Manufacturer: Soyo Tech: 440BX Motherboard Price: $125 (ESP)

Founded in 1985, Taiwanese mainboard vendor Soyo has consistently improved their products over the last 13 years, and now sits in the middle of the "World's Largest Mainboard Manufacturer List" at number six.

The newest product to come our way from Soyo (or Soyo Tek depending upon the product type) is an improved "Plus" version of a board we've already come to know and like this year, the SY-6BA. Now named the SY-6BA+, this new edition takes the strengths of the earlier model, which has won several online awards over the past few months, and built upon them to offer a world-class mainboard.

As you'll see as the review progresses, if Soyo can't jump into the big leagues with a board as capable as this one is, then something's wrong out there people….

By now you know that the size/shape of the mainboard is the traditional way Sharky Extreme begins all mainboard reviews, and we're sure as hell not going to change that now folks….(We know how ya love traditions)

The SY-6BA+ begins to impress with its diminutive size as it emerges from its shipping container. Very small, very concise, yet all business, the board measures a scant 12" x 7.5" in dimension. That means it passes SE's "Case size test" with flying colors, as even our ATX mini-case left some room to spare after the SY-6BA+ was mounted in it.

One thing we'll bring up here, even though many other mainboard vendors have also produced similarly styled boards, is that we're tired of seeing the ATX power supply connector wedged in-between the Slot-1 port for the CPU, and the peripheral ports that are equipped on all ATX form factor mainboards. Take a look at the picture of the SY-6BA+ and you'll see what we mean, you can tell that you've got to have fingers thinner than Karen Carpenters in order to be able to plug or unplug the power cable to the board. (I think I'm dating myself with the Karen Carpenter joke, but hey it applies dammnit!)

Otherwise the SY-6BA+ is an ergonomic dream, and we encountered no major difficulties when installing or removing it from a variety of cases.