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Soyo P4I Fire Dragon Intel 845D


Date
: 05/16/02 – 07:46:59 PM

Author
:

Category
: Motherboard

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Soyo
Price: $195

Introduction

Today I am taking a closer look at the Soyo P4I Fire Dragon, a Pentium 4 motherboard based upon Intel's 845D chipset. Frequent Overclockers Online visitors should have noticed that this is the first time a Soyo motherboard is being reviewed in our lab, so I was very eager to find out how this company and its products would compare to the other Pentium 4 solutions out there. Although Soyo products are new to me, I must say that I am very impressed by the fact that this company is donating $5 of each P4I board that is sold to the WTC Disaster Fund. The Soyo P4I Fire Dragon that was delivered to me was the Limited Edition, which means that it comes in a good looking box, packed with cool features and gadgets that should convince you to choose this board instead of the competition. I'm sure that many of you will be overwhelmed by these additions, but one question remains: how does the board perform? My point is: what's the use of the cool extras if the board can't hack the load? That's why I gave the P4I a real run for its money and wrote my experiences in this review … Lets get this show on the road ok?

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

First of all, let's start off with a clean copy/paste from the Soyo website before I start discussing the specs.

Description

- Intel Socket-478 P4 Based I845 B-step ATX Motherboard

Processor
- Supports Intel Socket-478 Pentium 4
[b]Chipset
- Intel i845B step / ICH2 chipset
- Support 400 MHz FSB

[b]System Memory

- Two 184-pin DDR SDRAM 2.5V DIMM sockets support up to 2GB

Expansion Slots

- Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (V2.2 compliant)
- One AGP Pro slot (support 1x/2x/4x mode with 1.5v)

On Board Audio Subsystem

- On board CMI 8738 Audio chip to provide 6 channels audio solution
- Supports optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs

On Board Ultra I/O Chip

- Two RS-232 serial ports (16550 UART compatible)
- One parallel printer port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
- One FDD port (Supports 3 modes, 1.2/1.44/2.88 MB FDD
- Provides IrDA/FIR ports with optional cable for transceiver
- Provides 4 USB ports (2*rear, 2*pin header)
Provides 2 IEEE1394 ports (1* port, 1*pin header)

Ultra DMA IDE Ports

- Four independent channels for eight IDE devices(two for IED-RAID)
- Supports up to PIO Mode 5 and UDMA 33/66/100
- Two PCI bus mastering ATA E-IDE ports

Boot-Block Flash BIOS

- Award PCI BIOS with ACPI function
- Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE/ SCSI/ CD-ROM/ FDD/ LS120/ ZIP
- 2 Mbyte Flash ROM

Board Dimensions

- Four layers, 30.5 cm x 24.5 cm (12" x 9.68")
- ATX form factor

Enhanced PC Health Monitoring

- On-board voltage monitors for +3.3V, +5V, +12V, VCORE
- CPU fan speed monitor
- CPU temperature monitoring through flexible thermal sensor

Double Stack Back-Panel I/O Connectors

- PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports
- Two USB ports
- One RJ45 connector
- Two D-Sub 9-pin male serial ports
- One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
- Audio I/O: LINE-Outx1 , LINE-Inx1, MIC JACK x1
- One game port

Features

- Embedded High Point IDE-RAID chip, provide ATA133 IDE- RAID 0,1,0+1
- On board 10/100 Mbps Ethernet function by PHY controller
- Embedded CMI 8738 Audio chip to provide 6 channels audio solution
- Provide Smart Card Reader connector
- Advanced Management Capabilities
- Software power off control, Power-on by keyboard, Power-on by Alarm, Modem Ring On
- CPU FSB, core voltage & multiplier could be adjusted via BIOS
- Supports ATX12V power supply only
- Supports on-board Hardware Monitoring and includes Hardware Health Utility to streamline your PC system management
- Supports WOL (Wake On LAN) function to simplify network management
- DIMM voltage adjustable
- AGP Pro voltage adjustable
- Suspend To RAM, Suspend To Disk

So the Soyo P4I is based upon Intel's 845 chipset, which means it can take any socket 478 Pentium 4 processor (not the 533MHz ones, only the 400MHz FSB ones). The board is equipped with only two memory slots limiting your memory expansion to a total of 2GB. We also saw this memory configuration on the ABIT BD7, which is also based upon the same Intel chipset. And just like with the ABIT, I would have preferred if the board had three or maybe even four memory slots … but nothing can be done about it.

