Jetway M2A481 is the 2nd board we reviewed based on the old ATi RD480 chipset. Now renamed as the AMD 480X after ATi's merger with AMD, it is paired with the SB600. This new combination also starts off a new chapter in the adoption of ATi chipsets onto the AM2 platform as most would prefer a A+A solution.

In terms of performance, it is on par with the other AMD 480X board we reviewed before. In terms of features, the M2A481 is a CrossFire capable board supporting either 1 PCIex16 or 2 PCIex8 for CrossFire. It supports the AM2 socket type processors and comes with 4 DIMM slots. The South bridge alsos upporst 1 IDE channel and 4 SATAII ports for RAID 0,1,5 or 10. It also comes with HD Audio using Realtek ALC880 and 10 USB 2.0 ports. It also has support for Gigabit Ethernet.

Installation of this board is easy for beginners or advanced users, The board comes with diagnostics and recovery support. It uses SPI BIOSBACK function thru the Serial Peripheral Interface. The diagnostic LED will also be able to pinpoint the problems.

For overclockers, there are a lot of BIOS options for you to tweak. The Vcore can be adjusted up to 1.55v + 1.35% (offset). This feature is part of the CPU Vcore 7 Shift feature which gives higher voltage levels especially useful for the extreme overclockers. For example, I set vcore to 1.4v and Vcore 7Shift to 1.15%, the final voltage is 1.6v for vcore. That is to say, if you apply 1.55v for Vcore and +1.35% for your 7-Shift, you will be getting the MAX of 2.0925v. Final CPU Voltage = Vcore X 7-Shift. The DIY COOL Users can alsomount an optional fan to cool the capacitors.

In our overclocking tests, we are able to get stable at 285x10 at HT width of 4x. We managed to get it running complete with SuperPI 32M at 290x10 (2.9GHz) on our 4000+ X2. That is quite a surprise for us. There might be a bug though as we need to run the HT at 1x before it gets stable at 290x10. See BIOS screens shots for options and our overclocking result.

As for documentation and packaging, Jetway definitely has room for improvement. Additional brackets should be provided and documentation should be clear and concise.

Overall, the board performed well, has CrossFire upgradability and good overclocking options. It has also brought life back to this old chipset. I think it is only a matter of time we see more manufacturers noticing the beauty of the A+A solution.