ABIT VP6

Company: ABIT
Product: VP6 Dual Intel Motherboard
Street Price: ~ $165
Complete Motherboard Spec's: ABIT-USA Spec's
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2001
Reviewed By: Jason

Conclusions:

Depending on what you use your computer for, the VP6 may be the right solution for you, or it could be something you would never fully utilize. Current (Release) OS's that support SMP are Windows NT & 2000, along with Free/Open/Net BSD & all distro's of Linux. Windows 95/98/Me do NOT support SMP, however you can still run them on this board, you just wouldn't be able to utilize the second CPU (which defeats the whole purpose of owning it).

You don't have to be a hard-core, high-end developer to appreciate the greatness of having a second CPU. If you multi-task a lot, then having the second CPU can really help. Windows NT/2k can distribute the load of all your applications across the CPU's, so even if your programs only support one CPU, the OS can choose which CPU to run it on. So if you like to play MP3's, burn a CD, surf the web, write a paper, FTP some files, and encode a video all at the same time (I know that is an extreme example), the VP6 is definitely up to the task.

However if all you do it sit around and play Quake, Everquest, or Counter-Strike all day, then odds are your second CPU is going to sit mostly idle and you won't see any benefit. Like I said before, people who are going to purchase a VP6 already know before hand that they can utilize that second CPU.

I was completely blow away by the stability the VP6 offered at high FSB speeds, even with all four DIMM slots full! I know my BE6-II wouldn't go above 133FSB when I tried to use the third DIMM slot. Not once did the VP6 flinch when I was running through all the battery of tests. I was very impressed by all its scores over a single CPU system, the performance gain was just remarkable.

With AMD's dual CPU solution just coming out on the market, and not even targeted for the end consumer ($500-$600 for the board alone!), the Intel route is still the way to go for the regular / power users. This is where the VP6 really shines, it is reasonably priced at about the same cost as any other high-end single processor board.

I am also pleased to announce that the ABIT VP6 receives the "Extreme Overclocking Editor's Top Pick" award! This is an excellent motherboard that fills a unique niche and it certainly deserves the recognition.

Finally I would like to thank ABIT, PCNut, Heatsink Factory, and CrazyPC for making this all possible. Check out their web sites because they have a lot to offer! PCNut sells the VP6 with the CPU's tested at 1GHz+!!!

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