Testing motherboards on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset

ABIT NF7-S

The ABIT NF7-S ATX motherboard is based on the NVIDIA nForce2 (SPP + MSP-T) system logic set. This allows it to be used as a basis for building computer systems based on any desktop models of AMD processors (Athlon, Duron, Athlon XP) installed in a Socket A processor socket and operating at the system bus frequency of 200 and 266 MHz, as well as new models operating on the 333MHz system bus. This motherboard model implements an effective protection circuit against critical overheating of the processor. To do this, an integrated circuit Attansic ATTP1 is used, which is a programmable trigger that has a high speed and is able to respond to a signal from two sources: a thermal diode integrated on the processor core (unfortunately, only Athlon XP-based processors can boast of this), and a thermistor located in the center of the processor socket. The nForce2 SPP northbridge microcircuit is covered with a miniature aluminum heatsink with a cooling fan. To install DDR SDRAM memory modules, the board is equipped with three DIMM slots that support up to 3 GB of PC1600 / PC2100 / PC2700 RAM or up to 2 GB - PC3200. ABIT NF7-S supports both single-channel and dual-channel (DualDDR) memory modes. It should be noted that when using PC3200 memory modules, they should be installed in the third and second DIMM slots. The on-board AGP graphics port slot that meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification supports the operation of graphics expansion cards with an AGP 8x / 4x interface. To build a disk subsystem, the capabilities of both the dual-channel IDE ATA133 controller integrated in the south bridge microcircuit, which allows working with four devices with the ParallelATA interface (for this, the board has two IDE connectors), and the Silicon Image SIL3112A controller implemented on the SerialATA board, allowing to connect two devices with ATA150 interface (two corresponding connectors are provided for this). It supports six USB 2.0 ports, two of which are located on the output panel, and two pins are provided on the board for connecting another four. In addition, it is possible to connect two IEEE-1394 ports, which are supported by the IEEE-1394 controller integrated in the south bridge chip, the physical layer of which is based on the Realtek RTL8801B chip. The use of the six-channel audio AC'97 codec Realtek ALC650 provides the ability to reproduce sound in 5.1 format. It is also interesting that the output panel is equipped with all the necessary connectors for connecting a speaker system of this format, as well as an optical S / PDIF output. The capabilities of one of the two Ethernet controllers integrated in the south bridge microcircuit, the physical layer of which is implemented by the Realtek RTL8201BL microcircuit, allows the user to work in 10 / 100Base-TX networks - for which there is an RJ-45 connector on the output panel. The Winbond W83627HF chip is used as an I / O controller microcircuit, which supports the operation of standard I / O ports and the main functions of hardware monitoring. To operate this motherboard model, you need a power supply that meets the ATX 2.03 specification and has an additional 12-volt power connector. To expand the functionality of the motherboard, there are five PCI 2.2 slots on board.

Phoenix AwardBIOS is used as the basic I / O system. ABIT's proprietary technology - SoftMenu III, which has become traditional for motherboards from this manufacturer, opens up wide opportunities for overclocking fans. BIOS supporting the aforementioned technology, in the settings menu (in the SoftMenu III item), allows you to change the basic parameters of the system: FSB frequency (in the range from 100 to 237 MHz), ratio of FSB frequency to memory bus (3/3, 3/4, 3 / 5, 3/6, 4/3, 4/5, 4/6, 5/3, 5/4, 5/6, 6/3, 6 / 4,6 / 5), processor supply voltage (from 1 , 1 to 1.85 V at 0.025 V steps), memory modules (from 2.4 to 2.7 V at 0.1 V steps), AGP (from 1.5 to 1.8 V at 0.1 V steps ) and even a chipset (from 1.4 to 1.7 V in 0.1 V steps); it is also possible to change the multiplication factor in the range from 5 to 22 (which is relevant only for engineering samples of processors). In addition, BIOS tools allow you to monitor the temperature regime and supply voltages at the main control points, making it possible to set the temperature of the processor core, upon reaching which a signal will be issued (from 50 to 120 ° C) or the system power is turned off (at 60, 65, 70 or 75 ° C).

The delivery package of the ABIT NF7-S motherboard includes two 80-pin IDE cables, a ribbon cable for connecting a floppy drive, a SerialATA cable with an adapter for connecting to a regular 40-pin IDE connector and a power connector, an expansion bracket for two USB 2.0 ports , an expansion bar for two IEEE-1394 ports and a CD-ROM, which, in addition to drivers and user manuals, contains a number of useful programs and utilities.

ASUS A7N8X

The ASUStek A7N8X motherboard is made in the ATX form factor and measures 30.5Ѕ24.4 cm. It is based on the NVIDIA nForce2 system logic set (combined SPP (north bridge) and MCP-T (south bridge)), from which the main technical characteristics of this product follow. Like all motherboards that took part in our testing, this model supports any 462-pin AMD processors that work with the system bus at 200, 266 or 333 MHz, which allows you to cover the entire range of desktop processors of the Athlon / Duron family. / Athlon XP. Let's briefly touch on some of the design features and technical characteristics of this model. The chip of the north bridge of the ASUS A7N8X motherboard is covered with a removable aluminum heatsink. The main memory is DDR SDRAM modules that comply with the PC1600 (DDR200), PC2100 (DDR266), PC2700 (DDR333) or PC3200 (DDR400) specifications, for which the board is equipped with three DIMM slots. Each DIMM slot accepts memory modules up to 1 GB; As you can easily calculate, the total amount of supported RAM is 3 GB. Note that the ASUS A7N8X motherboard allows you to use both single-channel (64-bit memory bus) and dual-channel (128-bit memory bus) modes of operation with RAM. To operate in dual-channel memory mode (DualDDR), memory modules must be placed in the third and second or first DIMM slots; it is also possible to place memory modules in all three DIMM slots of the board. To install external graphics expansion cards, the board is equipped with an AGP Pro slot, which is supported by a graphics controller for the north bridge port that fully meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification. This makes it possible to work with 1.5V graphics cards with an AGP 8x / 4x interface. To connect IDE devices, the capabilities of not only a dual-channel IDE north bridge controller are used, which allows working with four ParallelATA devices with an ATA 33/66/100/133 or ATAPI interface, but also a Silicon Image Sil3112A SerialATA controller that allows interaction with two IDEs - devices with an interface that meets the requirements of the SerialATA 1.0 (ATA150) specification. The Realtek ALC650 microcircuit is used as the AC'97 audio codec, which provides the ability to reproduce audio format 5. 1. To connect a speaker system of the corresponding format, the output panel of the board is equipped with two additional connectors (mini-jack), which allows switching without using the line-out and microphone jack for these purposes. In addition, a coaxial S / PDIF-output can be found on the output panel of the board. ASUS A7N8X supports two IEEE-1394 ports, as well as six USB 2.0 ports, four of which are on the output panel, and a pin connector is provided for connecting two more. The implementation of support for both the first and second of the mentioned interfaces became possible due to the presence of the corresponding controllers integrated in the south bridge chip, while the physical layer of the IEEE-1394 controller is based on the Realtek RTL8801B chip. Owing to the capabilities inherent in the south bridge chip, the user has at his disposal two 100 Mbit Ethernet controllers (NVIDIA and 3Com), the physical layer of which is implemented using Realtek RTL8201BL and Altima AC101L chips. An ITE IT8708 chip is used as an I / O controller microcircuit, which supports the operation of the main I / O interfaces and allows for the main functions of hardware monitoring. The use of the ASUS ASIC chip (ASUS ASB100) provides advanced capabilities for thermal control, as well as monitoring of supply voltages and the operation of cooling fans, thereby providing protection against critical overheating and failure of the processor and motherboard. When creating the A7N8X board, a number of proprietary technologies were used:

