Board Features

Specifications

We've already mentioned the overclocking features present on the AD11, in addition the board sports 2 DIMM sockets for up to 1GB PC2100 DDR SDRAM and utilizes VIA's 686B South Bridge for I/O duties. Most motherboard manufacturers are sticking with VIA's 686B chip for their 760 designs for cost reasons. We just wish the chip supported 6 PCI bus masters.

Lets take a look at the other features supported by the AD11:

Features

AMD 761 & VIA 686B chipset

2 DDR DIMM; up to 1GB PC2100 DDR-SDRAM

1 AGP (4X), 5 PCI, 1 CNR

Supports 1X/2X/4X AGP Mode

CPU clock ratio from 5.0 to 12.5

2 dual-channeled enhanced PCI Bus Master IDE connectors provides Ultra DMA 33/66/100

2 serial ports, 1 parallel port, 1 PS/2 mouse and keyboard connector, 2 USB conectors + 1 USB front pin-header supports 2 devices, 1 media connector (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in, Game port)

Integrated audio in the VIA 686B (Audio could be disabled via BIOS)

ATX form factor, Board size: 8.8" x 12"

System up and running

Nice profile view of the AD11

Unlike the GA-7DXC, the AD11 doesn't feature active cooling on the 761 North Bridge. While this is in line with AMD's reference Corona motherboard we tested last year, we know from experience that the North Bridge can get quite hot, especially when overclocked and running under load. Both of the other manufacturers with 760 motherboards on the market (ASUS and Gigabyte) have integrated fans to keep the chip cool, so we were a bit disappointed to see this feature missing on the AD11. We'll see if this omission has any ramifications later in this review.

Due to a last minute spec change, motherboard manufacturers are shipping their 760 products with only two DIMM sockets. Intel ran into a similar glitch in late 1999 with their 820 chipset and RDRAM.

NOVUS

Like FIC's previous motherboards, the AD11 features NOVUS to aid users in the installation, setup, and tweaking of their board. We discussed NOVUS in the AZ11E review; click here to read more about it (link opens a new window). One feature we missed however was CD Pro. Most motherboard manufacturers dump the drivers in a directory, leaving the end user to determine which drivers to install. With CD Pro, all the work can be automatically done for you. Simply run the auto install and CD Pro will install everything in the proper sequence (AMD AGP miniport, followed by VIA GART driver, and finally, the audio driver) with reboots between each installation. The only flaw in CD Pro we noticed is the use of the entire VIA 4-in-1 pack, which attempts to install the VIA AGP driver by default. Since the AMD miniport handles this duty, this driver isn't necessary.

Another profile shot