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Shuttle Spacewalker HOT-681 Socket-370 Motherboard Reviewed by Vijay Anand (29/3/99)
<Introduction><The Good><The Bad><Conclusion><Rating> IntroductionEver wondered where someone sells Shuttle motherboards locally?
Well, after reading many on-line reviews about them... I'm in the same group! A good
reason why Shuttle is a rarity here could be because it's former partner IPC, is really
'down' these days compared to a few years back when IPC held roadshows and many other
advertising schemes. Also, Shuttle is concentrating it's efforts in some other countries,
not particularly in this region. This Shuttle board was flown in from Taiwan (their
headquarters) and whether it'll sell in Singapore or not is questionable, but for now,
we'll evaluate this board. Notice the title? With a name like "Shuttle
Spacewalker", you would think that you're getting cutting-edge technology on-board!
Whether you notice the name or not, their box design will make you notice it! (very
unfortunately that my Dad's DV-camera is not available for me take a snap). We'll see if
the board lives up to it's name. The GoodThis motherboard comes in a 4/3/1(PCI/ISA/AGP) expansion slot configuration which is a good thing that Shuttle didn't downsize the board just because it's in the Socket-370 league. The best part is the location of HDD, FDD, ATX P/S and the 3 DIMM slots are placed right up-front. This confirms with th ATX spec 2.0 and the real benefit comes from the ease of installation and improved ventilation. The various LED & all other connectors are clearly labeled and located to the right of the board. The board includes a green-coloured heatsink over the 440BX chipset. This helps to get rid of heat from the BX chipset better while running at higher speeds & is even better if one is overclocking the board. Cooling is plenty, more than other boards I've seen to date! There are FOUR 3-pin power connectors for CPU, Chassis, AGP fan installation & a miscellaneous one. Not bad for a Socket-370 motherboard! Should you need the SB-link connector for some PCI sound-cards, you'll be excited(that is if you have pure-DOS games like Crusader) to know that one is provided, although the Creative PCI sound-cards(which the SB-link was 1st intended for usage) are engineered in a different way that you don't require this connector to get full DOS sound support. Other cards like the nice Yamaha Waveforce 192XG OEM uses this connector for pure DOS support too. The handle for locking the Socket-370 chip is made of plastic but it feels more solid than others I've handled, so no need to worry if you handle it with more force than usual. For setting the FSB speed & the multiplier control, you only have the old fashioned jumpers to fiddle with. Not a thoughtful option at all, considering they could implement a DIP switch block at least. There are printed tables on the motherboard to refer when setting up. Hardware monitoring is optional for this model but Shuttle has included a Temperature cum Voltage Sensor Header, which they have aptly named it as an EISCA Cooler connector... don't ask me how's it related, beats me too! The beautiful Shuttle CD comes with these software for the
motherboard: System Manager, Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.1 for the complete manual. Here are a
few snaps I've taken for the install screen and the System-Manager(SM) utility:
The System manager is quite a nifty program! Not only does it monitor your CPU temp but it also helps to monitor your HDD-disk space, Virtual Memory space, set alerts for all, give detailed info on all your expansion slots and ram. Shuttle motherboard come with an installation/features fold-out only. The 'Complete' Manual is on the CD! And I must say that information and diagrams are well detailed on the manual found in the CD.
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