• ASUS POST Reporter - a technology through which a voice commentary on the POST procedures is carried out, which became possible due to the use of the Winbond chip;
• ASUS Q-Fan - intelligent cooling fan control technology;
• C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection) - a technology to protect the central processor from overheating, which allows you to turn off the system power when a certain temperature criterion is reached (this technology can be enabled only if AMD Athlon XP processors are used, since earlier AMD processors did not have a thermal diode integrated in the processor core) ...

To expand the functionality, this motherboard model has five PCI 2.2 slots.

AwardBIOS is used as a basic input-output system, through the settings menu of which you can make standard settings for the operation of computer subsystems, as well as control the temperature and supply voltage at the most critical points; in addition, it is possible to activate the “Q-Fan control” function and make the desired settings. In addition, the BIOS Setup settings provide for the ability to change the FSB frequency in the range from 100 to 211 MHz in 1 MHz steps, the memory bus frequency (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83%, Syn, 120%, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to FSB frequency), processor core voltage (from the nominal value to 1.85 V in 0.025 V steps), AGP slot voltage (1.5, 1.6 and 1.7 V) and DIMM -slots (2.5; 2.6; 2.7 and 2.8 V).

The ASUS A7N8X motherboard comes with an 80-wire IDE cable, a 40-wire IDE cable, a floppy drive cable, two SerialATA cables, an expansion bracket with two USB ports and one game port, an expansion bracket for connecting a connector the second COM port and an expansion bracket that allows you to connect two IEEE-1394 ports. The kit also includes two CD-ROMs, one of which contains drivers and utilities, and the other contains detailed technical information about the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset.

Chaintech 7NJS

The Chaintech 7NJS motherboard is another representative of the new Zenith series of mainboards from Chaintech. Like all motherboards in this series, the 7NJS model is distinguished by its elegant design and excellent package bundle. The basis for creating this motherboard, as for all models presented in our testing, was the NVIDIA nForce2 (SPP + MCP-T) chipset, which makes it possible to use any model from the AMD Athlon / Duron / Athlon XP desktop processor family as a central processor. , made in a 462-pin package and operating at a system bus frequency of 200, 266 or 333 MHz. The microcircuit of the north bridge of the motherboard is covered with a golden heatsink of the original design with a built-in cooling fan. The board is equipped with three DIMM slots to accommodate RAM modules, which can be used as DDR SDRAM modules of PC1600, PC2100, PC2700, or PC3200 specifications, each of which supports DIMMs up to 1 GB (total supported memory is 3 GB). At the same time, it is possible to work with memory in both single-channel and dual-channel modes. In order to use the last of the listed modes, one of the two memory modules must be installed in the third DIMM slot, which is easy to recognize by its separate location relative to the first two. The AGP 3.0-compliant graphics northbridge controller supports an on-board AGP slot that accepts 1.5V AGP 4x / 8x graphics expansion cards. The capabilities of the dual-channel IDE controller integrated in the south bridge chip allow you to connect up to four devices with an ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface. In addition, the presence of a single-channel IDE RAID controller Promise PDC20378 on board makes it possible to connect two more IDE devices and, if desired, organize a RAID array of level 0 or 1. At the same time, two connection options are provided - these can be devices with an interface like ParallelATA (ATA100 or ATA133) and SerialATA (ATA150). The use of the C-Media CMI8738 / PCI-6ch-MX six-channel audio controller makes it possible to reproduce high-quality 5.1 sound. The Chaintech 7NJS motherboard supports six USB 2.0 ports, two of which are soldered on the output panel, and for connecting the rest there are two pins on the board. The capabilities of the 100 Mbit Ethernet controller integrated in the south bridge (nForce2 MCP) chip, coupled with the capabilities of the ICS 1893Y chip, which implements the physical (PHY) level of the controller, make it possible to operate in 10 / 100Base-TX networks, for connection to which the board's output panel is equipped with RJ-45 connector. As an input-output chip (Super I / O), this motherboard model uses the ITE IT8712F chip, which ensures the operation of all standard ports and input-output interfaces, as well as supports standard monitoring functions. There are five PCI slots (PCI 2.2) and one ACR slot for installing expansion cards that increase the functionality of the motherboard.

On the pages of our magazine, we have already written more than once about the excellent configuration of Zenith series motherboards, therefore, without going into detailed descriptions of accompanying accessories, this time we will limit ourselves to only a brief listing of them. So, in addition to the Chaintech 7NJS motherboard itself, you can also find in the box:

• branded plastic container for two disks (one disk with drivers and a Value Pack 2002 disk);
• an extension bar with two connectors (in addition to the existing audio output) for connecting a 5.1 speaker system;
• the CBox2 panel (which is installed in a three-inch slot of the system unit and has four USB 2.0 ports, an IEEE-1394 port and two audio jacks for connecting headphones and a microphone);
• an expansion card installed in the ACR slot, which, thanks to the use of the Realtek RTL8801 physical layer (PHY) chip, allows the connection of three IEEE-1394 ports, two of which are routed to the external panel, and the corresponding connector;
• an SPDIF expansion bracket (optical input-output) with a fiber-optic cable included;
• original IDE Round Cables - two 80-wire IDE cables and a floppy drive cable;
• two SerialATA cables.

