Features and main characteristics of the Foxconn N15235 motherboard. Foxconn N15235: motherboard specifications Foxconn 775 motherboards

This article is devoted to the features of computer motherboard Foxconn N15235. Consideration of the main characteristics of this PC component will allow you to evaluate the positive and weak sides of the Foxconn manufacturer's products.

The reader will be able to receive useful recommendations that will help him make a choice when buying a motherboard if necessary.

A few words about the manufacturer

Foxconn specializes in assembling electronic devices that are widely used in modern activities. This list includes samples such as smartphones, adapters, PC motherboards, Cell phones, tablets, memory modules. The manufacturer's production capacity is designed to produce a wide range of electronics.

Having impressive resources for the production of electronic products, Foxconn has entered into agreements for the production of gadgets with such global development companies as Apple, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI. However, over time, producing someone else's innovations became uninteresting, and Foxconn decided to expand its presence in the electronic products market by having products under its own brand. So users got the opportunity to get acquainted with Foxconn motherboards. The most common model that hit the domestic market is the N15235 motherboard.

Which PCs are built with the N15235 motherboard?

The N15235 motherboard was originally designed for creating powerful, productive computer machines. Also, this element was supposed to provide productive computer equipment with a graphics adapter. Everything together was aimed at only one result - the creation of a new generation of computers, which in their properties differed from their ancestors in high performance in terms of processing electronic information.

The idea concerned the creation of computer workstations, graphics devices, and electronic gaming machines. The motherboard was supposed to become a kind of connecting port between old-style computers and completely new ones.

Characteristics of the structure of the N15235 motherboard

The basis of the N15235 motherboard is the microATIx form factor. Dimensional characteristics of the part – 9.6*8.0’’. The motherboard is equipped with an LGA 775 processor socket, which is located in the middle of the top of the board. On the left side of it you can see the CPU power supply system; it consists of capacitors and stabilizers. At the very edge of the board you can see the wired interface ports. On the right side you can see two slots intended for installing RAM. Behind them are the power connectors and connections for IDE drives.

The northbridge of the chipset is located under the processor socket for installing the CPU. And directly below it are expansion slots. To the right of the slots are the south bridge, ports for connecting SATA drives and the BIOS battery, as well as the switch connector for the front panel of the PC case.

Main characteristics of the chipset

The motherboard is based on two microcircuits. The north bridge in this board model is Intel brand G31, the main component of which is a memory controller (thermal package 17W, system bus frequency 800-1333 MHz). The south bridge is ICH7, which is responsible for connecting peripheral devices in expansion slots.

What processors are installed in the socket?

The N15235 motherboard supports many modern processor devices designed for the LGA 775 socket. It has a wide range of chips. The board is most compatible with quad-core devices, such as Kor 2 Quad, dual-core devices - Kor 2 Duo, and even with Petnium Dual Kor, which have lower frequencies and reduced cache memory. The board is also in contact with dual-core Celeron Dual Core chips, which have an even smaller cache compared to the Pentium Dual Core, and the frequency is not too high.

What can we say if even single-core processors - Celeron and Pentium 4 - are compatible with this board. As you can see, the manufacturer expected that it could be used as efficiently as possible in every existing PC. But still, dual-core and quad-core variations are more appropriate for the given purpose of operating the motherboard.

List of peripheral points

The N15235 motherboard has several ports:

— for connecting a manipulator and keyboard to a computer – two ports (PS/2);

— COM - serial port;

— LPT-parallel port;

- USB port - four pieces;

— RJ-45 – port for connecting a computer to a computer network.

Characteristics of expansion slots N15235

This motherboard model is characterized by the presence of the following slots:

— PCIExpress 16 X – performs the function of installing a discrete graphics accelerator;

— PCIExpress 1 X – is responsible for installing modified controllers in the form of TV tuners;

— PCI – installation of outdated controllers for the first PCs.

If a high-performance new generation video card is used along with this motherboard, then the PCI Express 1 X port is unavailable.

Characteristics of motherboard memory capabilities

The N15235 board supports modules of one type of OP. These are "DDR2-667" and "DDR2-800". Maximum size Memory supported by the board is 4GB. Thus, the increase in memory compared to other board options is 15%. This is an impressive amount of information that can be stored on the hard drives of computer devices.

