Abit BX6 revision 2.0 Slot1 Intel 440BX motherboard
Friday, May 07, 1999
The performance tests results
All tests were all performed under Windows98.
The system setup was as following:
Motherboard: Abit BX6 revision 2.0
CPU: Intel Pentium II 350mhz
Memory: 64mb PC100 SDram (LGS)
IDE first channel Primary port: Western Digital 4.3gig UDMA66
IDE second channel Primary port: Kenwood 52X True X
AGP slot: ATI Rage Fury 128GL
ISA slot number 2: Ensoniq Soundscape soundcard
ISA slot number 1: US Robotic 56k X2 modem
OS: Win98 4.10
DirectX 6.1
Note: all test were performed with the Turbo mode enabled.
Winbench 99 CPUmark
At this moment, this is the only score obtained on this Benchmark because it has not been ran on any other BX motherboard before.
Winstone 99
Once again, this is the only score obtained on this Benchmark because it has not been ran on any other BX motherboard before. However, to give you a good idea of the Overclockability of this motherboard, I Overclocked my PII 350Mhz to 400Mhz and I obtained a tad more than 8% of performance increase at the cost of... hummmm... nothing... !
Winstone 98
The preceding version of Winstone has been used here to give you a better idea about how's performing this motherboard compared to an excellent motherboard I've tested before. However, bear in mind that the graphic card is not the same for both system and the fact that the BX6 BIOS Turbo mode function has been enabled.
Video sub-system tests
| Quake 2 ver: 3.20, screen res. 800 X 600 X 75hz using ATI Rage Furry 128GL |
| Processor and motherboard |
Demo2dm2 |
crusher.dm2 |
| Abit BX6 rev. 2.0 + PII 350Mhz |
54.4 fps |
28.4 fps |
| Abit BX6 rev. 2.0 + PII 350Mhz Overclocked at 400Mhz |
59.3 fps |
32.56 fps |
Very interesting video performances, as expected, have been obtained with this motherboard. Note that all sounds were enabled on Quake2 during this test. See the incredible performance obtained when the PII 350Mhz has been Overclocked at 400Mhz !
Hard disk drive sub-system tests
As we can see here, very good disk performances have been obtained with this motherboard.
Overall Quality Evaluation
The below evaluation table is showing the strong points and the weak points of the tested motherboard. No need to remember to you that we never buy a motherboard only for its performances. Most of today's motherboards are exhibiting performances very close to each others, so, we need additional information in order to help us distinguish what are the real advantages of a motherboard compared to the others and this is exactly where is coming into help this evaluation table.
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Abit BX6 revision 2.0 slot1 Intel 440BX
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Features
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Evaluation
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Overall Circuit Board Quality
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Poor
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Good
|
Average
|
Excellent
|
Top Grade
|
5
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Printed Circuit Overall Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
|
Excellent
|
Top Grade
|
5
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Component Layout
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Poor
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Good
|
Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Socket and Connectors Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
|
Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Capacitors Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
|
4
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Voltage Regulators Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
|
Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Processor Retention Mechanism
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top grade
|
5
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Expandability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Memory Expandability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Ease of Use
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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BIOS Setup Design Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Performance
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
|
Top Grade
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5
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Overclockability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Stability
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Included Hardware
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Bundled Software
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Users Manual Quality
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Poor
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Good
|
Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Warranty
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Packing Quality
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Pricing
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Poor
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Good
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Total Score obtained for this motherboard
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96 points out of 100
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The score obtained by this motherboard is 96 points out of 100 points. This is only the second time that a score of 96 points has been reached since I am testing motherboards on this web site and guess what, the only other motherboard to reach 96 points was also a Abit motherboard...
The strong points
The strong points of the Abit BX6 rev. 2.0 are: its excellent Overclocking, its fantastic versatility offered by its 100% Jumperless design and the unequaled choice of options supported by its BIOS Soft Menu II.
The weak points
The weak points of this motherboard are: the poor placement of the ATX connector and in my opinion an undersized filtration capacitors.
Conclusions
The BX6 revision 2.0 get my full recommendation to all those looking for the best motherboard in terms of Overclockability, expendability and ease of use. Abit not only did a great job with the BX6 revision 2.0 but as a fact they once again rewrite the rules about BX motherboards.
For any additional information, please visit Abit's web site.
