Socket A Is Coming: Test of 10 Boards

Soltek SL-75KV

BIOS-Version: August 5, 2000

Board Revision: Q2

We were surprised when we checked the voltage supply for the Athlon 1000. The BIOS showed 1.89 V (under voltage default) - even though the standard value is 1.75 V.

The frequency steps for the system bus are not very transparent. In principle the PLL can be adjusted in 1 MHz steps. But unfortunately this happens with an addition to a base clock by +/- 28 MHz. Both parameters must be changed separately.

Furthermore there is no reason to run the board at the lower clock of 75 MHz because all of AMD's Socket A CPUs are officially specified with 100 MHz (200 MHz DDR).

Performance and system behavior are satisfactory. The equipment is complete as well because it also offers an AC97 sound system.

Uwe Scheffel