The process of connecting the front panel of the security system

To connect the front panel of the PC system unit, the motherboards located in the lower right corner are intended. These connectors are labeled accordingly, which allows you to avoid confusion during the connection process. This once again confirms the fact that the N15235 motherboard is nothing unusual.

And the buttons are labeled like this:

— system speaker for event signaling – Speaker;

- button forced reboot PC - Reset Switch;

- computer power button - Power Switch;

— indication of operation hard drive PC - HDD LED.

The process of connecting the power supply, power supply to the N15235 board

To connect the power supply to the motherboard, you need to pay attention to two connectors specifically designed for this:

— ATX12V – twenty-four pin;

- eight pin - replacing the first if necessary.

The main characteristics of the N15235 motherboard show that it is truly designed to work in tandem with many existing models of personal computers. But unfortunately, it cannot demonstrate its ability to speed up the operation of devices and increase their performance when combined with everyone.

It is more compatible with new versions of PCs than with outdated ones. But this does not mean that it cannot be used in conjunction with them and not produce its own results. They exist, but significantly lower than can be seen on the latest innovative computer models.

Users' opinions on the N15235 motherboard

Foxconn has focused its work on producing inexpensive but highly functional products. Attractive technical specifications were supposed to attract the attention of the end consumer to the new brand of computer components. And the main task was achieved by the manufacturer. The motherboard has found its application in the assembly of new generation computers. And she not only found it, but also established herself in this field as far as possible.

After all, in principle it has no shortcomings. The only negative is the inability to combine graphics media with an additional controller. What is not essential during operation computer equipment. Therefore, most computer scientists working in the segment of assembling computers from components from different manufacturers have a very positive opinion about it.

Comparison of price and relevance of application

The first release of the motherboard, of course, delighted PC builders. Moreover, they turned out to be acceptable not only functionality motherboard, but also its price. She turned out to be available. It was the low price that prompted its use in many PCs running on LGA 775.

However, at the time of the release of the N15235 motherboard, it had no analogues. It was suitable for performing work of average complexity on a PC. And this was truly a big breakthrough in the future development of personal computers.

Progress does not stand still. And Foxconn itself is moving towards constant improvement of its products. Therefore, it is not surprising that every year more profitable solutions are invented in terms of completing computer equipment. What was useful yesterday is not acceptable today. The N15235 motherboard is no exception. As good as it was when it was first released, it has become outdated.

New motherboard models with more advanced LGA 1150 or LGA 1151 connectors have appeared on the PC component market, which work great with graphics, images and sound.

The legacy N15235 board was the best Foxconn could create to improve PC performance. She managed to set the process of PC perfection in motion, which was supported by other developers.

Despite the peak of demand having passed, this motherboard is still used in practice by those who still use outdated PCs. You can buy it today for one and a half thousand rubles and still do basic work on a computer.

Alexey Shobanov

After expansion model range Intel Core 2 Duo and the subsequent sharp drop in prices for processors of this family, today prices for some of them are less than $100, which made them a very attractive solution for creating not only high-performance and gaming stations, but also inexpensive computer systems, aimed at the mass user, and even budget PCs. This, in turn, led to a demand for low-cost motherboards that could serve as the basis for such budget systems. In response to market needs, Hon Hai Precision Industry, which produces components under the Foxconn brand, introduced a new motherboard Foxconn 45CM-S, the capabilities of which we will tell our readers about.

The Foxconn 45CM-S motherboard is made in the microATX form factor (size - 24.4x22.4 cm) on a dark blue PCB, traditional for Foxconn products (Fig. 1). It was based on a set of system Intel logic 945GC Express (Intel 945GC Express + ICH7), the capabilities of which are complemented by the ITE IT8718F I/O controller. Although, according to official Intel specifications, this chipset is limited in its capabilities, being a stripped-down version of the popular Intel 945G Express integrated chipset (maximum system bus frequency 800 MHz, memory bus frequency limited to 667 MHz), Hon Hai Precision Industry specialists the opportunity to use its hidden reserves. Yes, this one motherboard supports the full range of Intel LGA775 processors, including single-core Intel Celeron D and Intel Pentium 4 5xx and 6xx series processors, dual-core Intel Pentium D 8xx and 9xx series, and in addition, processors of the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor family, and provides the ability to operate the system bus with a frequency of 533, 800 or 1066 MHz. To install system memory modules (it is assumed that unbuffered memory modules of the DDR2 SDRAM 400/533 or 667 standard will be used), the board has two DIMM slots. The memory subsystem can operate in both single- and dual-channel modes. The maximum amount of system memory supported by the board is 2 GB.

