Stable, low cost system with this Mainboard
Written: Dec 13 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast system with no detected problems in over a month of operation.
Cons: Memory slots too close to the AGP slot.
No lock for AGP card
The Bottom Line: Excellent mainboard especially at the low price it is available at.
Stable system, no problems to date.
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| zdriver's Full Review: Soltek SL-75FRN2-L nVidia nForce2 Athlon(XP)/Duron... |
I recently performed my yearly PC upgrade using this mainboard and am pleased with the results. I selected this Soltek board based on its price, and I was looking for something better than the last PC I built with an ECS K7S5A mainboard.
The PC's new parts purchased were as follows;
Soltek SL-75FRN2-L mainboard
AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton processor
Kingston HyperX PC 3500 512Mb DDR ram
Maxtor 30GB 7200 Rpm ATA 133 hard drive
Generic tower case with 300W power supply
Windows XP Home edition OEM
Reused components from the old computer;
ATI 8500 LE 64 Mb AGP graphics card
LG 24 10 40 Cd Writer
Generic 8 spd. DVD drive
Setting up this mainboard was easy. Printed user manual was useful and clear.
To install this mainboard you must have a new power supply with the additional 4 pin 12V connector. This is the ATX V2.03 supply. This mainboard will not operate with only the standard ATX power connector!
The only thing I did not like about this board was the closeness of the memory slots to the AGP slot. You cannot operate the memory slot locks once the video card is in place. To get around it install memory first, then the video card.
Also don't plan on using your older AGP video card with this board. This board supports AGP 4x/8x cards which are 1.5V. Older AGP 2x cards are 3.3V. Luckily there is a rib added to the AGP slot which will prevent insertion of the 2X cards.
This board has onboard LAN and sound which are useable, saves having to purchase and install additional cards.
I primarily use this PC for internet browsing and programming, works great. Don't play video games so I can't offer any reviews on the performance in that department.
I purchased a fast DDR memory stick (433) with this board, which should allow me to do one more processor upgrade to an Athlon 3200 next year when the CPU price comes down.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 78
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Epinions.com ID:
zdriver
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Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 1 member
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