Conclusion: How it stacks up
As far as KT400 boards go, the AN19E is going to make overclockers and casual enthusiasts very happy. Unlike the offerings from other companies, the AN19E (and the Epox 8K9A by the way) allows you to change your multiplier clock without having to unlock your XP chip. This is a big plus in our books. This combination, plus the diverse overclocking options lead us to great success overclocking the chip and the RAM to get some really impressive numbers.
The benchmarks seem to paint a grim picture for the FIC AN19E, but the board redeems itself easily by trying to improve their overclocking features.
We gave the KT4 Ultra our Overclocker's Choice award, and I'm tempted to do the same here - but I won't. This board actually has as much potential to overclock as the KT400 Dragon Ultra, and we personally had more success getting higher performance out of our RAM and our CPU using the AN19E then the Dragon Ultra, but it sorely needs a 1/6 PCI divider to make it a real champion. Without the 1/6 divider, our settings could not possibly be 100% stable. So hats off to FIC for allowing such a wealth of options, and for their willingness to include a multiplier lock override.
Pros:
Multiplier changes on unmodded Thoroughbred chips; Palomino chips still need their L1 bridges reconnected.
Tons of overclocking options
Very easy to overclock and work with
Cons:
PCI divider doesn't go beyond 1/5: FSB over 133 overclocks your AGP and PCI busses
Clock divider cannot be controlled
One of the slower KT400 boards we've tested.
Overall Score: 87%
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