Mainboard AK31

PROS: Great stable board. Setup a snap. Worked first time out.
CONS: None
USER COMMENTS: I am running an AMD 1700 , 512M PC2100 DDR, and Windows ME with no problems. Haven't tried overclocking it yet.

PROS: Overclockable, Stable, Plenty of RAM Slots, Shuttle Name
CONS: NONE!
USER COMMENTS: This by far one of the best boards I have come across. Great overclockability, Rock Solid on Windows XP. A really Great Mobo!

PROS: Tons of Room for future upgrades and Jumperless!
CONS: None
USER COMMENTS: Awesome board very stable and easy to setup. Works great with my athlon xp 1700 and windows 2000 professional!

PROS: Price. Shuttle name.
CONS: Can't find any
USER COMMENTS: Bought this board under 60 US dollars. First board I every installed that worked first time. Very stable (not clocked); fast with my XP 1800 and DDR 512megs. Running Win XP Prof and love this board.

Das Shuttle AK31 in der Revision 3.1 gehört mit zu den schnellsten KT266A-Platinen und stellt somit schon eine recht hohe Messlatte dar. (...) Zum Shuttle AK31 Rev. 3.1 kann man kurz sagen: Eine sehr schnelle KT266A-Platine mit guter Ausstattung, guten Overclocking-Eigenschaften und einem nahezu unschlagbaren Preis/Leistungsverhältnis.

If you ask me that's frikkin' fast! Well I must say that it was a pleasure testing such a nice motherboard. It was fast, stable, and was expansion packed. I could easily recommend this board to anyone, but lets rundown the ratings:

• Price: 10/10, It's #80!
• Features: 8/10, It's what you'd expect from an average board
• Overclocking: 9.5/10, It's an awesome overclocker!
• Stability: 9/10, It never onced crashed
• Performance: 10/10, It's amazing, and I was wowed!
• Expansion: 9.5/10, has everything you could want!

Overall: 9.5/10, and this board is on my righteous list forever! (...) I just can't say enough about this board. It's the cheapest KT266A board out there, and the performance, overclocking, and expanion are amazing.

Fazit: Das AK31 v3.1 ist ein sehr gutes Board zum Übertakten, daß ausgesprochen stabil und recht schnell läuft. Der größte Vorteil liegt aber im günstigen Preis und den 4 Speichersteckplätzen.

(...) Als Besonderheit hat das Mainboard als so ziemlich einziges vier DDR Sockel, die allesamt vollständig bestückt werden können. Etwas überraschend ist, daß man bei voller Bestückung nicht einmal registed DDR Module benötigt, sondern ganz normale Speicherstreifen genügen. 6 PCI Steckplätze flankiert von einem AMR Slot sollten für alle Ausrüsteventualitäten ausreichend sein. Der AGP hat eine Kunststoffsicherung (...) Die Northbridge wirrd aktiv gekühlt, was sich sehr positiv auf die Überrtaktbarkeit auswirkt. Umfangreiche Einstellmöglichkeiten bietet das BIOS (...) die schnellsten einstellbaren Timings waren nicht zu viel für unseren Speicher (...) Selbst mit 166MHz FSB und entsprechend erniedrigtem Multiplikator läuft noch alles fehlerfrei.

Conclusions: The Shuttle AK31 rev: 3.1 is truly an excellent piece of hardware. Not once throughout our tests did it so much as hiccup, but instead turned in great performance figures that would be the envy of any mainboard manufacturer out there. It's excellent stability and versatility will certainly put it in good-stead with Overclockers, as well as performance mavens. For its high-score, and many merits, we're very pleased to award the Shuttle AK31 rev: 3.1 our "Top Grade Hardware Award", and our highest recommendations.

The strong points: Jumperless design, BIOS-adjustable Vcore voltage, BIOS-adjustable memory voltage, Excellent response to Overclocking, FSB adjustable in 1MHz increments, Superb performance

Pro:

• the same pcb of ak31 2.0, with an excellent design and connectors not installed in "strategic places"
• 6 pci slots
• 4 ddr slots
• 6 usb ports
• there aren’t components around the socket (so, big cpu coolers are allowed)
• very high memory bandwidth
• a wonderful bios that allow to modify everything
• good overclocker
• low price

• Good overclock stability
• AGP retention clip
• Rounded motherboard edges
• 6 PCI Slots & 4 DIMM Slots
• Adjustable VCore and Vmem in BIOS
• Low Priced At Around S#220

Shuttle has combined a high-performance chipset with the overclocking options that everyone wants. (...) there is no doubt they have a top pick motherboard on their hands, once again. With the price as low as #85 for the board on PriceWatch, it is nearly 35% cheaper than the Epox counterpart! That is a tremendous value, and because of it, Shuttle, too, has won the Amdmb.com Editor’s Choice Award!

