Mainboard AV40, AV40R

Good
- P4X266 performs very well 
- Onboard RAID 
- Good layout 
- Fair price

(...) Auch in den übrigen Tests zeigt sich das gleiche Bild: VIAs Chipsatz liegt knapp hinter dem 850er, der i845 bildet das Schlusslicht. So erreicht das Shuttle-Board (AV40R) im SYSMark 2000 227 Punkte und bleibt nur 5 Punkte hinter dem Rambus-System zurück. Das 845er Board liegt mit 213 Punkten schon fast zehn Prozent hinter dem großen Bruder. Ähnliches gilt auch für die Spieletests. (...) Was den Preis angeht, hat der P4X266 zur ZEit die Nase vor seinem Rambus-Pendant. Nicht nur, daß der Speicher billiger ist, auch der Chipsatz kostet weniger. Nicht so rosig sieht es für den 845er-Chipsatz aus (...)

Conclusions: The Shuttle AV40R is certainly one of the most interesting Pentium 4 boards we've tested. Its diverse, BIOS-enabled Overclocking features, and integrated RAID controller make it quite versatile. Its support for DDR-SDRAM memory also makes it an economical platform, without slouching on performance. In short, the Shuttle AV40R was a pleasure to work with, and has certainly earned the merit of our "High Grade Hardware Award".

The strong points: Excellent Overclocking features, Great response to Overclocking, Integrated RAID controller

Latency matters are of greater interest to us. The best one here is the DDR child of VIA, P4X266 with PC2100 DDR SDRAM. It implies that the memory controller of SiS645, which showed the worst latency, has a chance to be optimized. (...) SysMark2001: VIA P4X266 is a trifle ahead of SiS645, when it works with PC2100 DDR SDRAM. (...) If combined with PC2100 DDR SDRAM, SiS645 becomes nearly analogous to VIA P4X266. (...)

Hardwareluxx-Award
Although Shuttle AV40 comes with a new chipset, it fully exhausts its potential. It is equipped very well: we want only point out the onboard RAID and the overclocking functions. Partially, the test results were much better than we have expected. In some tests it is faster than the i850 chipset and in many tests it is only few percent close to the RDRAM chipset. Again, Shuttle have made a good job with its P4X266 board and offers a high quality mainboard to the market. This is the alternative for those, who look for a Pentium 4 board and don't want to pay a lot of money for RDRAM. With good performance one receives an almost perfect board.

Ausgezeichnete Qualität, gute Ausnutzung des P4X266 Chipsatzes (z.Z. bester Chipsatz für P4), Preis/Leistung besser als i850-Chipsatz mit RDRAM aber ähnlich schnell, sehr gute Stabilität (mit 3 Phasen Spannungsregler), gute Übertaktungsmöglichkeiten

Rating: 9 of 10

Comment of the editor: Impressive! The AV40 is THE motherboard to use today with the Pentium 4. Great performance, stability and overclocking friendly feature.

PROs
Excellent Price
Near RDRAM levels of performance
Fully featured BIOS
Bags of headroom for future processors
Uses easily available and cheap DDR SDRAM
Nice layout
Good manual

In all honesty I think P4 users or potential users should be quite excited about this board. By pairing up the bandwidth hungry P4 with cheap-to-buy DDR we at last have a platform that allows the mighty Intel processor to flex a bit of muscle without having to pay a fortune for a board and memory to keep it happy. (...) Shuttle have done just about everything right with the AV40R (...) The AV40R has remained fast, stable and competent through nearly two weeks of trials, a testament to the engineering guys over there. (...) If ever there was a good reason to buy into the P4 arena then the AV40R is it. (...) we've now entered a new phase and Shuttle with their AV40R are right at the front spearheading the move. It could be an exciting 2002 for the P4.

VIA has done an excellent job in producing a Pentium 4 chipset that performs very close to, if not higher than Intel's i850 chipset. With similar performance combined with low price, it would be unwise to purchase an i850 motherboard over a P4X266 board unless you require the added memory bandwidth that RDRAM provides. (...) The AV40R features all the overclocking and tweaking options you could ever want in a motherboard and provides slightly better performance than the ACorp 4VPX266A. (...) if you are an overclocker and require RAID, I definitely recommend you purchase the Shuttle AV40R. If you don't care for RAID but are an overclocker, then the Shuttle AV40 is the motherboard for you. (...)

source: PC Authority magazine
November issue

from: Atomic magazine, Australia
November 2001, Page 65

• Excellent Performance
• The latest VIA P4X266 chipset
• Onboard IDE RAID
• Uses DDR Ram
• Good overclocking options
• FSB,Voltage and Multiplier Adjustments

I must tell you that I am absolutely shocked and astonished by it's performance. It's the fastest board I've reviewed to date, the AV40R is truely an amazing board from Shuttle. (...) The extra features and goodies include USB leads, extra ATA-100 IDE cables, onboard sound and onboard IDE RAID. In the BIOS there are plenty of options for overclocking, these include the ability to adjust memory timings, FSB, multiplier and voltages. I managed to overclocked my Pentium 4 (1.7Ghz) to 1908Mhz (17x112) with rock solid stability ... what more can I ask for (...) It's a shame to see that many manufacturers have declined to use the P4X266 chipset ... all because of legal issues. This may result in the lack of boards that use this chipset. (...) Shuttle has convinced us that the AV40R truely a winner for the time being. Final words. Excellent performance from an excellent board. If you want a Pentium 4 motherboard which uses DDR ram, and the performance to match, then the Shuttle AV40R is your answer. Shuttle has contiuned its award winning streak with the AV40R ... Truely amazing.