Conclusion
If I'm brutally honest, I wasn't expecting too much from Shuttle's AS45GTR motherboard. My prior judgement had been perhaps been clouded by the notion that only recognised motherboard manufacturers could produce a decent motherboard. That mistaken belief has been put to the sword by this Shuttle SiS648-equipped 'board.
I look for a number of attributes when evaluating a motherboard. Stability is my primary concern, and on that note, I have no problems recommending the AS45GTR if you're running it within specifications. Problems arose when I tried using the DDR-400 option, as it refused to get along with the Corsair XMS3200 C2 or Samsung PC2700 modules at that speed. I won't hold this against the AS45GTR as that memory speed is simply offered and not officially supported.
It scores well on the features front, too. This is the first motherboard that I've personally seen with the upcoming S-ATA interface. I can't test just how well it performs, but its inclusion is definitely a forward-looking measure. Standard IDE RAID, decent on-board sound, USB2.0, Firewire support, decent extras, and a robust BIOS round off the features.
Performance was more than acceptable throughout our series of benchmarks. It eclipsed the similarly SiS648-equipped SR7-8X motherboard in most benchmarks. The difference wasn't great, but it was consistent. It also rivalled the slightly faster memory-powered ABIT IT7-MAX (DDR-354) in most benchmarks. Those interested in really pushing their CPUs, especially ones with a lower multiplier, might be best off looking elsewhere for their thrills as it appears that the chipset itself has a FSB ceiling of 150FSB.
My main concern in recommending the Shuttle AS45GTR has nothing much to do with the motherboard itself. It has more to do with availability. After checking the usual on-line suspects, I found it difficult to find it in stock, or other Shuttle 'boards for that matter.
What I can say is that I found it something of an eye-opener. If you're looking for a feature-rich Pentium 4 motherboard, and want to be a little different from the norm, the AS45GTR should be worthy of your attention, especially if you're not looking to heavily 'clock your system. With regards to price, I expect it to retail for £100 or so.
Highs
- Feature-rich for a SiS-based motherboard
- Stability was flawless at 133FSB CPU and 166MHz memory speed.
- Performance was above par
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Well-presented with decent extras
Lows
- I found it difficult to run with memory at DDR-400, even with proven Corsair XMS3200 C2.
- It's scarce on the ground here in the UK
- The chipset itself seems to peak at 150FSB, not one for the die-hard overclocker.
Overall rating, 8/10.