"Empfehlung der Redaktion"

Shuttle hat einen Hochleistungs-Chipsatz mit den Übertaktungsmöglichkeiten kombiniert, die jeder wünscht. (...) kein Zweifel, daß Shuttle wieder einmal ein TOP-Mainboard anzubieten haben.

Shuttle was among the very first manufacturers to put the KT266A chipset on their motherboard, and this incarnation is simply outstanding. Memory scores have seriously increased over the AK31 v2 by a very large margin. (...) The Overclocker's options are all still there! (...) A quick check of Pricewatch on 26 Oct 2001, shows this board can be had for #85 plus a little shipping and handling! With a price that low, coupled with ultra-low RAM prices, it should be pretty easy to afford a complete upgrade. (...) if your looking for a DDR motherboard to get going right now, this is certainly a board worthy of some consideration. I would have to say the Shuttle AK31 v3.1 is by far the best board in it's class. During a previous memory review, I experienced no instability while testing the memory and the motherboards Overclock-ability.

• Features: 4.0
• Installation: 4.5
• Performance: 5.0
• Compatibility: 4.5
• Stability: 4.5
• Support: 4.5
• Overall: 4.5

Stability: (...) even when in an overclocked state it still ran without fail. (...) Rock solid stability on an excellent product. Compatibility: (...) I was very impressed with this motherboards compatibility, it is first rate and up to date. A very compatible product is to be had in the AK31A. Overclocking: Overclocking is done very easily and relatively painless as the controls are all located within the BIOS with no confusing jumpers to be set. (...) Conclusion: Shuttle is coming to plate with some serious hitters this computer season and may come away with an MVP in the low cost enthusiast market where they are dominating in the current field. This is a very impressive product no matter how you slice it with just enough of the right stuff to make it a winner with both the gaming and enthusiast market where it will pay off for the Shuttle team. This is the way to change your image and Shuttle has once again proven they can make a superior and technology savvy motherboard bearing a low price tag to the market. I am sure this motherboard is going to be a big win for this company.

(...) we were surprised, that such performance- improvement is still possible. Due to numerous BIOS settings it is interesting for overclockers. We were able to overclock this board at the maximum FSB speed of 166MHz and found no problems. (...) this company deserves our award for AK31. We can recommend it to everybody, because it is stable, many settings are possible and under normal conditions it causes no problems. In addition, it is a good bargain (...)

Wenn jeweils eine externe GeForce 3 Grafikkarte verwendet wird, dann ist das Referenz-Board mit nForce-Chipsatz etwa gleich schnell wie Shuttle's AK31 Rev3.

• Latest VIA KT266A DDR Chipset
• Great value for money
• Excellent Performance
• Good Stability and Quaility
• Support for Athlon XP CPUs
• Good overclocking options
• 6 PCI slots
• 4 DDR DIMM slots

Das finden wir gut :-)

• Gute Performance
• Stabilität sehr gut
• Jumperloses Design
• Onboard Sound
• Gutes Handbuch
• 6 PCI-Slots, 4 DIMM Slots 

Conclusion:
We have already praised the predecessor AK31 2.0, and it's the same with AK31 rev 3.1. Again Shuttle comes with a very cost-effective board with exemplary performance. We can highly recommend this board to users who want highest performance, but don't want spend accordingly money for it. (...) Its Layout is well designed and there are many slots for memory modules and extension cards - from this it follows that AK31 rev 3.1 is a real power-board.

This are the goodies: good performance, very good stability, jumperless design, onboard Sound, good manual, 6 PCI,  4 DIMMs

• Excellent performance
• Good Value
• 4 184-pin DIMM connectors
• Nice board layout
• KT266A Chipset

The Good Stuff
The AK31 revision 3 has great stability, the performance enhancements of the KT266A chipset, excellent overclocking features, and a low, low price.

Conclusion
Shuttle has made some minor updates to their already impressive AK31 series with the revision 3. The KT266A chipset helps them give good performance with great stability. Add to that nice overclocking features in the bios and the really low cost and you have a sweet budget board. If you want to overclock on a budget but enjoy the performance of the KT266A then look no further than the AK31 revision 3.

94 von 100 Punkten!

Das Board AK31 Ver 3 ist sehr stabil, bietet die Performance-Vorteile des KT266A-Chipsatzes, hat exzellente Übertaktungs-Eigenschaften und einen sehr niedrigen Preis.

