Intel managed to convince the market that the future of the PC world lay with the newly released LX AGPSet mainly because no other chipset manufacturer could boast the ability to combine the performance of a dedicated AGP bus along with SDRAM support, and support for the Ultra ATA specification...until now.  VIA Technologies, the pioneers of chipsets that provide the greatest threat to Intel's throne, announced the VP3 AGP Chipset as a competitor to Intel's LX AGPSet months before its release, however the catch was that the VP3 AGP Chipset would be an AGP capable chipset for Socket-7 CPUs!   Intel virtually abandoned the Socket-7 market when they migrated to the proprietary Slot-1 design of the Pentium II, however companies like AMD and VIA in correspondence with each other managed to breathe more life into the seemingly dead standard. 

FIC has been known for their excellent motherboard designs based on VIA chipsets, and with the announcement of the VP3 chipset came an announcement of equal caliber from FIC, the announcement of a motherboard based on this new chipset, the PA-2012.  How well has FIC harnessed the power of VIA's VP3 chipset?   Very well indeed... 

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Motherboard Specifications

 

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The Good

Imagine for a minute in your mind, the idea of a perfect Socket-7 motherboard.  What form factor would it be based upon?  How many SIMM/DIMM slots would it have?  How much RAM would it be able to cache?   Next, take a look at the FIC PA-2012...notice any similarities?

While the PA-2012 is an excellent motherboard, its quality extends much further than the ease of its setup and initial installation.   Boasting PC '97 compliance, the PA-2012's bundled CDROM includes a Desktop Management Interface utility identical to those found in many of ASUS' and AOpen's offerings.  Along with that the 2012 sports its own set of patent-pending Intelligent System Management & Protection features (ISMP^TM) which include a CPU Thermal Monitoring Alert a feature common to many Shuttle Motherboards, a Chassis Intrusion Alarm which alerts a system administrator if the case chassis is opened, as well as System Over-Voltage Protection & Report, a feature that automatically shuts the system down if the I/O or CPU Core voltage increases by a factor greater than 5%.

The written documentation of the PA-2012 is characteristic of most newer 1stMainboard (FIC manufactures motherboards under the 1stMainboard title) manuals, thorough, detailed, and easy to read.  The PA-2012's user manual documents a simple 6-step installation procedure for the motherboard and provides detailed pictures on how to install and configure every aspect of your new purchase.  The manual even goes as far as to differentiate between the physical differences of a Pentium MMX and a Pentium Classic (as well as a 6x86 & a 6x86MX) in order to eliminate any possible confusion for first time system builders. 

Performance-wise the PA-2012 can be beat by the best of the best, however considering its tremendous feature set as well as its above average performance in ALL categories the PA-2012 disserves the title of Best Overall Socket-7 Motherboard.  At all possible clock speeds, regardless of which CPU is used the PA-2012 will give you the most bang for your buck, it stays competitive in all situations which is a quality most manufacturers cannot flaunt.  

The Bad

The PA-2012's shortcomings?

• Only supports AGP 1X Mode

• No 83.3MHz bus speed support

• Only 2 ISA Slots

• Clock Multiplier/Bus Speed Jumpers are located in difficult to access places on the motherboard itself

There isn't much to complain about with the PA-2012, it works flawlessly with most brands of SDRAM in pairs and in triples, so next month when this motherboard is released try to get your hands on one.  

 

IRQ Usage

• Allows user to individually set IRQs for each Legacy ISA card

• Allows user to configure IRQ Assignment Sequence

• Allows user to Assign IRQ for VGA/USB

• Auto-detects PnP Cards after HDD Detection

 

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BIOS Settings

 

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Recommended SDRAM

This little addition to my review layout was put in here just so you all can have an idea of what brand of SDRAM I recommend and have tested with the board, just to avoid problems in the future if you decide to purchase the board.

Recommended SDRAM: Advanced Megatrends SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 2 x 32MB Advanced Megatrends SDRAM DIMMs; 2 x 32MB Corsair SDRAM DIMMs

Manufacturer: Advanced Megatrends
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.megacom.com

Manufacturer: Corsair Microsystems
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.nf-ny.com

 

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.

Test Configuration

 

The PCI Video Performance of the PA-2012 is outstanding, however when using an AGP video card the performance increase isn't as great when compared to identical configurations with LX motherboards.  In any case, the PA-2012's performance is top-notch although it could be much better. 

 

 

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The Final Decision

How well has FIC harnessed the power of the VIA VP3 chipset?  Very well, in one month FIC will release the PA-2012 and as long as its shortcomings don't bother you incredibly it will make the perfect Socket-7 Motherboard...at least until ABIT's IT5A makes its way into the market...