If you are shopping now for a new s370 motherboard, take a look at Asus' i815 offering. It's laundry list of features and FSB acrobatics could help clock a little bit higher than another motherboard. Extended feature set and expanded FSB speed support also mean that you will be somewhat future-proof as new CPU speeds are released. You could do alot worse for $150, but you could possibly do better as well. As always, research before you buy to save future headaches. Check out www.cusl2.com for a dedicated fan site with a fairly active user board for BIOS updates, settings and user experiences.
Please post comments--it'd be nice to know that I'm not talking to the wall.... Feedback *greatly* appreciated!
=)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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Epinions.com ID:
psykosis_fc
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Member: Jeff
Location: Pasadena, CA
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 22 members
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