QDI/Legend PlatiniX 2E-333 6A
Board Revision: 6A
BIOS Version: 2.6 (May 21, 2003)
Legend QDI has turned to Intel's 845PE chipset for its PlatiniX 2E-333. The board's specification allows for a number of variations. Our test sample, for example, came without the network controller and the optional I/0 chip that enables an ISA slot to be incorporated. Anyone looking for a modern board with an ISA slot is normally out of luck.
The PlatiniX 2E is equipped with six PCI slots, an AGP 8X slot and two DIMM slots. QDI has also fitted a debugging system that relies on five LEDs. These light up in various combinations depending on the current activity or state of the system. The voice output approach taken by AOpen and Asus is a more elegant solution.
The accessories provided are comprehensive. As well as the usual ribbon IDE and floppy cables, there is a second IDE cable for the CD or DVD drive, a cable for the second serial port, an S/PDIF adapter, and a USB adapter with four ports (six in total).
The driver CD includes a copy of Norton Antivirus 2003. The benchmark results are consistently satisfactory, even though the PlatiniX 2E does not come top in any specific discipline. Nevertheless, this is one of the better-equipped 845PE boards, and it comes at a highly competitive price.
