Mainboard AV40, AV40R

Kein einziger Absturz ist während des ganzen Tests aufgetreten (...) - was wahrlich nicht oft auftritt. Es zeigt sich also, daß auch der VIA Chipsatz in Punkto Stabilität jenen von Intel nicht hinterherhinkt. Was aber ehrlich erstaunt ist die Performance. Das AV40 läßt alle anderen Mainboards mit i845 weit hinter sich (...)

Dem Spacewalker AV40R können wir ein sehr gutes Zeugnis ausstellen. Es ist flott, günstig, umfangreich ausgestattet und läuft mit günstigem DDR RAM. Da fällt eine Empfehlung leicht.

(...) der P4X266-Chipsatz zusammen mit DDR SDRAM zeigt, daß es eine realisierbare und konkurrenzfähige Alternative zum Intel850-Chipsatz mit RDRAM gibt. (...) AV40 ist die bessere Wahl für Spieler. (...) Das Board hat eine exzellentes hochwertiges Design und ist extrem stabil.

Features wise, this board has a number of important features esp. built for those who like to overclock. The large range of FSB and Voltage levels makes it one of the most tweakable boards out there in the market right now. Vcore, Vdimm, FSB all can be modified.

Installation is straightforward and there are no issues so far. Documentation is provided and the package is complete with the USB ports. Overall, it is an affordable board for a P4 system coupled with DDR.

Pros:

• Vcore, Vdimm, FSB tweaking all within BIOS.
• DDR solution 
• Promise RAID

Shuttle thought it wise to launch a P4X266 board and a i845 board at the same time, being the first to offer SDR and DDR solutions for P4. (...) The Shuttle truly outpaces the field in the area of overclocking, offering bus speeds between 100 and 160MHz in 1MHz increments. The AV40R also offers chipset voltage, DDR voltage, and CPU voltage adjustment in BIOS, matching the overclocking options of even a Abit board. (...)

The AV40R combines a good layout, impressive featureset, great performance, and flexible overclocking support into one low-cost package. (...) Even the term "budget P4 box" would have seemed ludicrous a few months ago. But the release of the P4X266 chipset, along with Intel's aggressive price cuts, have made affordable P4 boxes with DDR memory actually attractive to the cost conscious consumer. (...) the P4X266 can be considered the best chipset for Intel's best processor (...)

Fazit: In diesem ersten Bericht über VIA P4X266 haben wir unseren ersten Gewinner gefunden: das Shuttle AV40R. Es kombiniert ein gutes Layout, eindrucksvolles Leistungsmerkmale, hervorragende Geschwindigkeit und flexible Übertaktungsfähigkeiten zu einem niedrigen Preis (...) der P4X266 Chipsatz kann als beste Lösung für Intel's besten Prozessor eingestuft werden.

These are the good things:
Bios: It's very complete, and there are lot of options to set memories (very useful for overclockers). 
Stability: as english guys use to say, it's rock stable!!! 
Performaces: Very good performances, especially if you are using optimized software. As we've focused on, in some cases, DDR and RIMM gap is not so evident, so the board can be a good alternative to an I850 based board. 
Versatility: We have found no problems, instead of the ones we've had with RIMM types (must be pair mounted to grant a working system). 
Features: A raid onboard controller allows to build a raid subsystem to gain higher performances with hard drives; onboard audio for people that want to use their machine only for professional business applications (and so, they don't need an hi-quality audio); Fan and temperature monitor (ITE Smart Guardian Utility). Optionally, you can ask for an USB 2.0 controller. 
Support: The mobo has been sent us with two user manuals, one for the mobo installation and configuration, and the other one for the raid configuration: driver installation and raid creation. The Cdrom contains drivers and useful software. 
Price: Shuttle's suggested price is 150 Euro (less than 300.000 italian lira) that, compared to an I850 based solution, is nearly 30% lower. Clarely, this low price is coupled with an ulterior money safe for DDR dimms (less than 30-40% compared to rimm price). 

and these are the bad ones: Nothing :)

Volle Punktzahl: 10 von 10
Sehr ausführliche BIOS-Einstellungen, Felsen-stabil, sehr gute Geschwindigkeit, der Preis ist fast 30% günstiger als eine i850-basierende Lösung. Dabei muß man im Hinterkopf behalten, daß man beim DDR-Speicher nochmals 30-40% gegenüber dem RIMM-Speicher spart. Dies sind die negativen Eigenschaften: Nichts!

