PC Partner RC410MS7-A82C

Conclusion:

Finishing off the benchmarks, it is unfortunate to see some of the noticeable differences in the results when running the PC Partner RC410-based motherboard. Of course, PC Partner motherboards aren't designed to rely heavily into engineering and workstation programs but rather optimized for HTPCs and lighter tasks. With SPECViewPerf and the proe-03 engineering viewset, the Xpress 200 was simply no match for the VIA and Intel Chipsets that had sharp advantages. However, when it came time to directly CPU centric benchmarks of compiling and encoding, the PC Partner motherboard was able to shine as it had supremacy in these situations. Finally, with FreeBench the ATI RC410 + SB450 left the motherboard at a disadvantage in PiFFT and FourInARow. Nevertheless, benchmarks do not tell the entire story, as we had shared earlier that there were problems during the Linux installation process when using x86_64 binaries on the EM64T Pentium D processor. When switching over to the 32-bit version of Fedora Core 4 with the same package selection, the problems were alleviated. Although we cannot vogue for its Microsoft Windows x64 compatibility when paired with an Intel EM64T dual-core processor, we do believe the users may possibly face the same challenges. This is also to keep in mind many motherboard manufacturers have turned away from using the ATI SB450 in favor of ULI Southbridge parts compatible with an ATI Northbridge. However, the compatible ULI parts are also known to possess their own set of problems. Overall, this is a great introductory or HTPC motherboard but beyond that, the possibilities are somewhat diminished due to the weak workstation/engineering abilities. With the ATI Xpress 200 graphics compatibility with Linux and its S-Video and Composite out, the motherboard could certainly serve well with MythTV in a HTPC setup. The only major design flaw to note on part of PC Partner is the location of a single capacitor that hindered the appropriate LGA-775 installation of a heatsink in our situation and with other possible after-market solutions. The overall Linux i386 support is also respectable along with LM_Sensors except for a few sensor readings that were reporting incorrect values. If it were not for the unfortunate situation with the x86_64 ATI compatibility, the PC Partner RC410MS7-A82C would have likely been a candidate for an Editor's Choice Award.

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