As usual, you'll find 2 IDE connectors and 1 floppy connector onboard, but also 2 additional IDE connectors that are powered by the High Point HPT372 onboard RAID controller. Again, this RAID controller has been populating many motherboards lately (i.e. ABIT, EPoX, Shuttle, …) and on the Soyo it is performing just like on all the other boards: fast and stable.

Six full size PCI slots are present as well, so I really don't think you'll be screaming for expansion possibilities huh? Your video card will be enjoying the availability of the AGP Pro slot that also has an addition molex connector in case your video card is in need of extra power to do the job.

I mentioned that the P4I has the HP RAID controller onboard, but that's not all there is … You'll also find a CMI 8738 audio chip on the board, offering you a sweet 6-channel audio solution. It supports both optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs too, so owners of MiniDisc players should be pleased ;). And that's not all there is! The "Fire Dragon" also has a 10/100Mbps onboard NIC and you get a cool looking 5.25" output/input device that also features two USB ports for a total of 4 USB ports. Apart from the 2 USB ports, this drive offers you two FireWire ports and a SmartCard reader that, combined with Soyo's "Might-Bolt" card, can be used as a way to lock your computer: the card contains your password and it has to be entered in order to be able to boot the computer up. Sweet addition for people who have their computer in a not so secure environment. Note that the drive can also be installed in a 3.5" bay if needed!!

As you can see, the Soyo P4I Fire Dragon comes with a LOT! Thanks to the onboard NIC and sound you won't be spending a PCI slot on those (unless you need a very high-end sound card) so you will have plenty of room to install any other add-on card you might need.

What I also would like to mention is that Soyo even includes some thermal paste with the motherboard … they thought of everything huh? Did I already tell you get a cool Soyo sticker to put on your case?

Page 3 : Layout

Layout

The P4I has been able to please us up to now … but what about the layout of the board? Besides the fact that it looks
hot
thanks to the nice
red
color of the PCB there are some other strong points related to the board's layout. Attentive readers most likely noticed the
blue
of the PCI slots and the
white
color of the IDE/floppy connectors … now what do you get when you combine these three colors? Indeed … the American flag. Since the box says "United we stand" and there is a USA flag on the box, I'm sure we all get the picture ;p.

The ATX connector is installed fairly well … almost at the right top of the board. This placement will do fine unless you use a really cramped case in which case it might interfere with a cd-rom unit, so watch out with those babies!
The CPU socket is very clean and all the mofets are standing at a safe distance so extreme cooling will be no problem what so ever! Hip hip hoorah! Now most boards make it this far, but most of them also tend to trip behind the video card – memory slots problem. Not the Soyo: memory can be added or removed without having to uninstall your video card! I like it!

Also note that there is not one, not two, not three, not four but
FIVE
fan headers on this baby! Two are located on each side of the CPU socket, two are at the right bottom of the board (to supply power to frontal case fans) and on is at the right bottom (more to the middle) of the board. I am impressed to say the least.

In case your case does not have the needed "holes" to allow all the ports of being used, Soyo includes a custom bracket to replace the one you got.

The northbridge is not actively cooled, but comes with a nice big silver colored heatsink with, again, the American flag being displayed on it.

All in all, I must say that I am very satisfied with the layout of the P4I … no problems what so ever.

Page 4 : BIOS

BIOS

Aaah the BIOS or the Basic Input Output System. This is the main control room of your rig if you want … where all the hardware is being tweaked and configured to fulfill your demand. I am happy to announce that Soyo has decided to make this board entirely jumperless: there isn't a single jumper to be found except for the CMOS jumper, which will come in handy when you want to clear your BIOS after you managed to hardlock your box by using to aggressive settings ;).