The basic I / O system Phoenix AwadBIOS makes it possible, through the graphical BIOS Setup menu, to make standard settings for the operation of computer subsystems, monitor the supply voltage at control points and monitor the temperature regime of the processor, as well as control the operation of cooling fans; in this case, you can set the processor temperature value, upon reaching which an emergency power off will occur (85, 90, 95 or 100 ° С). To overclock the system, it is possible to change the FSB frequency from 100 to 200 MHz, the memory bus frequency (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83, 100, 120, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to the FSB frequency) , supply voltage of the processor core (from the nominal - 1.525 V - to 1.85 V in 0.025 V steps), DIMM slots (from 2.7 (?!) to 3.2 V in 0.1 V steps) and AGP- slots (from 1.5 to 2 V in 0.1 V steps).

MSI K7N2 (MS-6570)

The MSI K7N2 mainboard, made in the ATX form factor with dimensions of 30.5Ѕ23 cm in the traditional for motherboards of this company colors, is designed to work with any AMD SocketA processors (Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP) installed in a 462-pin processor socket ... As a basis for creating this motherboard model, we used a set of system logic chips NVIDIA nForce2 in the variant of the SPP (System Platform Processor) and MSP-T (Media and Communications Processor Turbo) chipset bundles. The SPP chip, covered with an aluminum heatsink, provides the possibility of using the entire line of desktop processors of the Athlon family as a central processor, while supporting the system bus at a frequency of 200 or 266 MHz (which corresponds to the physical FSB frequency of 100 and 133 MHz) and 333 MHz, which allows using the latest AMD Athlon XP processors running on the 333MHz system bus. The graphics port controller of the north bridge meets the requirements of the AGP 3.0 specification, which makes it possible to install 1.5 V graphics expansion cards with both AGP 4x and AGP 8x interfaces in the AGP slot equipped on the board, which it supports. The implementation of the AGP 8x graphics interface has increased the bandwidth of the graphics port from 1 GB / s to more than 2 GB / s. The memory controller of the north bridge makes it possible to use DIMM-modules DDR SDRAM-memory of the PC1600 (DDR 200), PC2100 (DDR 266), PC2700 (DDR 333) specifications and the not yet recognized industry-specific PC3200 (DDR 400) as RAM, for which are installed on the board with three DIMM slots. Each memory slot supports memory modules up to 1 GB, thereby achieving a total of 3 GB of RAM. To organize the disk subsystem of the computer, the user is provided with two IDE connectors, the operation of which is provided by the dual-channel IDE controller ATA133, integrated in the microcircuit of the south bridge MCP-T, which allows connecting up to four IDE devices with the ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface ... This motherboard model supports six USB 2.0 ports, using the capabilities of a USB controller, also integrated on the MCP-T chip. Four of the six USB 2.0 ports we mentioned are located on the output panel of the board, and a pin connector is provided for connecting two more. 5.1 audio support is implemented based on the capabilities of the Realtek ALC650 AC'97 audio codec. The communication capabilities of the motherboard are provided by a 100 Mbit Ethernet controller integrated in the south bridge microcircuit, the physical layer of which is implemented using the ICS 1893AF microcircuit. To connect to local area networks based on the 10 / 100Base-TX standard, there is an RJ-45 connector on the output panel of the board. The Winbond W83627HF chip is used as an I / O chip, which supports the operation of all standard interfaces and I / O ports, as well as standard hardware monitoring functions. To further expand the functionality of systems based on the MSI K7N2 motherboard, it is equipped with five PCI 2.2 and one ACR slots. Noteworthy is the presence on the board of an additional processor power connector (often referred to as a connector for P4), which makes it necessary to use power supplies that comply with the ATX 2.03 specification. In conclusion of the description of the technical characteristics, let us mention the technology of protecting the processor from critical overheating (CPU Thermal Protection), implemented in this motherboard model. The essence of this technology boils down to the fact that the signal from the processor's thermal sensor is analyzed and when the threshold value of the processor core temperature is exceeded, the system power is turned off. Note that this technology can be used only in case of using AMD Athlon XP processors, since only they have an integrated thermal sensor (thermal diode).

Phoenix-Award BIOS is used as the basic input-output system for the MSI K7N2 board, through the settings menu of which you can make standard settings for the operation of computer subsystems and control the temperature regime and supply voltage at the most critical points; in this case, it is possible to determine the critical temperature of the processor core in the range from 50 to 70 ° С, upon reaching which a sound signal will be given (this is possible if the Warning_Beep function is enabled). Those who like to experiment with the system settings in order to evaluate its overclocking capabilities, BIOS Setup settings allow changing the FSB frequency (from 100 to 200 MHz in 1 MHz steps), the AGP frequency (from 66 to 100 MHz), setting the FSB / DRAM ratio (1 / 1, 5/6, 4/5, 3/4, 2/3, 3/5, 1/2), thereby determining the frequency of the memory bus, the processor core voltage (from 1.55 to 1.8 V with a step 0.025 V), supply voltage for AGP slots (from 1.5 to 1.7 V in 0.1 V steps) and DIMM slots (from 2.5 to 2.7 V in 0.1 V steps); it is also possible to change the multiplication factor, although this has an effect only for engineering ("unlocked") processor models.

The delivery set of the motherboard includes: 80-wire IDE cable, a ribbon cable for connecting a floppy drive, an S-Bracket expansion bracket with two digital SPDIF outputs and two analog outputs (optional), and a D-Bracket expansion bracket, which allows connecting two additional USB ports and four LED indicators (optional). With the help of this LED matrix it is possible to carry out diagnostics and by the combination of indication (possibly 16 combinations) of LEDs it is possible to judge about the POST procedure passed by the system and to determine possible malfunctions. Also included is a CD-ROM with drivers and a traditional MSI set of utilities - MSI Live Updete 2 and PC Alert 4. The MSI Live Updete 2 utility allows you to perform online installation of the latest drivers and BIOS firmware using the included tools. for the motherboard without the need to search the Internet, and the PC Alert 4 utility will allow you to monitor the basic operating parameters of the system.

Soltek SL-75FRN-L

The Soltek SL-75FRN-L motherboard is one of the lightweight models of the SL-75FRN series, which is included in the new Golden flame product line, named so due to the golden coating of the board surface. Such a coating, combined with yellow slots and connectors, makes the appearance of boards of this series quite impressive. This motherboard model is made in the ATX form factor and measures 30.5Ѕ24.5 cm. It was created on the basis of the NVIDIA nForce2 (SPP + MCP) system logic set. The north bridge microcircuit (nForce2 SPP) is covered with a golden heatsink equipped with a cooling fan. DIMMs PC1600, PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 can be used as RAM, for installation of which there are three DIMM slots on the board, while the maximum total amount of supported memory is 3 GB. The Soltek SL-75FRN-L mainboard provides operation with RAM in both single-channel and dual-channel modes. To activate these modes, two memory modules must be used, one of which must be installed in the third DIMM slot. The on-board AGP slot allows you to use 1.5 V AGP 8x / 4x graphics cards as expansion cards. To organize the disk subsystem of a computer, the capabilities of a dual-channel IDE controller integrated in the south bridge chip (MCP) are used, which allows you to connect up to four IDE devices with an ATA33 / 66/100/133 or ATAPI interface. Naturally, there is support for such a popular interface as USB 2.0, for which the capabilities of the USB controller, also integrated on the MCP chip, were used. This allows support for six USB 2.0 ports, two of which are on the output panel, and two pins are provided on the board for connecting another four. 5.1 audio support is implemented based on the capabilities of the Realtek ALC650 AC'97 audio codec. The communication capabilities of the motherboard are provided by a 100 Mbit Ethernet controller integrated in the south bridge microcircuit, the physical layer of which is implemented using the ICS 1893AF microcircuit. To connect to local area networks based on the 10 / 100Base-TX standard, there is an RJ-45 connector on the output panel of the board. The Winbond W83627HF chip is used as an I / O chip, which supports the operation of all standard interfaces and I / O ports, as well as standard hardware monitoring functions. The Soltek SL-75FRN-L motherboard has five PCI 2.2 slots to accommodate additional expansion cards to increase system functionality. Note the presence of an additional 12-volt processor power connector on the board, which makes it necessary to use power supplies that comply with the ATX 2.03 specification. The proprietary ABS II (Anti-Burn Shield) technology allows you to control the temperature of the central processor (for this purpose, a thermal sensor is located in the center of the processor socket) and the fan rotation speed, and if the temperature threshold is exceeded, automatically turn off the system power.

The Phoenix-Award BIOS is used as the basic input-output system for this motherboard model, through the settings menu of which you can make standard settings for the operation of computer subsystems and control the temperature regime, as well as the supply voltage at the most critical points. At the same time, using the proprietary ABS II technology, you can determine the critical temperature of the processor core in the range from 75 to 100 ° C, upon reaching which the power will be turned off. In addition, the BIOS Setup settings allow you to change the FSB frequency (from 100 to 200 MHz in 1 MHz steps), set the memory bus frequency (50%, 60, 66, 75, 80, 83, 100, 120, 125, 133, 150, 166, 200% relative to FSB frequency), processor core voltage from 1.1 to 1.85 V in 0.025 V steps, AGP slots supply voltage (from 1.5 to 1.8 V in 0.1 V steps) and DIMM - slots (from 2.5 to 2.8 V in 0.1 V steps); it is also possible to change the multiplication factor, although this has an effect only for engineering ("unlocked") processor models.

The board comes with an 80-wire IDE ribbon cable, a ribbon cable for connecting a floppy drive, a disk with a universal set of drivers, and a CD-ROM with useful utilities (PC-cillin 2002, VirtualDrive 7, RestoreIT! 3 Lite, PartitionMagic 6.0 SE, DriveImige 4.0) and a brochure with detailed instructions on how to work with them.

Test results

Before considering the results shown by the tested motherboards, let's try to draw some conclusions regarding the dependence of system performance on the configuration and operating modes of the memory subsystem. For this, a number of tests were carried out for the following memory subsystem configurations:

• two-channel mode of operation at a memory bus frequency of 166 MHz (synchronous mode), while two DDR SDRAM modules were used and timings were set to 2.5-2-2-6;
• two-channel mode of operation at a memory bus frequency of 200 MHz, while two DDR SDRAM modules with 2.5-3-3-7 timings were used;
• single-channel memory operation mode at 166 MHz memory bus frequency (synchronous mode), in this case one DDR SDRAM-module was used and timings were set to 2.5-2-2-6.

The very first tests carried out showed the complete inconsistency of the configuration working with memory at 200 MHz.

As follows from the given results (Table 3), the operation of the system with the memory bus frequency of 200 MHz not only does not bring any dividends, but, moreover, lowers the performance. This is primarily determined by the impossibility of using faster memory timings, since when you try to reduce them, the stability of the system is lost. This result is not at all a revelation, because even the chipset manufacturer points out that the minimum delays in accessing the main memory are ensured when the memory bus and the system bus operate synchronously, which in the case of an AMD Athlon XP 2600+ processor operating on the system bus with FSB frequency at 166 MHz, achieved when working with PC2700 (DDR333) memory. But nevertheless, the use of DDR400 memory modules allows you to increase the performance of a computer system in synchronous mode by setting faster timings for working with memory (this makes it possible to do the BIOS Setup menu of the motherboard), which we did without any damage to stability of work.

As for the performance when using a one- or two-channel mode of operation with memory, here the advantage, of course, remained with the latter (Table 4). For the sake of fairness, we note that this increase is not so great and is observed only in applications that require frequent manipulations with data stored in RAM. Probably, the greatest effect from dual-channel memory will be obtained when using the capabilities of the integrated graphics core on motherboards based on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset using the nForce2 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) chip as the northbridge chip.

The results of test tests of systems with various configurations of the memory subsystem made it possible to conclude that the highest performance is provided with a two-channel synchronous mode of the memory bus operation. It was in this configuration that the motherboards participating in our testing were tested, the results of which are shown in Table. 5 .

