By Yingzong
12/09/99
Hardware One

The ASUS P3B-F Box Cover

Introduction
Given the plethora of BX motherboards flooding the market during the past 6 months, many of us were initially reeling from the sheer number of available choices. However, time and user experiences have separated the wheat from the chaff. As a result, only a select few motherboards remain to be the darlings of the hardware community. Among them, the ABIT BX6-2 has stood out to be the first among equals and still remains a hot favourite. With the Intel i820 Camino chipset still unavailable, users currently still have to settle for the i440BX chipset. This has sent motherboard manufacturers relentless in their pursuit of that perfect BX motherboard. Industry heavyweight ASUS is not one to rest on its laurels and has come up with the ASUS P3B-F, the long awaited successor to their highly acclaimed P2B-F. The P3B-F belongs to the Flagship line of motherboards from ASUS and we will continue to see further additions to this family in the future.

I have had a favourable hands-on impression of the P2B-F and own the P/I-P6NP5 for my Pentium Pro 200. Therefore, it was no surprise that prior to receiving the board, I expected a lot from the P3B-F. Given its relatively high price, recent introduction and the ASUS brand name, it just stood to reason that it had to be a better contender for my affections than my current ABIT BX6-2. Performance, usability and stability, coupled with a fair dose of overclocking, were key issues on my mind during the review. Ramblings aside, let me proceed on to the juice about the hardware.