Rice. 1. Foxconn 45CM-S

The Foxconn 45CM-S motherboard has an integrated graphics core Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Intel GMA950), which fully supports the DirectX 9 API. It has a 256-bit architecture and operates at a frequency of 400 MHz. Integrated for your needs GPU uses system memory, and thanks to Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT), the amount of video memory dynamically changes and can reach 192 MB. This graphic solution provides the ability to display images with a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 pixels and a color depth of 32 bits, that is, it meets the requirements for working with the rapidly growing popularity of HD video (High Definition), having a resolution of 720 or 1080 horizontal lines. It is also worth noting that this integrated graphics core supports the so-called High Definition Hardware Motion Compensation technology, which performs hardware acceleration of playback of MPEG-2 video files, which is especially important when playing HD video recorded at high bitrates. Additionally, with an Advanced Digital Display 2 (ADD2) card installed in the PCI Express x16 slot, graphics Intel core GMA950 supports additional GUI(this can be a DVI or S-Video TV Out interface). If the capabilities of the graphics core still turn out to be insufficient, the user can always install a discrete graphics card. By the way, in addition to this slot for installing additional cards that expand the capabilities of the motherboard, there are two more PCI slots and one PCI Express x1 slot.

For organization network connection Foxconn 45CM-S provides the user with a 100 Mbps Realtek RTL8100C Ethernet controller. The audio system here is implemented by combining the HDA (High Definition Audio) controller integrated into the ICH7 and the Realtek ALC883 audio codec, which provides the ability to reproduce 5.1 audio. To connect external audio devices, there are three audio connectors on the output panel of the motherboard.

In addition to the mentioned audio connectors, the output panel of the board contains two PS/2 connectors (for connecting a mouse and keyboard), parallel (LPT) and serial (COM) ports, a VGA connector, an RJ-45 connector and four USB port 2.0 (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. FOXCONN 45CM-S motherboard output panel

In total, Foxconn 45CM-S supports eight USB ports - four more, in addition to the four available on the output panel, can be implemented using additional expansion strips, for connecting which there are two connectors on the board (two ports per connector).

To build a disk subsystem, the board provides four SATA II ports, one PATA connector that supports connecting up to two devices with an ATA 100 or ATAPI interface, as well as a connector for connecting FDD.

The system components are powered by a three-channel VRM unit.

Aluminum plate radiators are used to cool the north and south bridge chips. In addition, this motherboard has two headers for connecting cooling fans: a four-pin header for the processor fan (CPU FAN) and a three-pin header for the system fan (SYS FAN). By the way, proprietary Smart Fan Commander technology is used to control the rotation speed of cooling fans. In addition to it, the Foxconn 45CM-S motherboard supports a number of proprietary functions, including CPU Protection (comprehensive protection central processor and systems that provide automatic shutdown power supply when the processor temperature reaches a critical value) and BIOS Rescue (recovering damaged BIOS code using a rescue floppy disk).

Versatile enough system board within the LGA775 processor socket is Foxconn N15235. Technical characteristics, a list of supported processors and other important features of this solution will be discussed in detail in the future. This component allows you to assemble both budget computing systems, entry level, as well as premium, high-performance computers.

Main settings

The LGA775 socket is at the heart of the Foxconn N15235 motherboard. The technical characteristics indicate support for all possible processor devices for this platform, both outdated and the most recent. The board itself comes in mATX format. As a result, it is universal and allows you to assemble computers of any level.

