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ASUS CUSL2 Motherboard


Date
: 10/28/00 – 07:27:40 PM

Author
:

Category
: Motherboard

Manufactor : Asus

Price : $160

Introduction :

While the gap between Intel’s BX chipset and VIA’s Apollo chipsets was slowly disappearing, Intel launched it’s new i815E chipset. Because I had no complaints about my former Intel-based motherboard, the Abit BH6, which is based on the Intel BX chipset, I was very eager to checkout the latest & most advanced Intel chipset on which the Asus CUSL2 mobo is based.

I got this board over for a review from my good friend Tim. He found this board very unstable so he decided to replace it with an Abit SE6 (read his review here). That moment I asked him if I could get it over for a review and see if it was really that unstable as Tim claimed it to be. And I also wanted to compare test results from this Asus CUSL2 with those from my former board, the Asus CUV4X.

Specifications :

The ASUS CUSL2 Mainboard is based on the Intel i815E chipset with the ATX form factor for the latest support in Intel II/III Coppermine and Celeron processors. This chipset is equipped with support for a 133MHz Front Side Bus (FSB), as well as PC133/PC100 SDRAM, AGP Pro/4X, and ultra-fast UDMA/100 Bus Master IDE.

The Intel i815E is based on Intel 82815 Graphics and AGP Memory Controller Hub (GMCH), 82801BA Enhanced I/O Controller Hub 2 (ICH2), and 82802AB Firmware Hub (FWH). The Intel 815E chipset supports a 66/100/133MHz Front Side Bus (FSB), up to 512MB of PC100/PC133 SDRAM, and AGP Pro/4X mode, which can transfer twice the amount of data compared to the current AGP standard.

The Intel I/O Controller Hub 2 (ICH2) features support for UltraDMA/100, which allows burst mode data transfer rates of up to 100MB/sec; two USB controllers for a total of 4 USB ports; and six channel AC ‘ 97 CODEC support.

Other features like Suspend-to-RAM, JumperFree Mode and PC Health Monitoring will ensure your PC with maximum power-saving, ease of overclocking, and system safety. Finally, with six PCI and two CNR slots, you would be able to plug-in plenty of hardware devices for all your needs.

Here’s a copy/past from the AsusTek website:

Processor:

Socket 370 for Intel FCPGA Pentium III 450MHz~933+MHz processors and Intel PPGA CeleronTM 333~566+MHz.

Chipset:

Intel 82815 Graphics and AGP Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)

Intel 82801BA Enhanced I/O Controller Hub 2 (ICH2)

Intel 82802AB Firmware Hub (FWH)

Support 4x AGP, 4MB AIMM, PC133/PC100 SDRAM, UltraDMA/100 IDE Devices

Super I/O & USB Hub:

ITE IT 8703F LPC Chip

AU9254 USB Hub

FSB:

66/100/133 MHz Front Side Bus

System Memory:

3x 168-pin DIMM supporting 8MB to 512MB 3.3V PC133/100 SDRAM

Maximum 512MB PC133/PC100 non-ECC SDRAM

Expansion Slots:

1 x 32-bit AGP Pro/AGP 4X slot

6 x 32-bit PCI

2x CNR (Communication and Networking Riser)

Supports AGP Pro Slot with Universal AGP Connector and additional Power Connectors to Support Highend 3D or Workstation Class Graphics Adapters

VGA:

AGP Pro/4X/2X/1X Graphics Adapter Compatible

Integrated 4X AGP Graphics

IDE Ports:

2 x UltraDMA/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE Ports

Supports DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, and LS-120 Drives

Special Features:

Power Loss Restart

ASUS JumperFreeTM CPU Throttle

STR (Suspend to RAM)

SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)

Vcore & VIO Adjustable

Back Panel I/O Ports:

2 x USB Ports

1 x Serial Ports

1 x Parallel Port (ECP, EPP Port)

1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port, 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port

1 x VGA Port

Onboard I/O Interface:

ASUS iPanel Connectors

3 Headers to Support Optional 5 USB Ports

24-pin ASUS Panel

SIR/CIR

CPU/Power Supply/Chassis Fan

ATX Power

IDE LED

COM2

TV/Out/LCD Module Connectors

BIOS:

Award 4Mb BIOS with Full ACPI, SM BIOS 2.3, Green, PnP, Trend ChipAway Virus (TCAV) & Symbios SCSI BIOS

Industrial Standard:

PCI 2.2, USB 1.1

Manageability:

Wfm 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL (Wake-on LAN), WOR (Wake-on Ring), Chassis Intrusion, SM Bus

Accessories:

User’s Manual

UltraDMA/66 Cable

IDE Cable

Floppy Cable

3-Ports USB Bracket

Board Size:

ATX Form Factor with Size : 20.8cm x 30.5cm (8.2′ x 12′)

My first impression :

Quite an impressive list of goodies, ain’t it?Although I have some complaints. The first one is the lack of an onboard RAID controller. Of course a RAID controller can be easily installed in one of the six available PCI slots. However, this is clearly a lot more expensive than an onboard RAID controller. Another large drawback to the I815E is a 512MB memory limit. I heard a rumour that Intel capped the maximum SDRAM limit to protect their i820 lines. Big thanks to Intel for that one.