The final scores shown by the motherboards in our benchmark tests show how similar the performance models are in our testing are. Often the difference in the results they showed did not exceed 1%, so the difference between the best (Soltek SL-75FRN-L) and the worst (Chaintech 7NJS) integral performance indicator, determined by the test results, was only 1.69%. Speaking about the performance of motherboards, it should be noted that according to the results shown during testing, the ASUS A7N8X turned out to be the best, but due to the fact that this model has a slightly overestimated FSB frequency relative to the nominal (168.24 MHz versus the required 166.67 MHz), when the correction factor was taken into account, the Soltek SL-75FRN-L mainboard was able to outperform it (the difference in the integral performance index of these models was only 0.17%). But despite this, due to the highest functional capabilities and relatively low price, the ASUS A7N8X motherboard has the highest integral quality index and, in our opinion, is the model with the best quality / price ratio.

Although this board does not belong to the "MAX" series of products, like most models based on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset from other manufacturers, it is highly functional and ready to satisfy all the needs of a modern user.

The scope of delivery includes:

• Package: standard design box;
• Documentation: motherboard user manual - in 6 languages, including Russian;
• Cables: one Serial ATA, one ATA66 / 100/133 and a FDD;
• ABIT Serillel adapter for connecting ATA devices with a Serial ATA cable;
• Power splitter for connecting the Serillel adapter;
• Bracket for the rear computer panel with 2 USB ports;
• Bracket for the rear computer panel with 2 IEEE 1394 ports;
• A dummy for the rear panel of the board;
• Diskette with drivers for the Serial ATA controller;
• CD with software including:
  • drivers necessary for the board to work;
  • user manuals for motherboards from the company based on NVIDIA chipsets;
  • DirectX 8.1;
  • system monitoring utility;
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The layout is, unfortunately, far from ideal, but this is an inevitable price to pay for integrated features and standard size. It is inconvenient for connecting and subsequent distribution of cables in the case there are connectors for audio inputs, power supply, IDE and SATA and outputs for brackets with peripheral ports, and when a video card is inserted, it is inconvenient to manipulate memory modules and an IDE cable in the corresponding connectors. Access to the only available jumper is not difficult even when the board is installed in the case; a brief description of its functionality is given on the board's PCB.

The three-channel switching voltage regulator of the processor uses 6 2200 uF and 4 1200 uF capacitors.

The following controllers are integrated on the board:

• audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and the AC "97 codec Avance Logic ALC650, supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front audio inputs / outputs;
• network controller based on the chipset's capabilities, supporting 10BaseT / 100BaseTX;
• Serial ATA RAID controller based on the Silicon Image Sil3112ACT144 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1 using the SATA150 protocol;
• IEEE1394 bus controller based on the chipset's capabilities.

Not unsoldered, but wired on the board: TV-Out connector (it will appear in the model version with an integrated video adapter).

The board uses the system monitoring capabilities of the Winbond W83627HF-AW microcircuit. Controlled by:

• processor voltage, AGP bus, +3.3, ± 5 and ± 12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby;
• rotation speed of 3 fans;
• temperatures of the processor (built-in processor sensor) and the board (built-in sensor on the board).

The board has 2 connectors for regulated fans and 2 for unregulated ones (one of them is connected to a fan on the heatsink of the north bridge of the chipset).

Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP / 5 PCI; I / O ports - 2 COM / LPT / 2 PS / 2/2 IEEE1394 / 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x245 mm.

The board is configured:

With jumpers and switches	Clear CMOS jumper
BIOS based on Phoenix AwardBIOS 6.00PG	Memory Timing Settings	+	Row-Active Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, Row Precharge Delay, CAS Latency
	Memory frequency selection	+	FSB: DRAM = By SPD, 3: 3, 3: 4, 3: 5, 3: 6, 4: 3, 4: 5, 4: 6, 5: 3, 5: 4, 5: 6, 6: 3 , 6: 4, 6: 5
	Configuring the AGP bus	-
	Configuring PCI bus operation	-
	The ability to change the frequency divider for AGP and PCI buses	+	66-99 MHz at 1 MHz steps
	Manual slot allocation of interrupts	+
	Changing the FSB frequency	+	100-237 MHz in 1, 2, 3 and 5 MHz steps
	Changing the processor multiplier	+	x5 - x22
	Changing CPU core voltage	+	1.1-1.85 V at 0.025 V steps
	Change in memory voltage	+	2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7V
	Chipset voltage change	+	1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7V
	AGP bus voltage change	+	1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8V

We used BIOS 10, the latest available BIOS version at the time of our tests.

The board is in line with the most advanced chipset for AMD processors today, providing the widest range of overclocking and tuning options, excellent speed and a wide variety of controllers.

Another Abit-NF7-M board is based on the nForce2 IGP + MCP2 bundle, i.e. has integrated graphics of the GeForce4 MX class. This copy is an order of magnitude less interesting, due to the high price and outdated, by today's standards, the level of graphics.

But after the first enthusiastic responses, users gradually realized that the chipset has its own peculiarities, and not all of its capabilities are fully realized. As we continue to gain experience, we have the Abit NF7-S board.

Abit NF7-S Specification

Abit NF7-S
CPU	- AMD AthlonAthlon XP with a bus frequency of 100/133/166 MHz; - AMD Duron with a bus frequency of 100MHz; - Socket 462
NVidia nForce II Chipset	- Northbridge nForce2 SPP; - Southbridge nForce2 MCP-T; - Bus between bridges - HyperTransport (800 MB / s);
System memory	- Three 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM slots - Maximum memory size 3 GB - Supported memory type PC1600 / 2100/2700/3200 - 128bit dual channel memory access possible
Graphics	- AGP slot supporting 4X8X mode
Expansion options	- Five 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots; - Six USB 2.0 ports (2 built-in + 4 additional); - Two ports IEEE1394 (Firewire) - Built-in sound nForce2 APU; - nForce2 network controller
Overclocking capabilities	- Changing the FSB frequency from 100 to 237 MHz in 1 Mhz steps; multiplier change; - Changing the voltage on the processor, memory, chipset and AGP; - Abit SoftMenu III
Disk subsystem	- 2 channels UltraDMA / 100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (supporting up to 4 ATAPI devices) - SerialATA protocol support (2 channels) - Supports LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM
BIOS	- 2MBit Flash ROM - Award BIOS Phoenix with Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features and Trend Chip Away Virus support
Miscellaneous	- One port for FDD, two serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS / 2 mouse and keyboard - STR (Suspend to RAM) - SPDIF Out
Power management	- Wake up from modem, mouse, keyboard, network, timer and USB - Standard 20-pin ATX power connector (ATX-PW) - Additional 4-pin power connector
Monitoring	- Tracking CPU temperature, voltages, rotational speed of three fans
The size	- ATX form factor, 245mm x 305mm (9.63 "x 12")

Box

The box is designed in the traditional Abit style: red tones, a Formula 1 car. However, there is a sticker with information about the presence of a ParallelATA-> SerialATA adapter.