Chipset and processors

The G31 chipset from Intel is the basis of the Foxconn N15235. Its technical characteristics, as noted earlier, allow the installation of any chip for LGA775. In the latter case, the list of processors includes the following models:

• Budget Celeron for office and other low-performance computers.
• Pentium for the sale of all PCs in the mid-price range.
• Premium computers within LGA775 were based on chips Core series 2Duo (2 cores) and Core 2Quad (4 computing units).

Communication and memory

The Foxconn N15235 motherboard is equipped with a communications suite that is up-to-date even by today’s standards. First of all, it is necessary to highlight the presence of a PCI E slot in the 16X version for installing a high-performance graphics adapter. There is only one of him. Also on this decision there is one more slot PCI extensions E in 1X version. In addition to this, this product is equipped with PCI slots. There are three of them. The list of ports consists of:

• 2 PS/2 sockets, which are used to connect a keyboard and mouse.
• Four versatile, functional ports USB format revision 2.0.
• RJ-45 network jack for network connection.
• 3 audio jacks for connecting with external acoustics.

The motherboard in question can work with DDR2 RAM. There are 4 such slots, and each of them can accommodate a 4 GB stick. That is, this board can have 16 GB installed in its maximum configuration. The recommended operating frequency of memory chips is 400 MHz or 533 MHz.

Reviews. Price. Summary

For its computing platform, the optimal solution is Foxconn N15235. Its technical characteristics are really excellent and allow you to create system units any level of complexity and performance. But the LGA775 processor socket is now outdated and for this reason alone the component discussed in this article has lost its relevance. It is this drawback that the owners point out in the reviews.

The N15235 appeared on the market in 2008, when socket 775 was gaining popularity. Like many motherboards, the Foxconn n15235 has its own unique characteristics, which will be demonstrated below.

Motherboard Specifications

Main feature What makes this motherboard unique is the presence of the G31 chipset, manufactured by Intel.

The board's parameters may indicate that it is universal, that is, suitable for both middle-class computers and high-performance systems. It is these parameters and affordable price that made this motherboard popular among users.

The main characteristic of the Foxconn n15235 is that at one time it was the most popular among users of Intel processors. The form factor of the motherboard corresponds to the dimensions of microATX, which allows you to build a small-sized system on its basis, but such a motherboard can also fit into an ATX case.

The processors supported by Foxconn n15235 can be either dual-core or quad-core. capable of handling low, medium and high performance processors. The main thing is suitable socket.

Supported memory and connected interfaces

The characteristics of the Foxconn n15235 are amazing to this day, since it has a set of interfaces for a far from low-performance system. So, the presence of a PCI Express 16X slot allows you to connect a discrete video card to the motherboard to not only improve image quality, but also run computer games.

There are also two PS/2 connectors on the board, which are designed to connect a keyboard and mouse. Four USB 2.0 outputs that allow you to transfer data from and to a storage device without using a drive. For network connection, an RJ-45 connector and three audio outputs are provided for connecting the appropriate equipment.

Regarding the characteristics of Foxconn n15235 random access memory, then this motherboard contains two slots for placing RAM strips. The supported RAM format is DDR2, and the allowed maximum memory capacity is 8 gigabytes. The n15235 can support RAM frequencies up to 800 megahertz, but the operating frequency of the bar is rarely higher than 500 megahertz.

Intel and NVIDIA corporations, which have grown to unprecedented proportions, are gradually ousting other manufacturers from the chipset market. Even until relatively recently, VIA felt almost a monopolist among system logic sets for AMD processors. But faster, more reliable and high-quality chipsets of the nForce 2/3/4 series, plus NVIDIA’s skillful policies and calculated marketing moves, forced VIA to reduce production several times and be content with only a small part of the delicious pie that the company had been getting almost entirely for so long.

But today we'll talk about another chipset manufacturer that did not initially set itself the goal of conquering the market or winning the competition. The company has been producing affordable, functional platforms for office workstations and entry-level home computers for many years. Probably everyone has already guessed that this is the SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) company. Yes, SiS products, as a rule, do not have high performance, but they have a full set of all necessary functions and always attract with their low price. Today's article is devoted to two new products from the company - SiS649 and SiS661FX, which are the basis of the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS and Foxconn 661FX7MF-S motherboards.

