With the same CPU clock multiplier settings, the same choices for FSB speeds, the same overall board layout (5 PCI slots, 2 ISA slots) and the same jumperless CPU setup, you'd think at first glance that the AX6BC Pro Gold would be a virtual clone of the older Abit BX6 R2 440BX mainboard.

You'd be right to a certain degree, but there are a number of improvements that the Pro Gold offers versus the similar Abit product which benefit the user.

First, and most important, the Pro Gold uses an enhanced quality level ESR capacitor set. By using uprated capacitors, which guard against spikes that corrupt the system at all levels, the Pro Gold on paper offers a level of stability unparalleled by any other board we've tested.

Using 150MHz-rated EMS HSDRAM, we were able to boot and operate the Pro Gold at an FSB speed of 153MHz (using a specially prepared set of Intel CPUs that are not clock multiplier locked and were given to us by a Tier-1 OEM system integrator).

The fact that the AX6BC Pro Gold is able to handle that high of an FSB speed is a testament to its signal noise suppression and engineering improvements in stability versus AOpen's competitors.

It's important to note however that most AGP video cards we've tested lately are not anywhere near being able to handle running at FSB speeds higher than 133MHz. This is because the 440BX chipset only offers a 2/3 AGP clock divider versus the FSB speed. At a 100MHz FSB speed this works because the 440BX drops the speed down to the AGP port's required 66MHz bus speed (66MHz = 2/3 of 100MHz).