Let me remind you that Abit was the only company to benefit from the widespread adoption of SerialATA controllers. The trick was simple - such an adapter is supplied with the board.

As a result, the user can connect a regular hard drive to the SerialATA channel. However, the real effect of this is insignificant: the point is that today's hard drives have enough ATA100 bandwidth (not to mention ATA133).

Equipment

• Motherboard
• CD with software and drivers
• ATA-133 flex cable, FDD flex cable
• SerialATA cable + Abit Serillel adapter
• English user manual
• Bracket with 2 additional USB2.0 ports
• Bracket with 2 additional IEEE1394 ports
• Cover for the rear panel of the case
• Floppy disk with drivers for SerialATA controller.

The rest of the bundle is standard: cables, SerialATA cable, plug for the rear panel of the motherboard, manual and CD with drivers.

There are two brackets in the kit: one with two Firewire ports, the other with 2 USB ports. In addition, the bundle contains a 3 "diskette with drivers for the SerialATA controller.

As for the user manual, it is very high quality and competent. The first part of the manual is a short introduction in several languages ​​(including Russian), then there is a detailed description of the connectors and jumpers. The description of the BIOS settings is very complete, although I did not find a description of the CPU Thermal Trottling parameter.

According to some reports, this is a very interesting parameter with which you can enable the processor overheating protection mechanism. If the temperature exceeds a certain threshold, the processor starts "skipping cycles", thereby reducing the load on the processor, due to a drop in performance. However, in practice, I did not notice the real work of this mechanism - it is quite possible that it is implemented in processors based on the Barton core.

One way or another, a separate review will be devoted to this issue in the near future.

Finally, there is a section in the user manual for installing drivers and other software.

There are also disadvantages in the user manual. In particular, there is no clear description of the memory configuration. Even the schematic image of the board does not quite correctly show the location of the slots, and the description itself does not give a clear answer to the question - in what configuration will dual-channel access work.

Now about the CD - apart from the drivers for the board, there is no additional software on it. Speaking of drivers - it is strongly recommended to use drivers version 2.00 or higher (the latest version as of 10/02/2003 is 2.03). They provide the highest level of performance.

Abit NF7-S board

The board is somewhat different from other Abit products. It looks more like a reference board from nVidia. However, the origin of the board is given by the cooler of the original form, installed on the north bridge.

The dimensions of the board are quite large (24.5 by 30 cm), and this moment causes some inconvenience when assembling the system. Both power connectors (main and additional) are not installed in the most optimal way - closer to the center of the board. However, they are located side by side and they can be combined into one bundle. And so that the cables do not interfere with air circulation, they can be attached to the wall of the case. But unfortunately, the board does not come with a set of clamps like the AT7 MAX2 board on the KT400.

The processor socket is located very close to the edge of the board, and after installing the board in the case, it will be difficult to install many cooler models.

There are special protective strips under the socket teeth to prevent damage to the board by a fastening clip or a screwdriver that came off.

As for the free space around the socket, it is quite enough for installing massive coolers. And the presence of 4 mounting holes allows you to install a variety of exotic cooling systems.

As for the support for the built-in Athlon XP thermal sensor, in this respect the Abit NF7 (-S) board is completely similar to the Epox 8RDA (+) board. In particular, the user cannot get information about the core temperature (neither through the BIOS, nor through special utilities). Nevertheless, according to Abit, the NF7 (-S) board has hardware overheating protection - CPU H.T.P. (Hardware Thermal Protection), which turns off the system when it reaches 110C (by the way, this parameter can be changed by the user - see the "System Monitoring" section for details).

Then, the Abit NF7 (-S) board has three connectors for connecting conventional fans and one connector for connecting a fan on the chipset. Their location is not the best: CPUFAN is installed near the processor socket (as it should be :), but CHAFAN and PWRFAN are installed on both sides of the main power connector. As a result, it is inconvenient to connect the fans to the latter - the power cables interfere.

But the fact that a fan is used to cool the north bridge is a big plus of the Abit NF7 (-S) board. Let's start with the fact that the north bridge of the nForce2 chipset gets very hot.

And at frequencies of 166 MHz and higher, the heatsink just gets hot - :) I first noticed this on the Epox 8RDA + board, then the heatsink on the chipset seemed hot to me. But when I removed the radiator, removed the thermal pad, which was very similar to chewing gum, and reinstalled the radiator on KPT-8, the aluminum radiator began to burn my fingers.

So, apparently, similar problems do not concern Abit NF7 (-S). The cooler is set on more or less high-quality thermal paste and is capable of cooling the chipset at any frequency.

In any case, checking how well the northbridge cooling is implemented is an integral stage in the assembly of any system based on nForce II.

Now about the memory configuration. The NF7 (-S) board has three DIMM slots: a free-standing slot is DIMM # ​​3, which belongs to the first memory bank, and next to it are DIMM # ​​1 and DIMM # ​​2 slots, which belong to the second memory bank. This is such an unusual configuration :)

Let me remind you that nForce II is a dual-channel chipset, and to get maximum performance, you must have the same modules in the first and second bank memory.

Those. specifically for NF7-S, we install one module in DIMM # ​​3, and the second either in DIMM # ​​1 or DIMM # ​​2. However, when upgrading, you should take into account the fact that even in single-channel mode, a motherboard based on nForce II outperforms any VIA creation (KT333 or KT400) in speed.

Unfortunately, there is no LED to indicate the presence of voltage on the memory. As for the problem of blocking DIMM latches by a video card, it can only arise with very long cards. For example, my Ti4200 doesn't even reach the first DIMM slot.