I propose to dwell in more detail on the characteristics of the SiS649/661FX chipsets and the SiS964/965L south bridge.

The SiS649 chipset is designed to work with Intel Pentium 4/Celeron processors. The official website also contains information that SiS649 is compatible with dual-core Pentium D. It is not yet known whether the system can operate without replacing the power supply with an additional 8-pin connector, but in the case of Intel chipset 955X, this is a must-have item. The Northbridge supports two types of memory - DDR266/333/400 and DDR II 400/533. The implementation of one or another standard is left to the choice of the board manufacturer. Unfortunately, there is no support for dual-channel architecture. The chipset uses the already familiar PCI Express x16 as a graphical interface.

A few words about the SIS965L south bridge. In practice, there are several options for packaging the SiS649 chipset, in particular, on the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS motherboard, the manufacturer decided to ignore the SiS recommendations and instead of the SiS965L south bridge, used the simpler SiS964. But since we have already touched on the topic of SiS965L, we will briefly highlight its advantages, and we will consider the SiS964 south bridge using the example of the SiS661FX chipset a little later. So, SiS965L allows you to install up to six PCI slots and up to two PCI-Express x1. Of course, you are unlikely to find a model with so many slots, and in practice, most likely, you will find boards with 3xPCI + 2xPCI-E combinations. Through the south bridge, you can implement support for two SATA devices with support for RAID 0, 1 and JBOD, as well as eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports. Support for 8-channel audio and local network with a data transfer rate of 10/100 Mbit/s. Note that the server and south bridge exchange data via a special MuTIOL interface at a speed of 1 Gb/s.

SiS661FX is a system logic set of a later development by the company; accordingly, the north bridge does not support DDR II and the PCI-Express interface. The orientation towards the office sector is emphasized by the integrated graphics, called SiS Mirage Graphics Engine. The graphics core has hardware support for the DirectX 7.0 API, as well as software compatibility with Microsoft DirectX 9.0. The operating frequency of the graphics core is equal to 133 MHz. The SiS964 southbridge (as we have already noted, used by both boards) is a previous version of the SiS965L. This means that the SiS964 is deprived of support for the PCI-Express x1 interface, and the audio subsystem is narrowed to six channels. Otherwise, the characteristics of the south bridges are identical. Having looked at the chipsets, let's move on to the technical characteristics of Foxconn boards.

Technical characteristics of Foxconn 6497MB-ERS and Foxconn 661FX7MF-S.

	6497 M.B.- ERS		661 FX7 M.F.- S
North Bridge:
South Bridge:
Supported processors:	Intel Pentium 4, Socket 775; 533/800MHz FSB; Intel Prescott and Celeron D support; Intel Hyper-Threading support.
	Single channel, unbuffered, 2.5V. DDR266/333/400, two 184-pin connector DIMM, up to 2GB
	Discrete		Built-in SiS controller and AGP 8X slot
IDE/ATA support:	2 x ATA/133 + 2 x SATA/150 (w/ RAID) Supports RAID 0, 1, JBOD
	Built-in 5.1-channel AC’97 based on Realtek ALC655 audio codec.
	Built-in controller Fast Ethernet(10/100) Realtek RTL8201BL		Built-in Fast Ethernet (10/100) MAC+PHY controller
	2; 1 x 6-pin on rear panel + 1 on external module.
	Up to 8; 4 on the rear panel + 2 x 2 ports on the external module; ver. 2.0
Rear Ports:	1 x PS/2 keyboard; 1 x PS/2 mouse; 1 x RJ45 (LAN); 1 x line-in/line-out/mic (audio); 1 x parallel; 1 x S/PDIF (coax out).		1 x VGA (integrated graphics) 1 x PS/2 keyboard; 1 x PS/2 mouse; 1 x line-in/line-out/mic (audio) 1 x parallel;
	4Mb flash EEPROM w/ LAN boot, PnP, ACPI, WfM, DMI 2.0,
Special features:	Wake-on-LAN (WOL), suspend-to-RAM (STR, S3), suspend-to-disk (STD, S4), SuperUtilities - SuperBoot, SuperBIOS-Protect, SuperRecovery, SuperSpeed, SuperStep, SuperLogo and SuperUpdate
Overclocking options:	Possibility of adjusting FSB frequency; Customizable memory timings.
Form factor

Complete set of models.

