FIC AN19E Motherboard Review - PAGE 1

Introduction

Lately, in the news, there was word that Epox had released a BIOS revision for their 8K9A2+/8K9A3+ KT400 based boards that enabled the user to change their Athlons' clock multipliers without needing to unlock the chip. Fewer people realized at the time that FIC's new AN19E, likewise a KT400 board, could do the very same thing.

The AN19E's Chipset Sink

In fact, we only suspected it because of the amazing similarity between the two boards' layouts and their nearly identical manuals. So we were very surprised when we were able to POST with our stock XP 2100+ set with a multiplier of 14X. You can imagine that we felt like schoolboys having found a secret cache of candy. After that, we knew this board was going to make heads turn.

This is the 3rd KT400 board review we're publishing, and so far each board has successfully differentiated itself from the others. Let's take a look at just what the AN19E offers.

Specifications, Layout and Basics

The specs for the AN19E closely mirror those of other KT400 based boards. In short, it features 6PCI slots, AGP8X support, the nearly ubiquitous integrated 10/100Mbps LAN, integrated 5.1compatible audio via the RealTek ALC650 chip, and a total of 6 USB 2.0 ports. Although the manual states the IDE RAID and Serial ATA are optional, our configuration comes with both.

FIC AN19E Box Contents

Two things are worth mentioning regarding the integrated features. Firstly, 4 of the 2.0USB ports are integrated right on the I/O panel, just like the KT4 Ultra. The integrated audio is also similar to the KT4 Ultra in that there are 3 audio plugs onboard, and no additional expansion bracket. This means that the functionality of those plugs are digitally controlled via settings in your OS. So each of the 3 plugs must share the functionality of a line in, front line out, rear line out, center/subwoofer line out (for 5.1), and SPDIF out. As we highlighted in our KT4 Ultra review, this is not an ideal solution, since it lacks the flexibility of a solution like the expansion board that comes with the KT4 Ultra. In fact, if you are using 5.1 sound, you can't plug anything else into the audio plug.

Layout wise the board is clean, with enough working room around key areas for the average user. The area around the CPU is relatively open, with a gap in the row of capacitors to allow easier access for installing and removing the CPU cooler. The main ATX power connector is easily accessed and faced away from the CPU slot. The RAM is not far from the AGP slot, and if you are using a regular sized AGP card, like an ATI 9700 PRO, you will just be able to add and remove RAM in all 3 DIMM slots. A longer card like the full sized 4600 cards obstructs the 3 slots though. So right now, the Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra is still the only KT400 board with enough clearance to allow RAM access with a full sized video card. The positioning of the PCI connectors is split so that the primary connectors are higher up (and closer to your hard drives), but this configuration isn't perfect for people who have a lot of full length PCI cards. Take note that this board layout is identical in every way we can see, to the layout of the Epox 8K9A KT400 board, right up to the very locations of every IC that we bothered to compare.

Look! Twins!

We're hoping to publish our review of the also excellent, 8K9A soon.