As we can see from the spec sheet, the SY6BA+ IV shares 95% of its features and design with the previous SY6BA+ III mainboard, which is a good thing in our minds as the V3 is still one of our top picks in the 440BX mainboard market.
What separates the V4 from the V3 is the inclusion of HighPoint Technology's HPT366 UDMA/66 controller chip, which provides two additional channels of UDMA/66 support in addition to the 440BX's two native UDMA/33 channels.
Up to eight IDE devices can be supported by the V4, four of which can be set to utilize UDMA/66 while the other four must use UDMA/33.
Sharp readers will recognize the HPT366 UDMA/66 controller chip, as it's the same one that powers the Abit BE6-II 440BX mainboard.
Other features of the Soyo SY6BA+ IV are the aforementioned front side bus settings, which even offer an "Estimated MHz" result when the setting is changed in the BIOS, allowing users trying to remember what "7.5 x 75MHz" is to drop their calculators forever.
Instead the BIOS changes the MHz result as the user changes the multiplier or bus frequency, allowing for instant choices to be made when fiddling with the CPU's speed.
We like the V4's robust quad-set of DIMM slots, even though it's unlikely anyone would populate them to the maximum capacity of 1GB. Still, nice to have the option.
One gripe we have not only with Soyo, but also with most current mainboard designers, comes in the form of the ATX power connector placement. Most boards we've seen lately are sandwiching the connector for the power cable in-between the parallel/com port double stack and the Slot-1 connector, which is a tough area for even small hands.
That lone gripe aside, the SY6BA+ IV is very well laid out and incorporates everything you'd expect a top-tier mainboard to equip.
The V4 isn't a large board by today's standards, it measures a scant 12" long by 7.5" deep.
Installing the board is simple thanks to its size, we found no problems when mounting the V4 in two differently sized ATX cases.
Soyo includes their standard "Quick Start Guide" with the V4, which frequent readers know isn't our favorite solution when it comes to included manuals for mainboards.
Full documentation for the V4 is included on a CD that's distributed with each board, however, and it's extremely well done.