Sisoft Sandra 2001	Source: Sandra

Sandra is designed to test the theoretical power of a complete system and individual components. The numbers taken though are again, purely theoretical and may not represent real world performance.

SiSoft Sandra 2001 Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	Score
	Multimedia Benchmark
1.	Integer SSE - 133 MHz	8920 it/s
1a.	Integer SSE - 160 MHz	8930 it/s
2.	Floating-Point SSE - 133 MHz	10274 it/s
2a.	Floating-Point SSE - 160 MHz	10268 it/s
	CPU Benchmark
3.	Dhrystone ALU - 133 MHz	4478 MIPS
3a.	Dhrystone ALU - 160 MHz	4482 MIPs
4.	Whetstone FPU - 133 MHz	2220 MFLOPS
4a.	Whetstone FPU - 160 MHz	2210 MFLOPS
	Memory Benchmark
5.	Integer ALU - 133 MHz	1959 MB/s
5a.	Integer ALU - 160 MHz	2102 MB/s
6.	Float FPU - 133 MHz	1879 MB/s
6a.	Float FPU - 160 MHz	2135 MB/s

SiSoft Sandra tests only theoretical power, so it's no surprise that the Multi-Media and CPU benchmarks are almost identical since the CPU speed is the same. The memory benchmark seems to get a healthy gain from the higher bus speeds.

3DMark2001	Source: MadOnion

3DMark2001 is the latest installment in the 3DMark series by MadOnion. By combining DirectX8 support with completely new graphics, it continues to provide good overall system benchmarks. 3DMark2001 has been created in cooperation with the major 3D accelerator and processor manufacturers to provide a reliable set of diagnostic tools. The suite demonstrates 3D gaming performance by using real-world gaming technology to test a system's true performance abilities. Tests include: DirectX8 Vertex Shaders, Pixel Shaders and Point Sprites, DOT3 and Environment Mapped Bump Mapping, support for Full Scene Anti-aliasing and Texture Compression and two game tests using Ipion real-time physics. Higher 3DMark scores denote better performance.

3DMark 2001 Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	3DMarks	Ranking
1.	133 MHz FSB	8375
2.	160 MHz FSB	8748

There's quite a nice performance jump from going 133 to 160 MHz FSB! 3DMark2001 has always known to love high FSB's and here, it just can't get enough!

Return to Castle Wolfenstein	Source: ID Software

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a relatively new game benchmark. However, RTCW takes up where Quake III left off and continues to form the basis of the first person shooter system stressing that QIII has become a hallmark for. Based upon the Quake III engine, RTCS is obviously going to be quite taxing on even a top end system. Higher numbers denote faster frames per second (FPS), and hence, better performance.

RTCW (640x480 atdemo6) Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	(FPS)	Ranking
1.	133 MHz FSB	58.5
2.	160 MHz FSB	59.1

RTCW (640x480 atdemo8) Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	(FPS)	Ranking
1.	133 MHz FSB	161.8
2.	160 MHz FSB	170.8

RTCW (1024x768 atdemo6) Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	(FPS)	Ranking
1.	133 MHz FSB	57.1
2.	160 MHz FSB	56.4

RTCW (1024x768 atdemo8) Benchmark Results
	Shuttle AK35GTR	(FPS)	Ranking
1.	133 MHz FSB	149.9
2.	160 MHz FSB	157.3

In the atdemo6 benchmarks, for both resolutions, we're all CPU limited, however in the atdemo8 demo which is more of a overall system benchmark, having the FSB higher really does boost gaming performance!

Conclusions:

The Shuttle AK35GTR is easily one of the most luxurious KT266A based motherboards out there after all, it features 6 PCI slots, on board hardware 5.1 audio, on board Ultra/133 RAID controller and 4 DIMM slots. There are only a handful of other boards that can stand up to that list of features.

As far as performance goes, since the AK35GTR is using VIA's KT266A we expected that performance would be good, and the board didn't disappoint.

Stability wasn't a problem even with all 4 DIMM slots filled with different types of memory.

The AK35GTR didn't overclock as well as some other boards in it's class, however 160 MHz FSB isn't anything to be ashamed of.

The performance boost isn't really that great for office based applications, however gamers will find a very nice increase by simply upping the bus speed.

The AK35GTR's biggest asset is it's extremely low price. For $180 CDN, it offers a very good value for the amount of features is carries. It's closest competitor is on the order $40 more! Way to go Shuttle, great board!

Be sure to tell us what you think of this review of the AK35GTR Motherboard! Come to the forums and let us know if we've covered everything you wanted to know about it.