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Since this board is basically a PCI-Express re-release of the K8TPro-939, its feature set is nearly identical, with the exception of the expansion slots. One PCI-Express x16 slot, three PCI-Express x1 slots, and two PCI slots grace the motherboard.

The common features between the two boards are the eight USB ports, two Firewire ports for external expansion. Three ATA133 ports are also included, supporting a total of six IDE devices, as well as four Serial ATA ports. Two of those ATA133 ports are provided through the VIA VT8237 south bridge, while the third is provided through a Promise SATA/IDE+RAID controller chip. The four Serial ATA ports are provided both by the VIA south bridge as well as the same Promise chip -- two ports provided by each for a total of four SATA ports. Gigabit Ethernet, previously having been delegated to high-end boards, is now a standard feature on consumer products. The K890Pro-939 does not disappoint here.

Audio is not disappointing either -- in fact, it is downright impressive. The K890Pro-939 features an on-board 8-channel Realtek audio solution, providing both analog outputs/inputs and S/PDIF optical input and output. S/PDIF is a nice touch for those who plan to run their sound through a home theatre system, or even a high-end set of speakers, such as the Logitech Z-5500s.

Lastly, Soltek's "RedStorm2 Overclocking" is also included on the K890Pro-939. In our previous review, we poked fun at the fact that everyone seems to have a fancy name for their overclocking features -- Soltek is no exception to this.

The last few Pro series boards from Soltek that we have looked at featured a numbered LED readout which is useful for error diagnosis in the event of trouble. I believe that EpoX were the pioneers of this but it is much preferable to a goofy voice or a row of lights that are used on some other boards.

For a board oriented at the value-end of the spectrum, the K890Pro-939's overclocking features are nothing short of wonderful, not unlike its AGP cousin. As we will see later, the BIOS allows extensive tuning of many subsystems, including a particularly impressive set of memory configuration options. Four DIMM slots, allowing you to use up to 4 GB of RAM, are a much-appreciated addition.

Specifications

Soltek's raw specifications are as follows: