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Biostar TA690G


Date
: 05/22/07 – 04:09:29 AM

Author
:

Category
: Motherboard

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Biostar

Price
: $89.99

Biostar is no new name to the industry, but lately they have been pushing their enthusiast line up into the limelight. The Biostar T-Series has always been known for producing highly overclocking-capable boards. Most of us will remember some of the results seen on the P965 when it first came out.

We will not be looking at an overclocking enthusiast product today; instead we will focus our attention on a mATX multimedia motherboard that has enough power and upgrading potential to suit anyone's multimedia needs. The AMD 690G could make this board an HTPC enthusiast's wet dream. Without further ado, let's start our look at the
Biostar TA690G
!

Page 2 : Package & Contents

The TA690G arrived in a very clean looking box, no animated characters of any sort. What's presented is a box showing the model number and a few specifications along the side.

I have always been a fan of minimalistic packages so this suits my taste very nicely. Off to the side on the box cover we have the typical features like ROHS, AMD 690G, Vista Ready, AM2, PCI-E x16, DDRII-800 and SATA 2, but what we you don't clearly see are the features located directly between the model number and the T-Series logo: O.N.E., C.R.P., S.R.S., M.I.T., and I.F.P. We will cover these details below.

Turning the box over to its side, we see the T-Series logo on the right and a sticker on the left indicating the model number and some of the key features.

The remaining sides don't reveal any more information to us. However, the bottom of the box is covered with features for your reference.

We again see the acronym mentioned on the second picture and what they actually mean.

So far there's nothing to complain about the TA690G. Biostar has laid everything up front so we won't expect any surprises.

Upon opening the box for the first time I found that Biostar has included a separate pouch to hold all the accessories, a nice little touch if you ask me.

Inside the pouch was a manual and driver CD, a custom real I/O panel, a single SATA power adapter, SATA cable and IDE/FDC ribbons.

For a multimedia board, this is more than what you'll need to get going. It's not geared towards the guy who will have half a dozen SATA drives and needs 6 SATA cables.

Within the cardboard box and below the divider is the mATX motherboard.

The motherboard is housed inside a anti-static bag to prevent static damage during packaging and shipping. It also rests on top of a thin piece of foam for added padding.

From the box and the contents of the box, nothing is missing so we'll be ready to setup the board after we review the specifications and layout details.

Page 3 : Specifications & Features

All of the Biostar products are fairly easy to find on their webpage, all except for the TA690G. Thankfully Google was able to pull up both the product details page and the press release.

Here's the official accessories list:

<div style='margin-left:1cm;color:#FFFFFF;'>Another distinctive feature of Biostar TA690G AM2 is on-board HDMI port. HDMI developed by Sony, Hitachi, Thomson (RCA), Philips, Matsushita (Panasonic), Toshiba and Silicon Image, the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) has emerged as the connection standard for HDTV and the consumer electronics market. HDMI is the first and only digital interface to combine uncompressed high-definition video, multi-channel audio and intelligent format and command data in a single digital interface. For the end-users, use of a single cable for audio and video dramatically simplifies home theater system installation and eliminates the cable quagmire typically associated with home theater system components. Most importantly, HDMI offers significant advantages over analog A/V connections, including the ability to transmit uncompressed digital video and audio content. Whether it is digital multimedia, 3D gaming, or commercial applications, the Biostar TA690G AM2 is the platform of choice.[/quote]
The above graphics performance is made possible through the AMD 690G Series chipset which has been engineered specifically for AMD processors.

<div style='margin-left:1cm;color:#FFFFFF;'>Coupled with the latest AMD processors, the AMD 690 Series offers exceptional experience in today's graphics and video applications. For the first time ever on an AMD chipset, the AMD 690 Series features Avivo technology, delivering the most vibrant images and smoothest video playback for the home or the office. This platform delivers the most stable and reliable experience for commercial use, businesses have the peace of mind of a highly capable platform.[/quote]
You can read more about the 690G chipset on AMD's website.

As you can see from the specifications, the TA690G uses the ATI X1250 graphics processor; this will be more powerful than the low end X1050 but weaker than the X1550s we've reviewed. The expected performance can be only seen once we get to the benchmarking page. The well-rounded offering from the 690G chipset will definitely be beneficial for the man wanting a bit of everything. For now, we'll work our way through the TA690G layout and see if there are any potential issues in our eyes.

Page 4 : Layout

The TA690G is a mATX board and typically this means features and inputs are cramped together during the layout stage. At a high level overview of the board, everything looks good. It's not until we start nitpicking where we see some minor flaws to our gem.

There's no doubt that things are going to be cramped around the CPU socket and memory DIMMs. The proximity of the two means some heatsinks will render the first pair of DIMMs unusable in dual-channel configurations.

On the other side of the CPU retention bracket are MOSFETS and solid capacitors for the PWM. All are low enough to not impede clearances on heatsinks.

Just past the 4 memory DIMMS is the 24-pin power connector, IDE and FDC ribbon connectors. I can already see cable clutter issues in this area. With 24 cables for your power connection and ribbons for the FDC and IDE, this will become a very busy area. If it were up to me, I would consider moving the 24 pin power connector to another location, perhaps by the 4-pin auxiliary connector.

Below the power and ribbon connector is the BIOS chip, south bridge cooler, 4 SATA ports, a series of USB headers, 2 fan connections, a front I/O jumper set and dedicated reset and power buttons already attached onto the motherboard. For me, the dedicated buttons make my life a lot easier as I don't need to find a screw driver or look for single 2 pin power/reset switches.

There's no doubt that this will once again be a busy area, but it's a common trait to all motherboards and not just Biostar. To note, the southbridge heatsink is held down by pushpins and the same applies to the 690G heatsink. I've never had great success in removing these so I won't bother risking damaging the die.

Moving to the other corner of the board we see the ITE IT8716 silicon chipset. The IT8716 provides sensory information for the motherboard – voltages and temperatures being the big two. Beside the ITE chipset is the legacy parallel port connection that you can use through a expansion card not included in the package.

The TA690G has a total of 4 expansion slots: one PCI-E x16, one PCI-E X1 and two PCI slots.

The motherboard battery is located between the PCI-E x16 and PCI slot, a good use of space if you ask me. The big bad 690G chipset is passively cooled on this board through a small aluminum heatsink; got to love AMD for throwing in as much publicity as possible.

The TA690G uses a Realtek ALC888 for audio processing. More information about the ALC888 7.1 + 2 Channel HD Codec can be found on Realtek's homepage. In addition, Realtek is also the supplier for the Gigabit network controller in the form of the RTL81118 chipset.

Biostar has opted to use a variety of capacitor brands for this motherboard. We have a few OSTs down by the Realtek chipset:

And a bunch of KZG and another brand by the PWM that I can't quite identify.

For the most part, the parts used on the TA690G should have no problems lasting a lifetime if treated with care and not heavily abused in overclocking attempts.

Taking a look at the rear I/O panel we see a lot of inputs and outputs for the multimedia user.

In addition to the standard D-Sub, USB, 1000Mbps and audio connections, the TA690G comes standard with DVI-out and HDMI! If you ask me, that's setting up for a great barebone package.

The onboard X1250 video card has the capacity of 512MB of memory depending on your system configuration. You'll notice that dual-DVI monitors cannot be supported. A bummer if you ask me.

Turning the board over we have the stock AMD backplate and some stickers used by Biostar for internal QA/QC and product identification.

The overall layout of the board looks as though there are only a few minor layout issues that were identified in this preview. However, it's not until we start installing components where true flaws come to light.

Page 5 : Installation

Component installation on a mATX board is really no different than building a new system on a regular ATX board. The only major change is that the board is smaller so you may end up running into more spacing issues.

There are a few things worth noting during my installation process. First off, the color coding and the labeling was a bit confusing. Which one do you use for dual-channel configuration? DIMMA 1 and DIMMA 2, or DIMMA 1 and DIMMB 2? The answer is DIMMA 1 and DIMMB 1.

Once I had the memory modules installed, I proceeded to install my CPU and heatsink. The cooler of choice was my OCZ Tempest. I found out quickly that any heatsink with a large footprint will now come in contact with the memory modules. This isn't a huge deal since the TA690G comes equipped with 4 memory slots, but it is a nuisance for perfectionists and those who want to run the system with all 4 DIMMs in use.

