Our Verdict | Specifications

Introduction
In February 1998, Intel launched the i440BX chipset for the mainstream desktop PC market. Unlike other chipsets previously launched by Intel, the BX was to become a legend, as the chipset offered; performance, stability, potential for further R&D development, innovation and most of all it had the competitive edge. As the saying goes "you can never have too much of a good thing", Intel's announcement last year of the i810 and i820 chipsets, proceeded by Intel's insistence the BX was to stop production, and would be phased out within the next quarter. Wow! Was that a long quarter or what! The i810 and i820 never really got off the ground, and the BX continued to be manufactured as the demand for the chipset remained, a clear signal to Intel of it's failure to understand customer requirements, and the companies inability to progress technology a step forward. The recalling of the i820 chipset with SDRAM support chipset underlines the success of the BX chipset. The pressure was on for Intel from both quarters, AMD capitalised on Intel for the processor market and VIA Technologies took the initiative in the chipset market to stake their claim.

Intel has finally announced the i815 chipset in the hope of shaking off the i810 and i820 flops and to finally lay to rest the BX chipset. Abit in their normal innovative style announced support for the chipset almost immediately, and proceeded to ship a sample to us. Before we proceed to discuss the Abit SE6 motherboard in detail, it would do no harm to recap on Intel's architecture for the i8xx series of chipsets.

Unlike the old North and South Bridge Architecture found on the BX and current VIA and AMD chipsets, the i8xx series of chipsets are designed using the Intel Hub Architecture (IHA), containing two core elements; namely the 82815 Graphics and AGP Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) and the 82801AA/AB I/O Controller Hub (ICH). The 82815 GMCH integrates a 133MHz FSB controller, integrated 2D/3D graphics accelerator or AGP (2x/4x) graphics card, via the supported AGP slot, 100/133MHz SDRAM controller, and a high-speed accelerated hub architecture interface for communication with the ICH. The ICH comes in two versions 82801AA (i815-ICH - see figure 1) and 82801BA (i815e-ICH2), the ICH integrates an Ultra ATA/66 controller, USB host controller, LPC interface controller, FWH interface controller, PICK interface controller, AC 97 digital controller (for both audio and modem applications), and a hub interface for communication with the GMCH. The ICH2 has all the features of the ICH plus ATA/100, and 10/100 LAN connect interface, dual master USB, and a Communication and Networking Riser slot (CNR).

ABIT SE6
Abit manufacturers two motherboards based on the i815 chipset. The SL6 comes with the i815 (82801AA) and the SE6 with the i815e (82801BA). The reason according to Abit is simple, the difference in price makes the SL6 Motherboard applicable to system integrators who require an entry-level system without bells and whistles, unlike us and hence we got the SE6.

How we carried out our test
Our objective was to test the performance, implementation, stability, ease of use and most of all compatibility of the newly launched i815e chipset controller, and to achieve our objective; we used 3DMARK 2000, BAPCO SYSmark2000, and Ziff-Davis Content Creation Winstone 2000. Our initial test was carried out without the ELSA Gladiac GeForce2 GTS AGP card, and the on-board video was utilised.

CPU:	Intel Pentium III - FC-PGA 733Mhz CPU
Motherboard:	Abit SE6 - i815e
Memory:	128Mb SDRAM Hyundai PC133 - 6ns CAS Latency 2
HDD:	IBM DTLA 307060 - 61.4GB UDMA/100 7200rpm
FDD:	3.5" 1.44Mb - Panasonic
CD ROM:	48 x Creative
Video Card:	ELSA Gladiac GeForce2GTS 32Mb DDR
Video Driver ver:	4.12.01.0202-0040 using Direct X ver 7.0a

The installation of Windows 98 SE went swiftly and smoothly. Once installed first procedure was to install the on-board video drivers, followed by the ATA/100 drivers both supplied by Abit on their CD ROM disk. Once all the drivers are installed the first thing you notice after re-booting the system is a distorted frequency signal manifesting itself in tiny horizontal lines. This is probably down to the on-board video driver. We did however, get the results of the benchmark with on-board video, but were not prepared to spend time investigating further as to the cause of the problem due to lack of time. Once we slotted in the ELSA Gladiac and the i815 turned its internal video off, we were on our way.

The first test we ran was 3DMark 2000 at the designated resolution of 1024 x 768 16-bit, which resulted in a score of 5,915 (see figure 2) 3Dmarks and 800 x 600 16-bit resulted in a score of 6,479 3Dmarks (see figure 3). Next up, was BAPCO SYSmark 2000 producing a score of 157, followed by Winstone 2000 with a score of 30.5. Each test is run four times, then averaged to produce the final result. We were somewhat astounded by the results, the Abit SE6 motherboard, ELSA Gladiac GeForce2 GTS video card, and IBM 61.4Gb ATA/100 hard drive combinations produced the fastest system in it's class.

We tested our theory further by carrying out a comparative test with an Athlon based system, with the same combination except with an Athlon motherboard based on the popular Via KX-133 chipset, and an Athlon 750MHz CPU - Slot A. In the 3DMark 2000 test at 1024 x 768 16-bit, the result was 5,794 3Dmarks and 800 x 600 16-bit result was 6,347 3Dmarks (see figure 4). BAPCO SYSmark 2000 producing a score of 155 (see figure 5), followed by Winstone 2000 with a score of 29.7. We began our review with a question as to whether the i815e chipset could lay to rest the BX ghost?, indeed the Athlon test is proof enough that the i815e chipset has the power to go the distance, and for this reason, we abandoned our direct comparison with a BX chipset based motherboard. The increase in performance can be mainly attributed to the Intel Pentium III with L2 on-die cache, the Athlon used was the previous generation and not the Thunderbird version, this makes a big difference as we all know, Intel will not have the edge for long with the Thunderbird now released and Via readying the KT-133 chipset, its going to be a battle in which ultimately the consumers are going to benefit.

Our Verdict
Early signs are the i815e chipset is a worthy of the BX crown, certainly from our results, only time will tell, the chipset is new and needs time to settle. Abit on the other hand continues to impose its authority as a manufacturer of leading-edge motherboards, and the SE6 is confirmation of this. We have no hesitation in awarding the SE6 our prestigious Performance award. The next time you buy a system, insist on a Motherboard manufactured by Abit.