Installation :

Installation is typical for a well-known board manufacturer such as ASUS. I didn’t find the lack of an ISA slot very funny because I needed the damn thing to use my Boca 28.8 modem to receive any incoming fax messages. That’s a bit of a shame, but what the hell; let’s stop crying about that.The manual is very well documented and easy to use with plenty of illustrations and descriptions … as always with those Asus boards. Also Asus did a great job on providing me with enough free space next to the socket to install my Golden Orb. Maybe it was just me but I noticed that the plastic from the socket is a little more wide than with other Asus boards so I needed to use all within my power to put the Gorb into place. One thing is sure: it won’t fall off by it’s self.

Measuring 20.8cm x 30.5cm, the CUSL2 fits nicely into any midi-tower ATX case, including mine of course.

After I finished putting in my Geforce, Soundblaster and a few other cards of less importance, the big moment had arrived : PUSHING THE POWERBUTTON! ………………….

Since there was no explosion or fire that came out of my case, I became aware that the mobo was installed correctly as planned. No problems installing Windows Millenium Edition either. I even didn’t have to use de driverdisk which is supplied in the package.

Some driver problems :

As a good overclocker is always in search for the latest driver to squeeze every frame out of the system, I downloaded the latest I815 drivers. Win ME told me that it did not need the I815E driver. So I moved on to the IDE driver set : Intels ATA v6.03. Installation worked perfectly, but afterwards I had some troubles accessing my cdwriter (HP 7200i). I did some research on the Internet and talked to a couple of people that experienced the same problems. These conversations resulted in removing the newly installed Intel ATA driver set. And guess what? The problem was solved.

Overclocking :

The CPU I’m using on the CUSL2 is a P3-700E FC-PGA, which gave me a great & easy overclock during my Asus CUV4X review. I was eager to find out if the 700E (which I overclock to a stable 980Mhz on the CUV4X) would run this fast or even maybe faster on an Intel chipset.After I’d completed the Win ME installation @ default speed (700Mhz) I couldn’t wait to overclock the poor thingie & try to let it bleed …

Again some problems :

First I tried out an 133Mhz FSB @ 1.75V. Strangely enough, the system wouldn’t POST.Later on, I discovered (with a little help from Tim) that there is a bug in the CUSL2 BIOS. When you want to change the voltage for an overclock, you need to change it and first leave the FSB alone. Startup @ normal speeds but with the higher voltage. Then restart, enter the BIOS menu and change the FSB. That’s how to bypass the voltage bug in the CUSL2 BIOS.

The BIOS is Award’s 6.00. Thanx to this highly tweakable BIOS menus with the possibility of increasing the FSB by 1Mhz increments, I got my 700E rockstable @ 1015Mhz (1.85V) with the Golden Orb! WOW! Really amazing, don’t you think!

Benchmarks :

TEST SYSTEM :

SYSTEM SPECS :
CPU	Intel P3-700E @ 1Ghz (7x143Mhz)
Mainboard	Asus CUSL2 1002 BIOS
Chipset	Intel 815E Chipset
Video	Creative Annihilator Pro Geforce DDR (6.35)
Memory	128MB PC133 (2-3-3)
Harddisk	IBM 20GB UDMA66 @ 7200RPM
OS	Win ME (DirectX 7.1)

Sisoft Sandra 2000 PRO :

Sandra’s memory benchmark really surprised me! The memory is running a whole lot faster on this CUSL2 than on my previous board, the CUV4X. I’d say the rest of the figures I reveived from Sandra where also well above avarage.

3DMark2k :

3DMark2k default benchmark
1024×768 16bit	5721

Quake 3 Arena 1.17 :

These Quake 3 Arena timedemo results show that with the I815 chipset, Intel has a worthy successor for its BX440-chipset. Even at high resolutions and 32 bit color depth, Quake 3 kept running very smoothly on my system.

Pros :

- Great performance

- Easy overclocking

- Superb stability (even @ high FSB speeds!)

- USB card

- UDMA/100

Cons :

- Quite expensive

- No ISA slot

- Max 512RAM

Conclusion :

I ran the board with programs like PRIME95 & some Q3A torture demos so I could see just how well it can handle the stress that some motherboards crap out on. And you know, I never got one BSOD or any errors of any kind, which again proves the kind of quality that ASUS has a tradition of building into their boards.

Overall, ASUS has another winner in terms of great stability and having the full set of features! You SHOULDN’T buy this board unless you are heavily into overclocking your CPU, and demand the utmost in ease-of-use and stability.