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Motherboard: SOYO SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 PLATINUM :: Package and Installation
It is not easy to pack all these features on limited PCB space but ergonomics is an issue when you are installing the system. So let's check. Nearly all Dual Channel motherboards made memory slots in two different colors to make it easier and error free for the customer. Not in this case. It is one color which is purple. They named the slots as DDR-A1, DDR-A2, DDR-B1, and DDR-B2. Which slots do you think you need to fill up to get Dual channel effect? : DDR-A1 and DDR -B1 or the opposite. Power connector is in the front which I don't prefer. It is easier to tie and hide the cables in the back and it doesn't prevent the airflow that way.
The CD and AUDIO connectors were in between two PCI Slots which was not convenient as you see on the Photo.
Chipset heatsink was to close to the CPU but I tried the largest fan I could find; The Zalman CNPS7000-Cu which is 773 grams. It barely fit and it was touching the heatsink. Other than these, the physical installation was good. When you install the AGP card it doesn't block the memory slot handles. To upgrade the BIOS is pretty easy. You don't need a utility. After prepare a floppy with the new BIOS file, when on the boot-up screen you may press Alt-F2. It starts upgrading the BIOS. I have noticed that manufacturer lock their firmware for testers. When you try to upgrade firmware, it doesn't flash the BIOS. Some of them display "Evolution purpose only, not for resale. I find it pretty unpleasant and it's against them. Especially on the first releases, BIOS upgrades increase performance and if we cannot flash it test results turns out bad. And hey, we always find a way to flash it with the latest version. No matter or what. So don't bother. CPU and overclocking options were galore. You can increase the CPU frequency by 1 MHz steppings up to 511 MHz. You can lock or change AGP/PCI frequency which adds stability when you are increasing CPU-Memory subsystem frequency. You can increase DDR-CPU or AGP Voltages to pump up more energy for increasing the stability when overclocking.
I mentioned about the rich package. That package includes Symantec Personal Firewall - Antivirus and Ghost 2003 which is pretty nice for a bundle.
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