The final issue I came across was when I tried to remove the video card from the PCI-E X16 slot. All of the cards today come with a notched end that clips onto the back of the expansion slot to prevent the card from coming out during transportation. Like many companies out in the industry, Biostar has opted for the smallest lever should you need to press down on it to unhook your video card. Frankly I hate it when companies use this lever design.

Apart from those three issues, everything was assembled on the motherboard with ease.

For those who frequently assemble systems or like to run their system outside cases, you'll love how the Biostar TA690G comes with power-on and reset buttons soldered directly onto the motherboard.

Page 6 : BIOS

The BIOS is where all the magic happens for an enthusiast. More time can be spent on this settings page than anywhere else on a motherboard. The Biostar TA690G uses the Phoenix BIOS utility and it has a few tweaks to give it the Biostar seal of approval.

The first page is the standard CMOS features: date, time, hard drive type, etc.

The Advanced BIOS features the boot sequence and boot preferences.

The Advanced Chipset focuses on the PCI-E and IGP settings.

The Integrated Peripherals should be fairly straight forward, the emphasis is on onboard equipment.

Power Management is up next:

Followed by PnP/PCI Configuration:

The PC Health Status lets you monitor temperatures, voltages and fan speeds.

Finally when we reach the Overclock Navigator Engine we have something that sets the TA690G apart from the rest of its competitors. The overclocking can either be normal, run everything at stock, manual or automated.

If you decide to use the Auto Overclock, there are three settings for you to choose: V6, V8 and V12. Like with cars, the higher the V number, the more performance you will get.

The V6 setting will increase your FSB to 220MHz, the V8 will set it to 230MHz and the V12 will increase it to 240MHz. Fairly conservative levels for most AMD processors.

If you select the manual mode, you will have a lot more configurations to play with. The voltages can range from start up voltage to stock voltage +0.787 volts.

The memory voltage can be increased to 2.65V from 1.95V which is fairly conservative and definitely not geared towards memory enthusiasts, who on occasion, want up to 2.8+V.

The HT Voltage Regulator varies from 1.20V to 1.35V in 0.05V increments.

The same setting applies for the NB/SB voltage.

Once you're done tweaking with the voltages, you can change the CPU Clock (FSB) to anywhere between 200 and 600MHz. A very wide range for your processor if you ask me.

The memory clock valve can be changed between Auto, DDR 400, 533, 667 and 800.

The HT Link Control has its own page where you can tweak the width, frequency, drive strength, receiver control and PLL control.

For our memory enthusiasts, the TA690G is very configurable. The only question is how well it accepts the changes you make. Here's an overview of the DRAM Configuration.

The memory timing can be changed between auto and manual. The manual configuration is quite in-depth as we see in images 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27.

There are two final tabs of interest off the main menu. One allows us to reload the BIOS should there be a failure of some sort and the other runs the BIOS update utility.

Page 7 : Software & OCing

Biostar has put a lot of effort into creating the T-Series software and they're very proud of it. They have created a single-click BIOS update application, overclocking software, temperature and voltage monitors and graphics interfaced fan control. All of this is great stuff for the average user who wants to keep their system up-to-date and running at a temperature and frequency they are comfortable without having to enter the BIOS.

The TA690G Live Update allows one to update and backup their BIOS with a click of a button.

Since I already had the latest BIOS revision, the software told me that there wasn't any more that I could do.

The fan control software displays the RPM at which your CPU and System fans are operating at. The chassis fans are not monitored. The first thing the software does is calibrate itself.

It will then tell you what the current speed is.

You can then manually adjust what percentage of the RPM you'd like the fan to operate at.

The temperature and monitoring software is fairly straight forward. I wished it displayed the motherboard temperature in addition to the processor temperature.

I know for a fact that Biostar is very pleased with the T-Series overclocking software.

As you can see in the above screenshot, you can tweak with the basic frequencies and voltages. For some of the more advanced tweaks, you must go into the BIOS.

