Intel i815 / i815E Motherboard Roundup - August 2000

Shuttle ME21
CPU Interface	Socket-370
Chipset	Intel i815E
Form Factor	microATX
Bus Speeds	66 / 100 / 133
Voltages Supported	Auto Detect
Memory Slots	2 168-pin DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots	1 AGP Slot 3 PCI Slots (3 Full Length) 1 CNR Slot (Shared) 0 ISA Slots
Onboard Audio	Sigmatel STAC9708T AC 97 CODEC
BIOS	AMI Simple Setup 1.21c

The Shuttle is the only i815 board we've seen so far that has used an AMI BIOS. Interestingly, we continue to see the trend of AMI BIOS's that look like the older Award 4.51PG BIOS.

The ME21 was also the only board that did not offer any overclocked FSB speeds - you can still overclock your CPU, but you'll have to go from 66 to 100 MHz FSB or 100 to 133 MHz FSB - not exactly the most flexible set of options there. Once again, we see the same two jumpers that override the detected FSB speed.

In terms of stability, the ME21 did not fare too well, falling towards the bottom of the pack. The same goes for performance.

As a microATX board, expansion is extremely limited, although Shuttle did make the most of the microATX form factor as far as expansion slots go. Memory is limited to 2 DIMM's.

With all this in mind, there's really very little reason to go with the Shuttle ME21. We've seen Shuttle make some decent boards in the past, but this is not one of them. Hopefully, their standard ATX model will fare better.