FIRST LOOK: NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Performance

Basic Features: Biostar TForce 6100-939

It is worth mentioning that Biostar is shipping TForce 6100 micro ATX boards in both Socket 754 and Socket 939 versions. The Socket 754 version, called the TForce 6100, is the same chipset combination and features 2 DIMM slots. The board that we are testing is the TForce 6100-939, obviously supporting Socket 939, and featuring four DIMMs in dual-channel mode. Older A64's, Revision E, and x2 are all supported on this Socket 939 board.

Biostar TForce 6100-939
CPU Interface	Socket 939 Athlon 64
Chipset	NVIDIA GeForce6100 Northbridge - NVIDIA nForce 4100 Southbridge
Bus Speeds	200 to 300MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCIe Speeds	100 to 125MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCI	Fixed at 33
OnBoard GPU	Auto, Always Enable
Frame Buffer (UMA)	16M, 32M, 64M, 128M, Disabled (64M Default)
Core Voltage	Startup, 0.80V to 1.70V in 0.025V increments
CPU Clock Multiplier	Startup, 4x-25x in 1X increments
HyperTransport Frequency	1000MHz (1GHz) Supports AMD Cool'n'Quiet
HyperTransport Multiplier	Auto, 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X
DRAM Voltage	2.66V, 2.72V, 2.82V, 2.93V
Memory Slots	Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total
Expansion Slots	1 PCIe x16 1 PCIe x1 2 PCI Slots
Onboard SATA/RAID	2 SATA II Drives by nForce 410 (RAID 0, 1, JBOD)
Onboard IDE/IDE RAID	Two Standard ATA133/100/66 (4 drives)
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	8 USB 2.0 ports supported by nF410 No Firewire (Optional)
Onboard LAN	10/100 Ethernet by Realtek 8201 PNY
Onboard Audio	AC '97 2.3 6-Channel by Realtek ALC655
BIOS	Phoenix Award

Frankly, Biostar even includes an overclock quick guide in the TForce kit - a real surprise for a Micro ATX board with integrated graphics. What's more, the available options in BIOS are a lot more than what many will expect for a Micro ATX/Integrated Graphics board, and even include an Integrated Flashing option so that you don't have to load DOS or Windows to flash the BIOS.

There is even an auto-overclocking option in BIOS, called ONE (Overclocking Navigator Engine) and a CMOS Reloaded feature to allow saving and quick restore of favorite BIOS setups. The only other place that we have seen CMOS reloaded is DFI.

The layout is clean and the TForce 6100 even supports 24-pin power supplies. 20-pin connectors from older power supplies will also work. An even bigger surprise was momentary power and reset switches on the board - and detailed in the manual.