By the way, note that the AGP slot is equipped with a latch that firmly holds the video card in the slot. This is especially important for cards with massive cooling units.

By the way, a few words about the AGP slot.

Like all motherboards based on nForce II, we can install only 1.5 V AGP 4X or AGP 8X video cards in the NF7-S.

Now about the expansion options. Abit NF7-S has five PCI slots.

In addition, the PCB design provides for the installation of a SerialATA controller.

Expansion options

As for the SerialATA controller, we have a familiar face: the dual-channel Silicon Image Sil3112A. As a result, the user can connect 2 SerialATA devices. In addition, if these are hard disks, then it is possible to combine them into a RAID array: the supported levels are RAID0 and RAID1.

Besides SerialATA devices, we can connect common IDE devices. For this, 2 connectors are installed on the NF7 (-S). Both are colored the same, but have spaces and explanatory inscriptions between them.

Now about the serial bus support. So, the Abit NF7-S board has 6 USB ports, two of which are located on the rear panel of the board, and 4 more are connected using brackets (only one bracket with 2 ports is included in the package).

In addition, the board supports the IEEE-1394 ("Firewire") serial bus - two ports, both implemented as a bracket, which is included in the bundle.

Note that support for both standards is implemented in the south bridge. For physical FireWire wiring, the Realtek RTL8801B chip is used.

And the last thing - the Abit NF7-S board has a built-in six-channel audio: the ALC650 codec is used for physical wiring. In addition, the board has a Realtek RTL8201BL network controller (10100Mbit), which is also a physical interface for the nForce II MCP network function.

Now let's dwell on the built-in sound. I am usually not satisfied with the quality of the built-in sound, and on most boards the verification of its work is minimized. But when I got acquainted with the characteristics of the nForce II sound core, I decided to pay more attention to this issue.

As a result, when testing the Epox 8RDA + board, I did not notice any difference between the built-in sound and the external Creative Live 5.1 board. The sound quality and processor load were the same. As a result - I left the Live 5.1 card gathering dust on the shelf :)

But when testing the Abit NF7-S board, I had to return the external sound card back. The thing is that when the speakers / headphones were connected to the built-in sound output, noise was constantly heard, which greatly interfered with the perception of music. All dances with tambourines, drivers and bios did not lead to the removal of interference :(.

Perhaps this is the main drawback of the Abit NF7-S board.

Let's take a look at the rear panel of the board.

It is easy to see that there is no GAME port. But there is an SPDIF output.

Traditional circuit of jumpers on the board:

There is only one jumper on the Abit NF7 (-S) board (with a plastic tail :) CCMOS1 - intended for clearing the CMOS (located near the battery).

Now let's talk about BIOS settings.

BIOS

The BIOS of the board is based on Phoenix Award v6.00PG.

This is the second motherboard based on nForce II. And what is interesting to note is that out of the corner of my eye I looked through the reviews of other motherboards based on this chipset, and noticed that all BIOS settings, in particular memory settings, are exactly the same, be it a Chaintech, Epox or Leadtek motherboard.

But the Abit programmers have slightly altered the BIOS by dividing the settings responsible for the processor frequency and memory timings. As a result, the section for configuring memory operation looks like this:

So, we can regulate all the main timings (and these are Active (Trp), Active to precharge (Tras) and Active to CMD (Trcd)) within a very wide range. But the nForce 2 chipset does not offer the user finer settings.

It is interesting to pay attention to the memory frequency selection parameter.

On all nForce2 motherboards, the choice of memory frequency is implemented as a percentage ratio between the memory frequency and the processor bus (FSB) frequency. In the Abit NF7-S board, the set of ratios is the same, only it looks a little different.

Interestingly, the synchronous mode can be selected as 33, 44, 55 or 66 :))

As regards system monitoring, this section of the BIOS of the Abit NF7-S board is rather exhaustive, with the exception of the internal thermal sensor.

In addition, the user has access to information about the rotation speed of all three fans; there are readings of all voltages (including battery voltage). You can also set the critical temperature of the processor, upon reaching which the system turns off, and the temperature at which the sound warning will sound.

But the ability to set your own threshold for the hardware protection of the processor from overheating (Abit CPU H.T.P.) is in the SoftMenu III section. Available values: 85C, 95C, 100C and 110C

Overclocking and stability

Almost immediately after the release of motherboards based on nForce II, they became the subject of increased interest from overclockers and computer enthusiasts. This was facilitated by the great flexibility in choosing the frequencies of the processor and memory, as well as the fact that the PCI bus frequency is rigidly locked at 33 MHz.

All this, in principle, allowed us to increase the FSB frequency as much as possible. However, the first experiments with the Epox 8RDA + board revealed the fact that the system was extremely reluctant to operate at frequencies above 170 MHz in a synchronous two-channel mode. It was not in vain that I emphasized the fact that the memory operates at the same frequency as the processor bus. Combined with dual-channel memory access, this combination provides the highest performance indicators. And I remembered about the Epox 8RDA + board not by accident - numerous users of this board noticed the fact that the mainboard itself, and specifically the unstable operation of the chipset at high frequencies, is an obstacle to further overclocking (over 200 MHz).

In most situations like this, a slight increase in the Vio voltage (voltage on the chipset) helps, but unfortunately the Epox motherboard does not have this capability (as a result, hardcore overclockers are forced to modify the board - to solder the 700 Ohm - 1 KOhm resistance to the IRU3037 microcircuit).

But the user of the Abit NF7-S board can increase the voltage on the chipset to 1.7V from the standard 1.5V.

Naturally, with increased voltage, the north bridge will heat up even more, but let me remind you that active cooling of the chipset is installed on the NF7.

Of course, this function is very useful for overclocking, which cannot be said about other functions.

Let's start with the fact that the maximum voltage on the processor is only 1.85 V. This is completely insufficient for overclocking processors with the Palomino core. As for the more popular Athlon XP models with Thoroughbred A and B cores, the latter have nominal voltages of 1.5V and 1.65V. For overclocking these processors, the maximum Vcore = 1.85V also looks unconvincing, and in many cases will not allow you to squeeze the maximum out of the processor.

As regards the increase in memory voltage, here we are in for another disappointment - the maximum Vmem value is 2.7V.