Both Foxconn models are representatives of products in the lower price range, however, like most motherboards based on SiS chipsets. That is why manufacturers equip their products with only the essentials. In our case, the boards had:

• Plug for the rear panel of ports;
• One 80-wire IDE cable;
• One SATA cable;
• One FDD cable;
• Instructions for use and setup.
• A disk with drivers for controllers and the proprietary SuperUtilities program.
• One adapter for powering SATA hard drives.

Also included with the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS motherboard we found a floppy disk with drivers for the RAID controller and a branded insert advertising its products:

Design and layout of elements on the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS board.

The Foxconn 6497MB-ERS motherboard is made according to the microATX standard, and is mounted in the case using four bolts.

The small size of the board inevitably led to certain difficulties. For example, a video card installed in a PCI-Express x16 slot automatically locks the latches of the DIMM slots, which prevents the installation of memory modules.

Again, due to its compact size, the motherboard has only two DIMM slots.

The north bridge has a nice aluminum radiator with the company logo. During operation, it is slightly warm, which does not indicate a bad thermal interface, but rather the low heat dissipation of the north bridge, which has always been characteristic of SiS chipsets.

The south bridge does not have cooling, however, this is not necessary. Although if we compare the temperature of SiS964 with its predecessor SiS962, the heat dissipation of the latter was significantly lower.

When installing a video card, the cooling system can cover the first PCI slot.

FDD and IDE connectors are located at the edge of the board, parallel to the memory slots, which is very convenient. The main 24-pin power connector is also located here. It has a universal mount for all power supplies, both with 20 and 24-pin connectors.

In the lower corner there are SATA connectors and a small system speaker is installed here.

By the way, pay attention to the SATA connectors - for ease of installation, the manufacturer turned the second connector upside down.

Unfortunately, the function panel is neither color-coded nor labeled.

There are several jumpers on the board. One is responsible for resetting the BIOS, two for setting up the audio system and, finally, the last fourth is used to enable protection against unauthorized flashing of the BIOS firmware or exposure to a virus. An undeniable advantage is the presence of special “ears” for ease of installation.

Minor changes have been made to the rear panel of ports, in particular, the second COM port has been replaced by a coaxial audio output and an IEEE1394 port.

Design and layout of elements on the Foxconn 661FX7MF-S board.

The Foxconn 661FX7MF-S model also has a microATX form factor, fastening is carried out using four bolts.

The inconvenient location of certain elements can again be attributed to the small size. In particular, the Foxconn 661FX7MF-S motherboard has the same errors as its predecessor. This may include the video card blocking the latches of the memory slots and the inaccessibility of the first PCI slot when the video card is installed.

However, the board has its own design, which made a number of changes in the arrangement of elements.

First, let's note the inconvenient location of the FDD connector under the last PCI slot.

The next negative point is the capacitor installed near the processor socket. Some coolers may be difficult to install.

But the IDE and the main 20-pin power connector have retained their convenient location.

This time the jumpers do not have convenient “ears”.

F-panel is devoid of any inscriptions and color coding.

I would also like to note that, despite the use of the built-in graphics core, the radiator remained slightly warm under load.

On the rear panel of ports, the second COM port has been replaced by a video output in D-SUB format.

There is still a reset option available from the jumpers on the board BIOS settings and setting up the audio subsystem.

Expansion options for Foxconn 6497MB-ERS and Foxconn 661FX7MF-S boards.

Expansion options for Foxconn 6497MB-ERS board.

Let's look at the disk subsystem of the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS motherboard. Built-in IDE and SATA controllers allow you to connect up to four PATA devices and two devices using the SATA interface. You can also organize a RAID array of levels 0 and 1 for PATA, as well as RAID 0, 1 and JBOD for SATA hard drives. As a result, six hard drives can be connected to the system.

The motherboard allows the use of eight USB ports, four of which are on the rear panel, the rest can be connected using an external module, which, unfortunately, is not included in the kit.