Interessanterweise beträgt der Leistungsunterschied zwischen i850 und P4X266 (= AV40) beim Ulead-Benchmark weniger als 1% (...) Diese Information sollte für eine Kaufentscheidung ausrreichend sein.

Shuttle should be congratulated for making a great board when many other manufacturers won't touch this chipset. (...) if you have a Pentium 4 and want the best price/performance you can get, it is pretty evident the P4X266 is the way to go.

The layout of the AV40r is very good. (...) The BIOS of this board is where it really begins to shine. The first thing I noticed is a myriad of memory timings. (...) Shuttle offers all kinds of good overclocking options (...) the front side buses from 100-160Mhz in 1Mhz increments are very welcome. (...) The installation of this board was easy, and it was made that much easier by Shuttle's inclusion of a very well written and informative manual. (...) Overclocking on the AV40r was very easy and quite beneficial. (...) Sisoft Sandra Memory Test: In this test we can see that the Shuttle AV40r does VERY well, and actually beats the VIA reference board by quite a margin (about 20%). (...) in the MP3 Encoding: beat the RDRAM system (...) 3DMark2001: Seven points are all the separates the 850 system from the Shuttle AV40 based rig. That is not bad considering the price difference.

Ich kann das Shuttle AV40 problemlos empfehlen (Bewertung: 91%)
Shuttle sollte gratuliert werden, weil es ein gutes Mainboardboard mit einem Chipsatz gemacht hat, der von anderen Herstellern nicht angerührt wird.

Very good efficiency
Very stable
Orderly realization
Relative low price

Mit AV40R hat Shuttle einen Knaller im Programm. Falls du heute auf eine Pentium-4-Plattform umsteigen möchtest, habe ich keine Probleme damit, dieses Board vorzuschlagen.

Das AV40-R ist ein sehr beeindruckendes Board. Es hat massenweise Leistungsmerkmale und eine hervorragende Geschwindigkeit.

Positiv: Gute Ausstattung mit fortschrittlicher Speicher-Technologie. Integrierter RAID-Controller, 6 USB-Ports,...

Conclusion
What makes Shuttles board somewhat espesialy interesting, is that there ain't many motherboards on the norwegian market with this chipset. From what we understand, several larger motherboard-manufactures has boards ready, but will not start mass-production before the situations between VIA and Intel have been sorted out. Manufactures which has a strong relationsship to Intel, regarding e.g. prices, access to new products and assistance for designs, does not want to jeopardise this relationship. Baiscly, the Shuttle AV40R is a very good board. Regarding the design there are some elements we don't like -- e.g. the location of some connectors. The boards performance in very good, especialy taking the 
plattforms price into consideration.

+ Good performance with reasonable memory technology, integrated
RAID-controller, 6 USB ports (option for USB 2.0)

An der gibt es nichts zu kritteln, die Platine liegt in den meisten Disziplinen nur knapp hinter Vertretern mit i850-Chipsatz und deutlich von Boards mit dem i845.

Good value and fast

You can nothing say against the . It performs most tests almost like boards with i850 chipset and is much better than boards with i845 chipset.

For those wishing to use a P4 processor, but don’t want to buy or support RDRAM, then the VIA P4X266 based AV40R is one of the top choices in this small, but growing market. Both Shuttle and VIA have proven that the P4X266 can keep neck in neck with the i850.

Pros: Faster than the VIA reference P4X266, Excellent stability, Excellent features, Good layout, RAID controller, 6 USB ports, Outstanding manual, Up to date CDROM/drivers, Excellent documentation

Key features:

1. VIA P4X266/VT8233 Chipset
2. Supports Socket478 Intel Pentium 4 CPU
3. Three DDR DIMM supports up to 3GB PC1600/PC2100 DDR DIMM
4. Supports AGP 2X/4X, and 6 USB ports (1.0)
5. Supports UDMA ATA 100/66/33 IDE interface
6. Onboard USB 2.0 compliant (Optional)
7. Onboard Promise IDE RAID support (AV40R only)
8. Onboard AC97 Audio support

1. most stable and highest performance
2. mPGA478 type P4 processor such as "NorthWood P4" can be embedded
3. Vcore, GSB manual adjustability that overclockers are concerned about
4. beat others performancewise, especially in AGP function
5. Brainbox strongly recommends it as a forward-looking product