Soltek SL865Pro FGR

Provided you don't have a deep-seated aversion to dark purple, the Soltek SL865Pro is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing board here. It avoids using any significant level of colour coding on its assorted fixtures. This may make things more difficult for beginners, but the result is a more understated and contemporary design than seen in many of its rivals.

The PE suffix of the Intel 865 (Springdale) chipset at the heart of the SL865Pro denotes the board?s bias towards high performance and extra connectivity. You get six Sata channels, four of which are Raid compatible. Older drives are also catered for with four IDE channels, two of which allow for Raid arrangements in 0, 1, and 0+1 modes.

Although the motherboard can cater for just about any extra connector you can throw at it, the standard package is something of a disappointment. The SL865Pro can support eight USB2 connectors. Four are on the motherboard itself, but you may be disappointed by the inclusion of a single blanking plate with just two extra ports. Likewise, a maximum of eight Firewire connectors can be installed, but Soltek has cut back in this area by providing just one, again on a blanking plate.

Onboard are four memory slots capable of supporting 400MHz Dimms in a dual-bandwidth arrangement, with a ceiling of 4GB. The Soltek was one of four motherboards here that needed a firmware upgrade. Following this, its performance was, not surprisingly, among the best of the group. It was only denied the accolade of achieving the highest PCmark 2004 score by the slightly overclocked Chaintech Zenith 9CJS.

Despite a lack of extra connectors, the SL865Pro FGR makes amends with a good assortment of bundled software, good performance and attractive styling.

Contact: Soltek +31 10 245 7492
www.soltek-computer.de

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