You may not have heard of Transcend, but they have been around quite a while - at least compared to others in the motherboard industry. Founded in 1988, they focus solely on the manufacture of high quality memory and motherboard products - an interesting combination that is not too common. Nevertheless, they make it very clear that they want to be "Your Supplier, Your Partner, and Your Friend" - that's their motto. Let's see if what kind of job they can do in the extremely competitive motherboard market.

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87/B

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The Good

Transcend's most popular board, at least among AnandTech readers, will probably be the i440BX based TS-ABX. The first impression of the board is that it's a cross between the Abit BH6's brown PCB/layout and the AOpen AX6BC's build quality.

Transcend also wisely chose a 5/2/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP) slot configuration that is by far and away the most popular on newer i440BX boards. The typical 3 DIMM slots are included as well. The ATX specification is followed fairly closely in terms of layout, with just one minor change - the ATX power connector is located behind the CPU. Fortunately, it is placed on the right edge of the board, but this is still not an ideal location. The FDD/HDD connectors are located where they should be, right at the front of the board, so that these cables are not forced to run over the CPU and/or memory, minimizing cable clutter. The board extends an inch and a half beyond the ISA slots, so it should fit fine in any standard ATX case.

Ten beefy 1500uF capacitors surround the CPU slot. A few smaller ones are spread out around the board, but just a very few. Three 3 pin fan connectors are available for using monitored fans - one by the CPU slot, one by the DIMM slots, and one right in front of the ISA slots. A fold down universal retention kit is installed on the board at the factory and will hold any Celeron, Pentium II, or Pentium III CPU securely in place. High quality Foxconn connectors are used throughout the board.

Following in the footsteps of the the AOpen AX6BC and Abit BX6 Revision 2, Transcend has included a full complement of FSB speeds - 66 / 68 / 75 / 83 / 100 / 103 / 112 / 117 / 124 / 129 / 133 / 138 / 143 / 148 / 153 are all available from Transcend's own partially jumperless CPU setup found under Chipset Features Setup. All FSB speeds that need it are available with and without a 1/4 PCI multiplier. That PCI bus speed is very clearly indicated next to each FSB speed. Settings below 100MHz are only available when the 66/100MHz jumper is set for 66MHz operation. Similarly, those above 100MHz are only available when the board is configured for 100MHz operation. Note that Transcend also sells a version of the board without all these bus speeds available.

A DIP switch bank on the board controls multiplier settings. As Transcend points out in the manual, the setting of clock multiplier's is virtually useless for new CPU's since Intel has implemented multiplier locking. However, it is of course necessary for older CPU's that are not locked. Stability in non-overclocked situations was excellent, most likely due to the high quality design of the board and components used. Stability was somewhat compromised while overclocking, but it was still well above average. Performance was about average for an i440BX, which is not a bad thing in this market segment where virtually everyone performs within 5% of each other.

The BIOS is the typical Award 4.51PG Setup, with few changes or additions. Hardware monitoring status is reported under Chipset Features Setup. Power management support is complete with wake on LAN, wake on ring, and wake on alarm support. The system can be powered up from keyboard as well. Specific IRQ's can be assigned to individual slots through the PNP/PCI Configuration in the BIOS. As indicated in the BIOS, PCI slots 4 and 5 share an IRQ - something that is true of most other 5 PCI slot motherboards, but is usually not mentioned anywhere. Full ACPI support is included for improved power management under ACPI compliant OS's like Windows 98 and the upcoming Windows 2000.

For hardware monitoring, the TS-ABX uses the extremely popular Winbond 83781D to monitor both onboard fans, 7 voltages, and up to 3 temperatures. The reason for "up to 3 temperatures" is that the Winbond hardware monitor can only monitor one temperature on its own - the temperature of the Winbond chip itself. In order to monitor the other two temperatures, such as that of the CPU, the Winbond chip requires an external thermistor. Transcend has included a high quality thermistor mounted directly under the CPU socket. It is raised above the surface of the board so that it should touch the bottom of the CPU's heatsink. Unfortunately, however, so there are no other thermistor headers provided, so that "up to 3 temperatures" is really cut down to just two. No hardware monitoring software was included with the board, but is available for download from Transcend's website. Of course, a variety of shareware/freeware hardware monitoring utilities are available on the web as well.

Speaking of included software, the Transcend CD doesn't include much. It's a generic CD for all their boards and includes manuals and specifications for all of them. The drivers directory seemed to have busmastering drivers for Windows 9x and NT, but the shortcuts pointed to files that were nonexistent. The manual does a pretty good job of covering the board's features, but unfortunately does not include much to help the first time installer.

The Bad

Unfortunately, the Winbond 83781D on the TS-ABX is an older hardware monitoring chip that does not support reading the temperature straight from the CPU's on board thermal diode.

While it is still fairly rare, the ability to adjust CPU voltage is becoming more and more common in the latest motherboard releases. Unfortunately, that does not include the TS-ABX.

There is no way to disable the USB IRQ, which can come in handy in a packed system.

Something missed by many motherboard manufacturers out there is the ability to control the power state of the system when AC power is restored following a power outage. This is an issue with ATX boards since they don't use a physical power switch, bur rather software/BIOS controlled power states. The power switch on an ATX case is nothing more than momentary switch that when temporarily closed, signals the motherboard to turn on, off, or suspend.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0

• Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: No

• USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes

Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: Mushkin SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM; Memory Man SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 64MB PC100 SDRAM

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Website: http://www.mushkin.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.

AnandTech Motherboard Testing Methodology

The Final Decision

Transcend has proven that the smaller names in the industry can produce products easily capable of competing with manufacturers much more famous among tweakers and overclockers. The TS-ABX does an excellent job for overclockers and non-overclocker's alike. The toughest part may be getting a hold of one of these boards, as a quick look around the web produced no vendors with Transcend products. If you do find one at a reasonable price, don't hesitate to go for it.

However, for companies like Transcend to become readily available from a variety of vendors, they really need to make a name for themselves in the market. Right now, what's needed is something unique to grab the hearts of users. Excellent stability, high build quality, and no major issues are all certainly an excellent start, but they may not be enough in this extremely competitive market.

How it Rates