Asus A7V266-E
Stephen Cooper, January 19th 2002
..:: Package ::..
What exactly is included with the A7V266-E? Well, Asus includes their usual add-on USB 1.1 adapter card, the motherboard manual, a quick start guide in no less than 11 different languages, and of course, one floppy cable, two ATA/100 IDE cables, and a spare packet of jumpers in case you happen to lose one…or maybe three if you’re a total klutz. The motherboard manual is of the usual Asus quality, top notch. Everything you need to know is discussed along with some more advanced BIOS topics. I’d like to see Asus dig deeper into the more advanced settings, but I can understand why they don’t. Asus has also included their quick start guide for beginners. This guide covers everything you need to know about building a PC in a few short pages. Let’s take a look at some of the special features on the A7V266-E.
..:: Special Features ::..
The first thing we’ll be taking a look at are some of the special features offered by the A7V266-E. Here’s a quick listing of the features I will be covering during this section of the review.
JumperFree Mode
AGP Pro / ACR Slot
Fan Status Monitoring
Temperature Monitoring and Alert
Keyboard Wake Up
USB Device Wake Up
Let’s start off with Asus’ trademark “JumperFree Mode.” For those who don’t know, this is exactly what it sounds like. Nearly everything controlled by jumpers, or DIP switches on the mainboard can be set in the BIOS. This gives both OEM’s and performance system builders what they want. OEM’s can set all the settings via jumpers and DIP switches to prevent the general user from harming there system, while the performance builder gets the ease of setting voltages, clock frequencies and other things within the BIOS itself. One thing I feel I should note is that the A7V266-E is not completely jumper free. Generally speaking this isn’t much of a problem; however the fact that the DRAM voltage can only be adjusted via jumpers may annoy some. The offered voltages are 2.5, 2.65, 2.75, and 2.8 volts. I’m not quite sure why Asus left this option out of the BIOS, but as stated before, it truly isn’t that big of a deal.
The AGP Pro slot is another added feature to the A7V266-E. Not many power users will be taking advantage of this as AGP Pro cards are only for high-end CAD workstations, and systems used for such purposes. This will however help Asus in the OEM market which is why the feature is included. The ACR slot will also help Asus out in the OEM market. I would prefer seeing a 6th PCI slot added onto this board in place of the ACR slot.
The A7V266-E allows for Fan, Temperature, and Voltage monitoring. These features can be lifesavers if they are ever needed. In the BIOS, limits can be set for fan RPM’s, along with maximum allotted temperatures. Fan RPM’s are monitored for dead fans, or failing fans (this feature has saved me a processor or two many times.) If the system detects high temperatures, you have the option to have the computer completely shut off, or allow the motherboard to throttle the CPU speed. These features can be adjusted via the BIOS.
Two new features I have not yet had a chance to work with are the Keyboard, and USB Wake Up options. What exactly are these? Well, let’s start off with the Keyboard Wake Up option. This option allows for the computer to be powered on without having to press the power button. After setting the KBWK jumper to ensure the feature is enabled, you enter the BIOS and select which key you’d like to use to power on your system, Enter, Spacebar, or Ctrl-Esc. Once set, your computer may be powered on using the keyboard. This option of course comes with some requirements. You’ll need a power supply capable of pushing 300mA on the +5VSB lead. USB Wake Up is slightly different. This option is used to awaken your computer from a sleep state. The jumper allows two settings, +5V, and +5VSB. You set the jumper to +5V to allow for the computer to wake up from the S1 sleep state (CPU stopped, RAM refreshed, system is in low-power mode) using the USB devices. Setting this jumper to +5VSB allows for wake up from an S3 sleep state (no power to the CPU, RAM is slow refresh state, PSU in reduced power mode) using the USB devices. Just as with the keyboard option this has a requirement also. If you plan on setting this jumper to +5VSB, you’ll need to make sure your PSU can run 2A on the +5VSB line. One beef I, along with many others, have with this board has to do with these two features. If you have an optical mouse, even when you turn off your computer, it will send a trickle voltage to your USB and PS/2 devices to monitor for "wake up." This is fine and good, except the fact that no mattter what your optical mouse will continually be lit up. This can tend to get annoying especially if you don't feel like taking advantage of the wake up features.
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