Value Dual Socket-370 Motherboard Roundup - August 2001

MSI 694D Pro

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MSI 694D Pro
CPU Interface	Socket-370
Chipset	VIA Apollo Pro133A VT 694X North Bridge VT 686A South Bridge
Form Factor	ATX
Bus Speeds	66 / 75 / 79 / 100 / 110 / 114 / 120 / 124 / 129 / 133 / 138 / 143 / 147 / 152 / 154 / 159 / 162 / 166 / 171 / 180 / 190 / 200 MHz
Voltages Supported	Auto Detect +0.05 / +0.1 / +0.2 / +0.3 / +0.4 / -0.05 / -0.1 V
Memory Slots	4 168-pin DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots	1 AGP Slot 5 PCI Slots (1 Full Length) 0 CNR Slot
On-board Audio	W83971D AC97 CODEC
BIOS	Award Modular BIOS 6.00PG

The 694D Pro was actually the first dual Socket-370 motherboard with the Apollo Pro133A chipset to arrive in our labs, shortly after the announcement of SMP support by VIA. And just as impressive as the speed of arrival, the performance and the stability of the board are incredible.

Although the 694D Pro has been out for well over a year, it is still one of the most stable Apollo Pro133A motherboards we have tested to date. Performance suffers slightly due to the 686A South Bridge on board, but nonetheless it's still very decent. Newer versions of the board should have the 686B on-board by now. One downside to the 694D Pro is the lack of an onboard SCSI or IDE RAID controller, something that has been corrected by its successors. Nonetheless, the board offers a two-chip IEEE 1394 Firewire setup.

Promise Ultra ATA 100 IDE controller without RAID support.

Texas Instrument two-chip IEEE 1394 Firewire setup.

Those successors are the 694D Pro2, 694D Pro2-R, and the 694D Pro2-IR, which contain different features like RAID and Firewire depending on the exact model. These boards all have the 686B south bridge. Unlike ASUS, this plethora of models gives you more flexibility in finding a board that suits your needs best.

Overclocking was pretty good on the board as well, hitting 147MHz without any problems. At 152MHz the board lost stability quickly and wasn't able to finish any tests.

If anything, because of the release date of the board, the 694D Pro should be used more as a reference point than a contestant. After all, its successors provide more features and performance. One thing is for sure, the 694D Pro helped set the standard in the value dual Socket-370 motherboard market.