Let me remind you that the most efficient memory operation mode on the nForce II board is synchronous. As a result, during serious overclocking, the memory will operate at frequencies of 200 MHz and higher, and at such frequencies even overclocking memory may require an increase in the Vmem voltage by + 0.3V, not to mention the cheaper / available memory.

In conclusion, I would like to mention the possibility of increasing the voltage on the AGP bus. The range is from 1.5V to 1.8V (in 0.1V steps).

So, evaluating all the overclocking possibilities, we can draw the following conclusion. The Abit NF7-S board has a full set of overclocking tools, but it is not well suited for serious overclocking due to the small voltage boost range on the memory (Vmem) and the medium voltage boost range on the processor (Vcore).

Looking forward to a new BIOS version?

Now about the practical overclocking. Despite the fact that the board allows changing the FSB frequency from 100 to 237 MHz, I was able to achieve stable operation only at 195 MHz in dual-channel synchronous mode. Without a doubt, using better memory, I could increase the FSB frequency.

Such a wide range is explained by the fact that Abit uses 5 bits (5 Bit Frequency ID (FID)) instead of 4 bits to encode the multiplication factor. As a result, the Abit NF7 (-S) board has support for all existing processors and those that are planned for release.

By the way, our board supports processors with the Barton core, the official announcement of which will take place tomorrow, February 11th. This support appeared in the latest BIOS # 13

As for the stability of operation, during testing there were no complaints about the NF7-S board. This is due to a high-quality power converter, a 3-phase circuit was used and six 2200 uF capacitors and 4 1200 uF capacitors were installed.

Performance

For performance comparison, I chose an Epox 8RDA + board based on the nVidia nForce2 chipset.

The following equipment was used in the test system:

Test Equipment
CPU	AMD Athlon XP processor (Thoroughbred-A)
Video card	Ti4200 (315600) on NVidia GeForce4 64Mb chip nVidia Detonator v40.41
Sound card	Creative Live 5.1
HDD	IBM DTLA 307030 30Gb
Memory	256 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM, manufactured by Samsung
Frame	Inwin506 with PowerMan 300W power supply
OS	Windows 2000 English

So, the performance was measured in the most severe mode for the board: FSB frequency = 166 MHz; memory frequency = 166 MHz, with the following work timings set:

In addition, we would like to note the rich bundle of the board, which, in addition to all the necessary brackets, includes an Abit Serillel adapter.

There are some drawbacks in the overclocking area. This primarily concerns low Vcore and Vmem values. As a result, the overclocker must acquire a very high-quality memory with a guarantee of operation at high frequencies. And the dependence on the quality of a particular processor instance is becoming stronger.

In the form of some compensation, we have a function of increasing the voltage on the chipset, which allows us to achieve higher operating frequencies in a two-channel synchronous mode.

And finally, let's look at the price of the board, which is ~ $ 130 (according to price.ru) for the NF7-S model. In my opinion, the board is fully consistent with this price. Besides, Abit's assortment includes a cheaper model NF7 (~ $ 113), without a SerialATA controller (and, accordingly, without a Serillel adapter :).

Conclusion

Pros:

• Good stability and performance;
• 2-channel SerialATA-RAID controller;
• Built-in 6-channel audio (nForce APU) and networking;
• Support for USB2.0 (6 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
• Hardware overheating protection - Abit H.T.P.
• Rich equipment.

Minuses:

• Built-in audio is jammed.
• Minor flaws in the BIOS and manual.

Features of the board:

• Overclocking capabilities are relatively weak.

Everything turned out in full accordance with the well-known saying - half a year has not passed, and the Abit NF7 motherboard on the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset is already being tested in our laboratory. I can't even say why there was such a delay, it was just that the board did not fall into my hands. During this time, I received many letters and there were several postings in the conference with a request to test this board. With a delay, but gladly, I fulfill requests. I myself am interested in this motherboard.

The chipset does not require any special introduction, it is familiar to everyone. There are no additional installed controllers on the board, only sound and a network card. But it is pleasant and useful that a fan is installed on the north bridge. By the way, the south bridge also heats up noticeably on this chipset. I wonder if cooling it will help in overclocking or stability? Another innovation, however, already familiar to us from the Abit KD7 (VIA KT400) motherboard, is a four-pin ATX12V connector on the motherboard for Athlon.

We immediately go to the BIOS and the first thing we are greeted by is the SoftMenu III section, there are some changes here.

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Now information about the type of processor and its frequency is displayed on top. We can change the system bus frequency from 100 to 200 MHz in 1 MHz steps and then up to 237 MHz in variable steps. The multiplier is from x5 to x22. By the way, I checked that this motherboard, like Abit KD7, can set multipliers higher than x12.5 for low-end AMD Athlon XP processors, in particular, for our 1700+, which "ordinary" motherboards from other manufacturers cannot do.

Next comes the AGP Frequency parameter, which adjusts the AGP frequency and changes from 66 to 99 MHz regardless of the system bus. However, in the photo above, you can see a completely different parameter - OnChip VGA Frequency. The fact is that the first time I turned on this card with a PCI-video card, this parameter appeared instead of AGP Frequency. Apparently it is intended for boards with integrated video, like the Abit NF7-M. This parameter can vary from 100 to 123 MHz in 1 MHz steps, can we really change the operating frequency of the integrated video card? Interesting!

The next parameter, CPU FSB / DRAM Ratio, allows you to set the memory frequency relative to the processor bus frequency. By default, the memory frequency is set by SPD, but there are ample opportunities for manual frequency selection: 3/3, 3/4, 3/5, 3/6, 4/3, 4/4, 4/5, 4/6, 5 / 3, 5/4, 5/5, 5/6, 6/3, 6/4 and 6/6. Conveniently, it is not necessary to calculate the resulting memory frequency, it is displayed in the BIOS and changes when you change the FSB or CPU FSB / DRAM Ratio divider. So in the photo you can see that with a FSB of 133 MHz and a 4/5 divider, we get 166 MHz memory work, like in DDR333 (133/4 * 5 = 166 * 2 = 333).

We are not familiar with the CPU Interface parameter, but apparently it is an analogue of the Enhance For Benchmark parameter of other boards from Abit. By default, it is in the value and uses the "most stable CPU / FSB parameters", if you set it to a value, then more aggressive parameters are used.