FIC AZ-11 Socket-A KT133 ATX

AnandTech Motherboard Rating

Performance

The AZ-11 performs on par with the VIA KT133 Reference board and ahead of the Gigabyte GA-7ZM making it about average.

Price

Most likely due to the unnecessarily large PCB, the AZ-11 is above average in terms of cost compared to most upcoming KT133 motherboards.

Stability

The AZ-11 was slightly above average in terms of stability. Nothing to write home about, but there's no reason to complain either.

Quality

While FIC has never been known for the highest quality construction, the AZ-11 seems to be turning that trend around. Let's hope it continues.

Features

The AZ-11 is pretty much a standard no-frills motherboard. The little add-ons included in NOVUS II are interesting, but not particularly useful. Overclocked FSB settings are well chosen, but we'd really like to see Vcore and multiplier settings in the BIOS or via jumpers/DIP switches.

Layout

The PCB is unnecessarily large and the ATX power connector is located behind the CPU. Further, there's empty PCB space that could be used for an additional PCI slot plus an additional AMR or ISA slot.

Availability

While FIC products aren't available everywhere, it is relatively easy to find their motherboards. Like most manufactures focused on motherboards, don't expect to find FIC boards in a place like Best Buy or CompUSA. Some local computer shops will carry FIC, but not many.

Documentation & Software Bundle

The AZ-11 manual, like other FIC manuals, was slightly above average and is at least included in print, unlike some that are only available on CD. The Norton software and NOVUS II utilities may come in handy and is better than most software bundles.