The sound is implemented using a Realtek ALC655 controller. There is support for six-channel audio, as well as “Auto Jack Sensing” technology, with which the motherboard automatically detects what type of audio device is connected. There are no complaints about the sound quality.

The board has a 10/100 Mbit/s Fast Ethernet network controller Realtek RTL8201BL.

The ITE IT8705F controller is responsible for monitoring the system, which monitors the rotation of two fans and the voltage on the branches +3.3V, +5V, +12V, etc.

There is an IEEE 1934 port on the rear panel, which is routed using a controller from Texas Instruments. Another one can be connected via a special module.

Expansion options for Foxconn 661FX7MF-S board.

As already noted, both motherboards use the SiS964 southbridge. Consequently, the capabilities of the boards in terms of implementation of expansion slots are generally the same. The only thing is that Foxconn 661FX7MF-S does not support IEEE 1394 (although space for the controller is reserved on the PCB), and the Realtek RTL8201BL network chip was replaced by the less popular IC+ IP101.

Data transmission is declared at a speed of 10/100 Mbit/s. Otherwise, the boards' capabilities are the same.

Let's move on to considering the capabilities of the BIOS.

BIOS and overclocking.

Both boards use AWARD BIOS from Phoenix.

Because Board BIOS had no differences, except that on Foxconn 6497MB-ERS there is no setting for the built-in graphics core, let's look at the BIOS capabilities using the example of Foxconn 661FX7MF-S.

So, through the main menu we can get to the DRAM clock/Timing control section, where the user is given the opportunity to configure memory timings. There are only four parameters to choose from - DRAM CAS Latency, which can operate in 2, 2.5 and 3 clock cycles, RAS Active Time (tRAS) (from 4T to 9T), RAS Precharge Time (tRP) and RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD ).

The Foxconn 661FX7MF-S motherboard allows you to customize the built-in graphics core, in particular, select the amount of memory allocated for storing textures and necessary data, and also increase the frequency of the graphics core from the standard 133 MHz to 200 MHz with an intermediate value of 166 MHz. However, changing this parameter does not in any way affect the performance of the video subsystem, and, according to the readings of the EVEREST Ultimate Edition program, the frequency of the graphics chip remains at 133 MHz.

In the monitoring section you can monitor the state of the system.

The most important section for an overclocker, Frequency/Voltage Control, does not shine with capabilities and has only two parameters - AUTO Detect DIMM/PCI Clock, which can take the values ​​Disable and Enable, as well as the ability to reduce electrical noise by using the Spread Spectrum function.

The main overclocking functions are concentrated in the BIOS Features section, although there are not many of them either. The user is only given the opportunity to increase the processor bus frequency and select a divider to set the memory frequency.

The processor power converter is made according to a three-channel circuit; it includes six capacitors with a capacity of 3300 μF, three with a capacity of 1800 μF, and several more less capacitive ones.

In a practical test, the Foxconn 6497MB-ERS motherboard showed the expected result,

but Foxconn 661FX7MF-S refused to overclock the processor, due to the inoperability of the SATA hard drive.

Performance and conclusions.

Participated in testing motherboards test stand following configuration:

• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 515 (LGA775; 2.39GHz; 533MHz FSB; 1MB L2; Prescott D0)
• Memory: 2x256MB DDR400 Hynix (Timings SPD)
• MP: Foxconn 6497MB-ERS; Foxconn 661FX7MF-S.
• Video card: Gigabyte Radeon 9600XT AGP 128MB (500/600) and ASUS GeForce 6600 PCI-E 128MB (515/685).
• Winchester: Maxtor DiamondMAX 10; 200GB; SATA; NCQ.
• Power supply: PowerMan 300W.
• NVIDIA ForceWare 71.89.
• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

First we want to demonstrate the integrated graphics performance of the Foxconn 661FX7MF-S board. For comparison, the results obtained on the Gigabyte Radeon 9600XT video card are shown. All settings were set to default.

In general, these Foxconn motherboards do not have serious flaws in the layout of elements, and the functional set and configuration is sufficient to create an inexpensive work computer. What else does a good workhorse need?

All questions, comments and suggestions can and should be asked at