In order to "overclock" your CPU, Soyo includes a long list of option: CPU core voltage settings up to 1.85v, FSB increasement in 1MHz increments all the way up to 255MHz, DDR voltage adjustments, AGP slot voltage modification, memory timings like RAS, CAS, … you name it, the board has it. Now there were some problems with the actual use of some of these options, but I'll clear those up in the "Overclocking" section later on …

The BIOS is very easy to use and if you are used to the way ABIT makes their BIOS', you won't be disappointed by the SOYO as it also uses an AWARD BIOS and it looks almost identical. Of course the hardware monitoring options are available too.

Page 5 : Overclocking

Overclocking

I mentioned in the "BIOS" section that all the needed overclocking options were available, but I also mentioned that I encountered some problems with them. Let me elaborate on the matter …

In order to test overclockability, I used one of those sweet P4 1.6A CPU's (which I have pretested at 2.3GHz rock stable on ABIT's BD7) and also an unlocked P4 2.2GHz processor. Changing the voltage while being at default speed is no problem … core voltage, memory voltage, … all is well! Upping the FSB is not a problem either … at first. I started at 105MHz and increased it in 5MHz steps, trouble free … until I hit 125MHz. At this point the monitor was turning into standby and the system refused to post. I tried this with both the P4 1.6A (which should be showing up as a 2GHz CPU at that point) and with the unlocked P4 2.2GHz (I used a multiplier of 16x so the CPU should also been at 2GHz and it would NOT need any voltage increasement to achieve this since it was rated at 2.2GHz from the factory anyway).

After cutting the power (Enermax 450W PSU, more than adequate to handle the load) and restarting the system, it worked but all the BIOS settings were back at default. When I say all the BIOS settings, I do mean ALL the BIOS settings: boot order, memory settings, voltage settings, … just about everything, as if I cleared the CMOS.

After a few hours of trying and failing, I had to conclude that anything past 123MHz FSB would not boot and end up clearing the BIOS … Even when using the voltage options, the board refused to work at 125MHz, when all the hardware was able to run at +133MHz without voltage increasements. I noticed that there was a new BIOS update that apparently fixed a bug with Northwoord CPU's (no POST after voltage changement) but this did not resolve my problem in any way.

I am sure that this problem can be fixed with another BIOS update, so until then I strongly suggest not getting the P4I if you want to overclock your CPU with the FSB. 123MHz is the max. I could achieve, so if you have a high multiplier CPU (like a 2.2GHz) you probably won't ever have problems since your CPU will run into problems before you reach 123MHz anyway … those of you who own a 1.6A and want to run it at 145MHz FSB or something else above 123MHz, think twice before going this route. Now I know that overclocking is not as logical as 1+1=2! There are many variables that come into play, and perhaps you will have more luck than I did … but all the hardware I used has NO problems what so ever running at speeds much greater than 133MHz …

I also checked with other websites who reviewed the P4I and either they are not mentioning anything about overclocking, or they are stating that they only got up to 123MHz just like me. After checking various forums I also encountered other people complaining about this problem so I am pretty sure I am on the right track here. Feel free to if you had better luck or you have some ideas!!

Page 6 : Testing

Benchmarking

A quick view at the test system before we throw the benchmarks at you.

- Soyo P4I Fire Dragon motherboard
- Intel Pentium 4 1.6AGHz & 2.2GHz
- 256MB Crucial DDR PC2100 memory
- VisionTek GeForce 3 video card
- Accton NIC
- Windows XP + latest drivers

Quake 3

Demo 001

Torture Demo

MadOnion's 3D Mark 2001

16-BIT

32-BIT

MadOnion's 3D Mark 2001SE

16-BIT

32-BIT

Sisoft Sandra Memory Benchmark

Page 7 : Conclusion

Conclusion

My very first Soyo experience has left me with mostly positive feelings. The Soyo P4I Fire Dragon is a top of the bill, fully featured Pentium 4 motherboard that has it all. There is only one damper on the whole deal, and that's the problem with the front side bus I mentioned in the "Overclocking" section. Besides that, the board has a truckload of onboard features like RAID, 6 channel sound, NIC, FireWire, USB (no USB2.0 …), a SmartCard reader and more. Combined with an excellent layout and outstanding stability, the P4I makes a great P4 base. I would be more than happy to put the official Overclockers Online Power Award on this board, but because of the hiccup with the FSB I cannot … But, as soon as Soyo manages to fix it, you can bet your bottom that another board is join the rank of fame @ O²!