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Despite a bit of
a delay at the release of the nForce2 chipset, nVidia appears to have learned their lessons well
and have not made the same mistakes twice.
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8RDA+'s twin, the FIC AU11
| fic au11
motherboard |
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Ships with the
following:
- IDE ATA66/100
Cable
- FDD Cable
- Driver CD
- Utilities
CD
- User Manual
- Quick Install
Guide
- Rear I/O Back
Panel
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| Brackets: |
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USB
2.0 Bracket
IEEE
1394 Bracket
Game
Port Bracket
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Doesn't the FIC AU11 looks a lot like the 8RDA+ minus the
Port 80 diagnostics card huh? Until recently FIC was better known for their
strong OEM ties rather then their retail products. As for who really
manufactures the AU11/8RDA+ we're not sure... but it doesn't really matter
anyway.
With a retail price of $130 CDN, ($97 US) the AU11 is slightly
more expensive but it does come with nVIDIA soundstorm audio, 10/100 LAN and
IEEE 1394. If you need something a bit more the FIC AU11 is easily expandable
with its six PCI slots and lone 8x AGP port. The BIOS that accompanies the AU11
is extremely powerful and should satisfy even the most hardcore of overclockers
out there.
Going back
to onboard audio, these days most manufacturers include a CPU sapping audio
software codec just so that their motherboard comply with the standard marketing
check list. That's why we were so pleased to see that FIC went out of their way
to include the awesome nVIDIA SoundStorm 5.1 Dolby Digital soundcard on the
AU11.
Because the
8RDA+ and AU11 are identical, all the faults that we mentioned about the 8RDA+
apply to the AU11 as well. We would have liked to see FIC include a Port 80
diagnostics card on the AU11 as well, after all the silk screen is there. FIC
chose to go with the same Northbridge heatsink that Epox used and it's going to
be the first thing that an overclocker changes. While it's just fine at stock
speeds, it'll definitely hold back any overclocker in search for a high
FSB.
Performance of
the AU11 is very good, it scored very well during benchmark testing and was an
excellent overclocker. If you can find the FIC AU11 at a reasonable price by all
means pick it up. It'll certainly keep you happy.
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