The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

AnandTech Motherboard Testing Methodology

Test Configuration

Processor(s): Intel Celeron 366 OEM
RAM: 1 - 64MB Memory Man SEC PC100 SDRAM DIMM
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital Caviar AC28400 - UltraATA
Video Card(s): Onboard ATI Rage Pro Turbo (8MB SDRAM)
Bus Master Drivers: Microsoft Win98 DMA Drivers
Operation System(s): Windows 98
Motherboard Revision: AOpen MX3ZA Revision 1.0

 

Windows 98 Performance

  Winstone Quake 2
Business 99 demo1.dm2
Intel Celeron 366 (5.5 x 66MHz) 17.6

16.3

Intel Celeron 458 (5.5 x 83MHz) 20

20.4


 

The Final Decision

Overall, AOpen's MX3ZA does an excellent job of integrating decent video and pretty good sound onto a microATX motherboard. For those interested in such integrated solutions, it doesn't get much better than this. For just over $100, plus the cost of a CPU, RAM, and case, a complete system can be had. Although currently one of the best integrated motherboard solutions, the MX3ZA's longevity may be somewhat limited as i810 solutions pop up from everyone, including AOpen.

How it Rates


AnandTech Motherboard Rating

  Business
Performance 80%
Price 88%
Ease of Use 90%
Overclocked Stability 90%
General Stability 90%
Quality 90%
Documentation 85%
Reliability 90%
Overall Rating 88%

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology

The Bad
Comments Locked

0 Comments

View All Comments

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now