Introduction

Although the company has been around since 1996, Soltek, based in Taiwan, is still considered a relatively new manufacturer on the North American scene.  Since the introduction of its motherboards into the North American market a couple years ago, Soltek has become known for releasing rock stable motherboards that incorporate some high end overclocking features at low end prices. 

The new line of “Golden Flame” motherboards looks to continue to build on that tradition with its selection of boards based on the much acclaimed nForce 2 chipset from Nvidia.  The model we’ll be looking at today is the SL-75FRN-L, which is the lower end model in the line.  Don’t be fooled though, this low-end board has some pretty high end features

The Specs

Without simply regurgitating Solteks website for you, here is a list of the SL-75FRN-L's main features.

CPU: Socket A AMD Duron/Athlon MP/Athlon XP
Chipset: NVIDIA nforce2 SPP, NVIDIA nForce2 MCP
FSB: 100/133/166Mhz
Memory: 3 x 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMMS (DDR 266/333/400) up to 3GB, Dual DDR support
Onboard IDE: 2 x Ultra ATA 66/100/133
USB: 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 onboard – 4 via optional cable)
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-Channel Audio
Onboard NIC: 1 x 10/100 RTL8139C
Expansion Slots: 1 x AGP 8x/4x, 5 x 32-bit PCI

A complete list of features can be found at Soltek’s website

Something that you should have noted from the above is that the FRN-L uses the nForce2 SPP chipset.  This System Platform Processor chipset offers all the nice features that come with the nForce2 without the integrated GeForce4MX video, offered as part of the nForce2 IGP, Integrated Graphics Processor, chipset.

The good news is that by not implementing any onboard graphics Soltek is able to help keep costs down while still offering some great features.  Just make sure you don’t purchase this board thinking that it comes with onboard GF4MX video (like anyone reading this would WANT that).

First Impressions

As always, Soltek does a nice job on the packaging.  The skull logo on the front is standard for any Soltek motherboard.  The color scheme has been changed slightly from silver to gold on the FRN-L's box to match the new Golden Ray theme.  Surprisingly the board also came with its own little matching tote bag.

I suppose it’s the thought that counts, and that I really shouldn’t complain, but personally I would have much rather seen some of the optional onboard connectors included in the package instead of this flamboyantly colored bag which I will never use.

Next Page: (2)

Page 1: Page 2: Page 3: Page 4: Page 5: Page 6: Page 7: