FIC VL11PE
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Today we are straying from the norm in order to checkout the new Intel Springdale based motherboard from FIC. The VL11PE. Just about everyone has heard of First International Computer but rarely do we see products from them targeted towards the performance consumer or "enthusiast" type crowd. Not only does FIC have an impressive line of computer related products on their own, they also manufacture parts and peripherals for several other companies out there that you may not even know about and have been around since 1980 making quality parts for the computer industry. Today however we are focusing solely on the Springdale VL11PE and bring you a glimpse of what you can expect to see from the new Intel chipset that is targeted towards the mainstream PC market.
The Company
Just a quick company blurb about FIC.
"First International Computer, Inc. (FIC), founded in 1980, is one of the world's leading companies in the design and production of mainboards, PC systems, servers, and notebooks. FIC has experienced a 15% growth in worldwide sales revenues, up to US$2.7 billion. The company has nine branch offices, eight manufacturing and assembly sites (with 202,706 sq. meters of manufacturing capacity), and more than 4,500 employees worldwide. FIC is extremely flexible, firmly established in OEM/ODM and distribution markets, and a leading supplier of many of the industry's most respected PC brand names."
Hardware Specs
Lets checkout the specifications of this particular motherboard.
Processor
Intelฎ Pentiumฎ 4 (Socket 478) Processor 2.4GH - .3.06GHz and up*
Prescott CPU Support
400/533/800 FSB MHz
Chipsets
North Bridge: Intel 865PE
South Bridge: Intel ICH5R
Memory
4 DIMM slot
PC 2100/2700/3200 DDR SDRAM support.
SPD Support
Max. Cap. Is 2 GB for each channel / 4GB total
IDE Interface
2 Dual-Channeled Enhanced PCI Bus Master IDE Connectors Support Ultra DMA ATA 66/100
VGA Interface
1 x AGP 4X / 8X slot
Audio Interface
AC97 codec 5.1 Channel
Realtek ALC650
Rear Out, Center/Bass(Sub Woofer), Optical Coaxial In/Out, SPDIF In/Out connector
Expansion Slots
1 x AGP, 5 x PCI
Standard I/O
2 x PS2 Connectors.
1 x Audio connector: MIC-In, Line-In, Line-Out
1 x COM port
1 x (1 x RJ45 + 2 x USB 2.0)
1 Parallel Port
1 x (2 x USB 2.0)
System BIOS
ACPI, APM, DMI, SMBIOS, PnP, USB, PC99, PC2001, Y2K Compliant
LAN*
Broadcom 4401KFB 10/100M LAN/5705KFB GignLan
GbE(optional)
IEEE 1394*
Agere 2 ports (option)
Serial ATA/RAID
Slilcon lmage 2 ports, RAID 0, 1 support
Intel ICH5R 2 ports RAID 0, 1 support
Form Factor
ATX 12 x 9.6
Key Features
NOVUS
Suspend to RAM
ACPI Ready, RTC Alarm, Intel WfM (,Wake-on-Ring), suspend to RAM
Auto-Power Failure Recovery, Keyboard/ Mouse Power On
CD Utilities with enhanced drivers
Hardware based intelligent anti-virus protection
HW Monitoring and Hard Disk Fault Prediction
Quick Overview
Normally we'll have an "Out of the Box" section, but since this is a pre-production board we didn't get the full package of goodies. However FIC has confirmed that the setup will come with a new driver CD, IDE and Floppy Cables, SATA Cable, Manual as well as the I/O shield.
Upon first inspection the board looks fairly impressive. We see the normal brown PCB however FIC has thrown some colors in with lime green DDR Slots and Blue PCI's, not to mention a few other colors sporadically placed around the board. I'm glad to see hardware manufacturers doing this type of "coloring" since the hardware mod community can take advantage of these sharp looks to show off in their windowed case. We also have been given word that the final production model will look much like it's bigger brother, the P4-875P MAX Montherboard, which has a nice red PCB.
Lets move on to page 2 and briefly cover the new Springdale 865PE chipset and then dig into the layout of the motherboard itself.
Next: FIC VL11PE >>
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