A Real Nail-Biter: Four Boards With ALi Magik 1

Transcend TS-ALR4: Heavy Braking

BIOS: Award Rev. 1.15 (05.02.2001)

Board revision: 1.05

The Transcend TS-ALR4 comes in a modest and unobtrusive package. Numerous problems cropped up in the test: the factory-installed BIOS did not permit stable operation. It was only when the BIOS was updated to Version 1.15 that the board exhibited stable system performance. At the same time, the performance suffered an immense drop: In this test quartet, the Transcend easily takes last place.

The setting options of this board are rather variable: the front-side bus speed, the multiplier and the CPU core voltage could be adjusted via jumpers and, optionally, with the BIOS. Because of its deficient performance, the Transcend is not suitable for fans of overclocking. The Transcend is the only board in the test group to have a total of six PCI slots.