A great idea, somewhat dissapointing.
Written: Jul 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive way to dabble in SMP and Linux, very fast.
Cons: Stability issues, driver problems
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| BitJockey's Full Review: Abit BP6 Motherboard |
I bought my BP6 a few months ago, with aspirations to build a cheap, SMP-capable system. I bought two Celeron 366 chips that were pre-tested to 550mhz, and a few Alpha heatsinks. After getting everything installed, I loaded Windows 2000 Professional, and was amazed at the speed of my new dual box.
It wasn't until I had been using the machine for a few weeks, that I began to notice its shortcomings. First, the ATA-66 controller on the motherboard (the Highpoint HPT366), crashed often, with buggy win2k drivers. Second, even at the default speed, the dual processors would sometimes hang the system, forcing me to do a hard-reset.
I found a great resource for owners of this motherboard, www.bp6.com. They have a fabulous message board where I was able to discover that I wasn't the only person having problems with this mainboard. In Revision 1.1 of the BP6, there is a defect in the board. Capacitor EC10, by one of the sockets, can't hold a steady voltage for the chips. So the voltage will drop when you are doing heavily processor-intensive programs, and then cause a crash. The revision of the motherboard can be learned by looking on the bottom of the first ISA slot.
The BP6 was an impressive undertaking by Abit, but all in all, it isn't a board that you should rely on for day-to-day operation of a server, especially a critical one. I'd look at a more tested dual motherboard, such as a Tyan Trinity 400, or a new dual motherboard coming from Abit in the fall.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
BitJockey
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Location: Asheville, NC USA
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Now living in North Carolina, I enjoy racing cars in SCCA events, computers, and skiing.
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