Motherboard Specifications

The Good

ATX ATX ATX!!!! I can't stress enough the importance of choosing a proper form factor for a motherboard. The PA-2011 starts off where the PA-2007 was weakest, first with the form factor. FIC chose the ATX specification for the PA-2011 rather than the horrid AT design of the PA-2007. Like the PA-2007, the PA-2011 is chocked full of performance and expansion related features. This baby has all the options from SDRAM and Ultra DMA support to a 512MB cacheable memory area and support for Linear Burst Mode which enhances the performance with IBM/Cyrix 6x86 (and 6x86MX) processors. All of this is made possible by VIA's excellent VP2 chipset, which, in my opinion, is really a chipset for the masses. Expansion on the PA-2011 is highly encouraged. Although it doesn't support any of the lower core voltage settings for future processors, the 2011 boasts a wonderful 4 PCI and 4 ISA slots as well as the now standard 2 DIMM and 4 SIMM slots. This allows the user to take full advantage of the VIA VP2 chipset which is absolutely necessary in order for a product of this caliber to be taken seriously. The setup of this board can be a bit tricky since it doesn't use a standard Intel chipset, however FIC's superb manual does come in handy, especially if you are a novice setting up your first system. Like most other FIC boards I have tested, the PA-2011 features the standard AMI BIOS Setup Utility (not WinBIOS!). I still prefer AWARD's setup utility over AMI's however there is no reason to actually despise the PA-2011's configuration options. Once I got Win95 and my test suit installed on the system I had to remove the standard bus mastering controllers from the device manager in order to properly install the VIA Busmastering IDE Drivers upon the first reboot of the system. If you want the features of the PA-2007 in an ATX form factor, I suggest you take a look at the PA-2011. However there are a few things you should know before making any decisions...

The Bad

Performance-wise, the PA-2011 doesn't do the FIC name much justice, I couldn't produce any scores with the PA-2011 that were even comparable to its bigger brother, the PA-2007. The performance of the PA-2011, particularly the video and memory performance is a little faster than the PA-2010+, but no where near that of the PA-2007. Even if this board did support the 83MHz bus speed I doubt I would recommend it over the PA-2007 since it still wouldn't provide performance acceptable in my opinion. The best match for the 2011 is not the K6, but the Cyrix 6x86MX, which produced the best results with the board than any other processor. However I should mention that the 6x86MX is still much better paired with the MTech Mustang.

IRQ Usage

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

• Allows user to assign IRQ to VGA card

• Allows user to reserve IRQ/DMA Channels if necessary

• Auto-detects PnP Cards after HDD Detection

BIOS Settings

Here are my Recommended BIOS Settings for those of you who have been having problems with the PA-2011 and higher bus speeds, I'm not sure why though since it was very stable when I tested it. Below are my recommended settings for bus speeds < 66MHz, and 75MHz. If you are using Non-EDO RAM, then use the settings the in the 2nd (Non - EDO) column, if you are using SDRAM/EDO RAM with a 50/60/66MHz bus speed use the 3rd (66MHz Setting) column. The next column should be used if you are using the 75MHz bus speed and EDO/SDRAM. Finally, if you are looking for the safest and most stable setting, use the last column. I should add that such features as Linear Burst Mode should be enabled ONLY if your processor supports them (i.e. Cyrix/IBM 6x86/MX) and only if the jumper on the motherboard is set accordingly.

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, Corsair SDRAM, SmarTech 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
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.nf-ny.com/nfny/comp.html

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

Windows 95 Performance of the FIC PA-2011

Here I was quite disappointed with the PA-2011, even with the bus mastering drivers installed I couldn't top the performance of the PA-2007. The best overall performer with this board is still the 6x86MX however.

The Final Decision

I personally recommend the PA-2007 over this, however, if you absolutely must have a VP2 based motherboard in an ATX form factor give the PA-2011 some consideration.