Fazit: Shuttle hat sein bereits eindrucksvolles AK31-Board nochmals etwas verbessert. Sein KT266A-Chipsatz verhilft dem AK31 Ver 3 zu guter Performance und ausgezeichneter Stabilität. Zusammen mit den guten Übertaktungs-Einstellungen im BIOS und dem niedrigen Preis ist es ein nettes und günstiges Board. Wer ein günstiges Board zum Übertakten sucht, der hat es in AK31 Ver 3 gefunden und braucht nicht weiter suchen.

Dieses Board wesentlich schneller als Board mit AMD760- oder SiS-Chipsätzen. Jetzt glaube ich, daß Shuttle weiterhin Boards liefert, die Begeisterung auslösen (...) das Board ist einfach ohne Makel, ich habe keine Probleme mit Übertaktung oder mit meiner verfügbaren Hardware. Der USB-Port arbeitet auch noch mit 160/320MHz FSB noch einwandfrei.

The layout of the AK31 rev3 is identical to that of the rev2, and in my opinion, that is a good thing. It takes a lot for me to say the layout of a board is close to perfect, but this one certainly does well. (...) is also good for easy installation of heatsinks. (...) Of the five KT266A boards I know of, this is the only one that has four DIMMs. The boards IDE and floppy headers are right where I like them (...) everything looks good on the layout side. (...) many memory timing options and overclocking settings (...) overclocking on the AK31 rev3 was very sucessful. (...) The overclocked Shuttle board outpaces everything else quite decisively.

94% - ich denke, es ist ziemlich offensichtlich, daß es ein sehr gutes Mainboard ist. Die erreichte Geschwindigkeit ist erstaunlich (...) das Layout ist fast perfekt (...) von den mir bekannten fünf KT266A-Board, bietet dieses als einziges 4 DIMM-Sockel (...) viele Einstellungen für Speicher-Timing und Übertaktung (...) Im übertaktete Shuttle-Board übertrumpft alles andere ziemlich deutlich.

"Empfehlung der Redaktion"
(...) ich mochte bereits die vorherige Version, auch diesmal gab es keine Kompromisse bezüglich der Stabilität. Alle Tests verliefen problemlos, auch mit SB Live und Windows XP. Geschwindigkeit: um es klar auszudrücken - das Board dominierte in fast jedem Benchmark (...) Übertaktung: Alles was wir sagen können ist: Wow! Das Shuttle AK31 v3.1 bringt beim Übertakten Benchmark-Werte zutage, die wir bisher auf keinem anderem AMD-Board gesehen haben. (...) Zusammenfassend: dieses ehrfurchtgebietende Board is eins der besten, mit denen ich jemals das Test-Vergnügen hatte.

• High performance.
• Stable.
• Has exactly the settings you want to tweak.
• Very good for overclocking.

Conclusion:
A highly performing motherboard, very overclockable, but still with full stability.
(...) all in all, this is a very good board, and we feel that it deserves our award "safe buy"

Socket A Comparison
www.pcworld.no/...30.11.2001

Conclusion: Recommended!
2nd ranged Athlon/DDR mainboard
The estimated price on the street for the AK31 v3.1 is about 1250 NOK incl. VAT, but the board is allready selling for less than this at some retailers. With a price like this, the Shuttle AK31 v3.1 comes a interesting board. (...) the performance is good, so if you are looking for a cheap, but at the same time powerfull, solution, the Shuttle AK31 v3.1 is worth taking a look in.
+ Low price. Good upgradepossibilites through 6 PCI and 4 DIMMs.

Rating 11 of 12 - Best Price/Performance
Shuttle AK31 is jumperless, all setting can be made through BIOS. All required setting are available: you can disable onboard sound, assign IRQs and more. (...) The system is stable and without problems. Also the setup was easy (...) There is much room for expansion due to 4 DIMM sockets and 6 PCI slots. It is very stable and has outstanding overclocking features. Considering the high quality, it also has a very attractive price. It is the only choice for those, who need both: good value and fast!

The Spacewalker Shuttle AK31 V3.1 is a very balanced and economic motherboard, and is very upgradeable, Spacewalker is choosing the way of high end motherboards (...) Spacewalker has done a great job, by providing the world first KT266A motherboard with 4 DIMM slots; this feature, with the high stability, could be interesting for the installation of a little server. The AK31 V3.1 is a very good board, ideal for who hasn't a big experience with hardware installation, or for who needs to do various upgrades at its own system without changing it completely."

AK31 V3.1 is a basic, solid KT266A solution from Shuttle. The lack of some additional features such as RAID is intentional and therefore in a way compensated by the low price of this motherboard and the additional 4th DIMM slot. The overall stability and performance of Shuttle's latest offering for AMD-users is very good. This motherboard can probably be very attractive for speed-hungry overclockers as it offers all the features needed for a successful overclocking.