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The motherboard reviews we bring you usually
focus on extreme performance, hence our site's name. Today, we will
divert our attention
to an extraordinary new motherboard. When
we first got word of this new board, we just had to get our hands on one for
review. I know what you are probably thinking...Just another P4
motherboard right? Wrong! This board is unlike any other board
currently available. Its main target? Those interested in building
a Media Center PC. Home Theater and Media Center PC's
have gained quite a bit of interest over the past few months and Soyo is quite
aware of this growing trend and that is why they have introduced the new SY-P4VAL. Sporting
an advanced BIOS technology, this board allows you to turn "it" on without
actually turning it on. What? Well, the board features a new
version M BIOS ("Direct ON") which gives you access to multimedia functions
without having to go through the whole boot up process. Sounds
intriguing? Let's have a closer look then...
Packaging & Bundle
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Included in the box is a quick start guide, one IDE ribbon cable, one floppy
ribbon cable, driver CD, I/O plate and a informative M BIOS start-up guide.
Here
is some really good news! Soyo has decided that it will be selling this
board complete with a TV Tuner Card so that all can take full advantage of its
excellent multi-media capabilities.
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Soyo
kindly sent a pre-production sample of what will possibly be bundled along
with this motherboard.
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The
attractive blue PCB Tuner Card features a TV antenna input, S-Video input,
Composite input and audio in/out jacks. There is a small receiver jack
as well but it is likely that Soyo will include a remote receiver like the one
below.
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**click to enlarge** |
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The
receiver basically plugs into your motherboard's keyboard and mouse ports to
allow keyboard/mouse functionality via the remote control.
**click to enlarge**
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I love the remote control, especially when
compared to ATI's bulkier remote. I prefer the roller ball over the
D-Pad style.
Specifications
Processor
Click here for maximum CPU support
Chipset Description
VIA P4M266A / 8235 chipset
Supports 533/400 MHz FSB
Graphics Info
on board 32MB shared graphic
Form Factor
ATX
Memory Description
Two 184-pin DDR SDRAM 2.5V DIMM sockets support up to 2GB (DDR 200/266)
One 168-pin SDRAM 3.3V DIMM Socket support up to 1GB (PC100/133)
Expansion Slots
Five 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (V2.2 compliant)
One AGP slot (support 2x/4x mode)
IDE Type
UDMA 100/133
IDE Description
Two independent channels for Four IDE devices
Supports up to PIO Mode 5 and UDMA 100/133
Two PCI bus mastering ATA E-IDE ports
Audio Description
On board 6 channels AC97 Codec audio solution
IO Port Description
Two RS-232 serial ports (1*rear, 1*pin header)
One parallel printer port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
One FDD port (Supports 3 mode, 1.2/1.44/2.88 MB FDD
Provides IrDA/FIR ports with optional cable for transceiver
Provides 6 USB2.0 ports (4*rear, 2*pin header)
IO Connection Description
PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports One RJ45 connector
Four USB ports
One VGA ports
One D-Sub 9-pin male serial ports
One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
Audio I/O: LINE-Outx1 , LINE-Inx1, MIC JACK x1
BIOS Description
Award PCI BIOS with ACPI function
Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE/SCSI/CD-ROM/FDD LS120/ZIP
2 Mb Flash ROM
Health Monitoring Description
On-board voltage monitors for +3.3V, +5V, +12V, VCORE
CPU fan speed monitor
CPU temperature monitoring through flexible thermal sensor
Dimension Description
Four layers, 30.5 cm x 21.5 cm (12” x 8.5”)
ATX form factor
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