Today we are going to look at FIC 's entry in the nForce2 ring, the AU13 Chameleon Max. Based on the newer Crush 18D chipset that performed quite well in the ABIT NF7-S V2.0 review, the AU13 has a pretty tall order to fill. FIC is pretty diverse as to the products they offer (Graphics cards, motherboards, pc systems and internet devices), so let's see what they have to offer on the venerable nForce2 platform. The predecessor to the AU13, the AU11, was met with some praise, but lacked some of the features that most boards on the market today have, mainly onboard SATA. Well with the AU13, FIC giveth, and taketh away as well, but more on that later...
Today we are going to look at FIC 's entry in the nForce2 ring, the AU13 Chameleon Max. Based on the newer Crush 18D chipset that performed quite well in the ABIT NF7-S V2.0 review, the AU13 has a pretty tall order to fill. FIC is pretty diverse as to the products they offer (Graphics cards, motherboards, pc systems and internet devices), so let's see what they have to offer on the venerable nForce2 platform. The predecessor to the AU13, the AU11, was met with some praise, but lacked some of the features that most boards on the market today have, mainly onboard SATA. Well with the AU13, FIC giveth, and taketh away as well, but more on that later...
SPECIFICATIONS AND PACKAGING
The motherboard in my possession is the AU13 Chameleon MAX but there are two other versions of the Chameleon. I was curious to know what the differences were. Since the outside of the box simply states this is an AU13 I had to hop over to FIC's website and do some digging. The differences between the 3 models are as follows:
Once you know this it's easy to identify your motherboard simply by looking for the number of firewire/SATA connectors. The specifications on the AU13 are very similar to the AU11 Chameleon that it replaces, but the motherboard layout is different. We'll take a detailed look at the layout later on but for now we have the spec sheet straight from FIC and we'll see what comes in the package with the motherboard.
Processor AMD Athlon XP Processors AMD Athlon Processors AMD Duron Processors 200/266/333 MHz System Data Bus
Memory 3 DDR DIMM; Up to 3GB DDR 200/266/333/400 memory support supports 128bit dual channel memory achitecture
Audio Realtek ALC650 5.1 Channel Codec
Serial ATA Serial ATA: Silicon Image 3112A with RAID feature
Onboard LAN Broadcom® AC101L 10/100Mbps LAN Chip
Expand Slots 1 AGP 8X 6 PCI
Onboard IO 2 Serial ports 1 Parallel port 1 RJ-45 connector 1 6 Channel pin header 1 PS/2 mouse, 1 PS/2 keyboard connector 4 rear USB connectors with 1 front pin-header supports 6 devices (USB 2.0 support) 2 IEEE 1394 pin-headers 1 Audio connector Line-in, Line-out, MIC-in WOL/WOR pin headers 1 rear IEEE1394 connector 2 Serial ATA connectors 3 CPU/SYS/CHIP fan pin headers
Onboard IDE 2 dual-channeled enhanced PCI bus master IDE connectors ATA 100/133
System BIOS 2Mb flash ram ACPI 2.0 compliant
Protect Management Auto Power Failure Recovery ACPI ready (STD) suspend to RAM H/W Monitoring
NOVUS Features BIOS Guardian Logo Genie HotKey Overclock Partner
Power + 4pin ATX_12V
Form Factor ATX 9.6' X 12'
Package Contents 1 X Motherboard 1 X Manual 1X ATA 66 IDE cable and 1 X FDD cable 1 X 1stUtilities CD (Drivers & bundled software) 1 X I/O Shielding 1 X IEEE 1394 cable 1 X A73 (4 ports) 5.1 Channel Audio Bracket 1 Serial ATA cable kit (data and power cables)
The AU13 comes in a pretty novel package. It took me a few seconds to figure out how to open it. The green portion of the box is actually a sleeve that gets 'unsheathed' from the silver portion to reveal the motherboard box we are used to seeing. Not a big deal, but interesting none the less.
Upon emptying the box, we find a decent bundle of included hardware. Included are a 5.1 audio bracket, 2 port fire wire bracket, 2 port USB 2.0 bracket, I/O shield, 1 floppy cable, 1 IDE cable, 1 SATA power cable, and 1 SATA data cable, 1 manual, 1 software CD and 1 sticker to place inside your PC case that details the header pinouts. I was kind of disappointed that no rounded cables were included since a lot of manufacturers are including them nowadays. Although the AU13 supports two serial ATA drives, only one serial ATA kit was supplied. I don't understand why only one serial ATA kit is provided even though the Silicon Image 3112A chip is supposed to support RAID.
The software included on the CD is pretty impressive. The CDPlus software bundle contains Norton Antivirus 2003, Norton Personal Firewall 2003 and Norton Ghost 2003. Although Adobe Acrobat is free, it's included also.
FIC has created a package called NOVUS (inNOVation for USers) which is a selection of motherboard features packaged together to assist in the installation and setup of the motherboard. The incorporation of NOVUS is supposed to provide an increase in the reliability and maintainability of your new 1stMainboard, while decreasing down-time.
NOVUS includes:
BIOS Guardian - an integrated software that protects your system from viruses that attack your BIOS. BIOS Guardian effectively acts as a fire-wall to your system, as it is enabled by default and your BIOS cannot be updated without disabling B/G.
Logo Genie - a user friendly Graphic User Interface supporting Windows 98, which allows you to enhance the look of your screen while your system is booting, rather than staring at a blank boring screen while waiting for a certain O/S to slowly boot. (Note: This software is not Win2K/XP compatible)
Hot Key - a set of hot key functions that save you the task of passing through the multi-layered BIOS set-up process providing you with direct access to BIOS Sub-Menu functions.
Overclock Partner - a special NOVUS feature which assists in making the over-clocking process easier and quicker by giving you the option of re-booting your system at it's default settings instead of having to clear the CMOS memory via jumper.
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