I did all of my overclocking through the BIOS and I did it in a very straight forward fashion to find out how high could I crank the FSB on this board with my particular AM2 processor while maintaining full stability. The answer was 230MHz for a clock speed of 2.3GHz. I was able to boot and start windows at 240MHz, 2.4GHz, but this wasn't stable. Ortho would not run for 3 hours stable.

In terms of the auto-overclock, a 230MHz FSB is the equivalent of a V8 overclock, which is not the max. The V12 setting would clock in at 240MHz for 2.4GHz.

Here are the frequencies I benchmarked at.

If you want to see the TA690G overclocked by one of our veteran overclockers, windwithme, you only need to check out our forums where he takes the TA690G and pushes the bus speed to over 300Mhz on his X2 3600+. The final speed he hit was just over 3.0Ghz!

Page 8 : Test Setup

Here is my test system for the Biostar TA690G:

<div style='margin-left:1cm;color:#FFFFFF;'>
Control
:
CPU: AMD AM2 3800+ EE
CPU Cooling: OCZ Tempest
RAM: Patriot Memory 2X1GB PC-5300 @ PC-6400
PSU: Cooler Master iGreen 500
Hard drive: Samsung SpinPoint 40GB SATAII 7200RPM
PS: Windows XP SP2 (with all updates)

Video Cards

ATI X1250 IGP
PowerColor X800GTO16 w/ Catalyst 7.1

Motherboard

Biostar TA690G
[/quote]
The benchmarks I will execute include:
Everest Home Memory Bandwidth & Latency
Futuremark 3DMark2001se, 2003, 2005 & 2006
Futuremark PCMark2005
HD Tach Full Version
Sisoft Sandra 2007
Super Pi 1.4 Mod
Half-Life 2 @ 1280×1024
Battlefield 2 @ 1280×1024
Doom III @ 1280×1024

For consistency, each benchmark is executed three times with a reboot between each run. The average results, rounded appropriately, are tabulated and graphed for your reference.

Page 9 : System Benchmarks

We will start the benchmarking off by look at the overall system performance through 3DMark2006 and PCMark2004.

FutureMark 3DMark2006

FutureMark PCMark

Focusing in on the CPU performance:

Sisoft Sandra 2007 CPU Arithmetic

Sisoft Sandra 2007 CPU Multimedia

Focusing now on the memory:

Sisoft Sandra 2007 Memory Benchmark

Everest Home Memory Bandwidth

Everest Home Memory Latency

Super Pi 1.4 Mod

Last but not least we'll take a quick look at the hard drive performance.

HD Tach

As we should expect, there's no real correlation between hard drive performance and overclocking.

Overall, the TA690G faired well in our system benchmarks. The addition of a video card improved the overall performance by dedicating all 2048MB of memory as RAM but if you needed to save yourself the money by not buying a video card, you won't see a huge system performance hit.

Page 10 : Gaming Benchmarks

Futuremark 3DMark2001, 2003, 2005 & 2006

Gaming at 1280×1024

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the integrated X1250 does not come close to the much older X800 technology. The dedicated graphics processor will be able to work much harder without sharing resources like the IGP. It would have been interesting to see how the IGP would have performed against a stock X1050 or X1550.

Without a dedicate graphics card, you will be hard pressed to play any of the newer titles on this PC. The X1250, however, does not underperform when it comes to your HTPC experience. It is more than powerful enough to play your favourite movie on your monitor or TV. With the HDMI output a standard feature, you can easily grab this motherboard and build a PC to tuck beside your plasma TV.

Page 11 : Conclusion

The Biostar TA690G has been a blessing to work with. It'll allow anyone to get into the HTPC scene without dropping a lot of money down. While we can thank Biostar for putting together a great package, much credit needs to go out to AMD for snatching up ATI and putting together a package that could easily whip the pants off the 6100-based boards.

The stock performance I got out of the TA690G was certainly impressive. The 690G and SB600 leads to a budget multimedia machine or workstation without cutting any corners. This board should definitely be on your must-consider list for anyone tight on cash.

Advantages

Well rounded performance for mATX board
Low cost motherboard and AMD CPU = great budget system
Lots of BIOS tweaking features
HDMI output for HTPC enthusiasts

Disadvantages

What's this… only 1 DVI-D out?!
IGP performance could be better

Overclockers Online would like to thank Biostar for making this review possible.