Soltek SL-915GPro-FGR Motherboard Review

Upgrading your desktop system or workstation can be a daunting task even for the seasoned veteran. I remember some years ago when a good friend of mine was looking to upgrade to a shiny new Pentium II and his mom was being nice enough to front the cash needed for a new board and processor. This is where the problems started, if you were around computers during that time you may remember that along with the new Slot 1 processor package Intel started moving away from 72pin SIMMs in favor of the 168pin DIMM. Now my friend didn't want to spend any money on new memory so he searched high and low for a motherboard that supported 72pin SIMMs. In the end he settled with a dual processor SuperMicro board that supported both memory platforms. For him the upgrade was a success since he was able to get a new board and processor without having to upgrade everything else in his system.

Fast-forward to 2004, Christmas quickly approaching (or may have passed depending on when you read this) and many computer users are faced with the same problem, what do I need to upgrade my system. While this question is beyond the limits of this review the board featured in the review could be just the ticket.

The board featured in this review is the i915G-enabled motherboard from Soltek called the SL-915GPro-FGR. This is a Pro Series motherboard so you can expect it to come packed with onboard goodies. One feature specific to this board is an embedded PCI Express video adaptor. The onboard video controller isn't really gamer ready but does work quite well.

Like all Soltek Pro Series motherboards the PCB is a glossy black with the majority of the expansion slots being purple. The only exception is the RAID and onboard SerialATA ports. Consult the Soltek website for a complete list of onboard features specific to this motherboard.