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Asus CUBX Motherboard

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PCQ Bureau
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Asus CUBX

FCPGA motherboard for Celeron and PIII processors. Rs 8,950

Features: Supports PIII and Celeron; FSB of 66 and 100 MHz; four IDE channels.

Pros: Good performance; great set of features.

Cons: None. 

Source: Zeta Technologies

A/2 , Shreeji Niketan

541/D, Dr Ambedkar Road, Matunga (C. R.)

Mumbai 400019. 

Tel: 22-4102288 Fax: 4102277 

E-mail: Website: www.zetaindia.com   
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This motherboard from Asus is based on Intel’s 440BX
chipset and can house either a PIII–for 100 MHz FSB, or Celeron–for 66 MHz
FSB processor in its FCPGA slot. It has DIP switches that can be configured in
Auto mode to automatically recognize an inserted processor. In this mode, you
can also change the FSB settings through the BIOS. You could also manually make
FSB adjustments using the DIP switches.

The motherboard performed well in all our tests, with both Celeron 500 MHz and PIII/700 MHz processorsThe
CUBX is laid out on an ATX form factor and all the external ports are color
coded for smooth installation. Expansion on this motherboard is not a problem,
as it comes with five PCI slots, one ISA slot for older cards, and support for
up to 1 GB of SDRAM. Another unique feature are four IDE channels (2 ATA/33, 2
ATA/66), compared to two in most motherboards. It also has an external AGP (2x)
slot where you can plug in your graphics card.

We tested the motherboard for games, graphics, and
productivity applications. We used PIII/700 MHz and Celeron 500 MHz processors,
with 64 MB SDRAM, and a Creative GeForce AGP card with 32 MB VRAM. Scores for
both processors were pretty good in all benchmarks.

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In productivity applications, which we tested with Business
Winstone 99, the Celeron got a score of 20.5 while the PIII scored 26. Next, we
moved to graphics and gaming performance using 3D Winbench99, Quake III Arena,
and Intel Game Launcher benchmarks. The overall scores and frame rates were
good, even with the Celeron processor. It got a 905 in 3D Winbench 99, and frame
rates ranging from 63 (at 800x600 resolution and 16-bit color depth) to 43 (at
1,024x768 resolution with 32-bit color depth) in Quake III Arena. Intel Game
Launcher runs three graphics-intensive games, measures their frame rates, and
gives an overall score. With the Celeron, the scores stood at 109,138, and 124
in Dispatched, Iron Strategy and Battlezone II respectively.

After switching to a PIII/700, it gave a score of 1140 in 3D
Winbench 99 and frame rates of 97 (at 800x600 resolution and 16-bit color depth)
to 43 (at 1,024x768 resolution with 32-bit color depth) in Quake III Arena. In
IGL, it managed to scored 318, 375, 256 in Dispatched, Iron Strategy, and
Battlezone II respectively.

The motherboard’s scores for both processors are quite
good, compared to motherboards we’ve reviewed so far. The manual from Asus is
as good as ever–everything is explained in detail with figures and diagrams.
The board comes bundled with Intel LANDesk Client Manager 6, Asus PC Probe 2.11,
PC-Cillin98 anti-virus software, and Adobe Acrobat Reader 4. PC Probe is a very
handy utility that can tell you, among other things, your CPU’s temperature,
fan speed, and voltage. Overall, a great choice for any type of user.

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