Layout and features
I've reviewed more motherboards than I can to remember. Through this reviewing I've found that certain manufacturers do spend a little more time than others in designing their boards' layout. SOYO have done well.
I like the PCB colour. It contrasts well with the on-board components. I'm not too sure about the purple PCI and memory slots. I also do like the fact that SOYO have ensured the P4 retention bracket is attached to the board in a more positive manner than most. Gone are the ubiquitous plastic pins that are found on most. The bracket is screwed through to the PCB to a plate on the back.
2 fan headers sit in close attendance to the socket. The P4 power connector and main 21-pin ATX power connectors are located on the opposite sides of the board, strangely. I do like the silver capacitors surrounding the socket. Passive heatsinks are becoming increasingly popular on SOYO boards - it's nice to see another one here.
Somewhat strangely, the main IDE ports are located next to each other. This rather novel solution is an efficient use of board real estate. I'm going to have a gripe and moan now.
The SOYO uses one of those push systems to lock the AGP card into place. We've seen this on a number of other motherboards before. In this case, however, trying to remove the card is a terribly difficult business. The components you see around the AGP slot (as well as the card itself) stop you from gaining access and unlocking the port. Truly frustrating, it took me far longer than necessary to remove the test R9700 - this should have been far simpler.
The bottom left, as usual, is home to a myriad of features. A single S-ATA port is provided by the Marvell 88i8030 bridge. The downside is that one can only use a single S-ATA drive (cable supplied). The single theme continues with the third IDE port. Powered by the ATA133 HPT371 to the right, it can run in RAID 0 (striping) and RAID 1 (mirroring). RAID 0+1 is impossible, naturally. Another two fan headers sit astride the USB2.0 ports. No cables are supplied to take advantage of these ports, unfortunately.
Davicom are used to provide LAN duties. Not having used a motherboard with this particular variant of Ethernet, the Davicom behaved just like any other integrated 10/100 LAN. To the bottom-left is the revised (and miniscule) CMI 9738 4-channel on-board sound CODEC. It's good enough for the usual Windows' duty. I do like the fact that SOYO have managed to fit 6 PCI slots on this motherboard.
All's as expected here. I really would have liked to have seen 4 USB2.0 ports integrated into the backplane. A number of features appear silkscreened. Perhaps the PCB is marked for a deluxe version of this board.
