ABIT PD5N SiS 5598 Socket-7 Board

Here are my Recommended BIOS Settings for those of you who have been having problems with the PD5N and higher bus speeds. Below are my recommended settings for bus speeds < 66MHz, 75MHz, and 83.3MHz. If you are using FPM RAM, then use the settings the in the 2nd (Non - EDO) column, if you are using EDO RAM with a 50/60/66MHz bus speed use the 3rd (66MHz Setting) column. If you are using EDO RAM with a 75/83.3MHz bus speed use the 4th (75/83MHz Setting) column. Finally, if you are looking for the safest and most stable setting, use the last column.

The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

Test Configuration

Windows 95 Performance of the ABIT PD5N

The Final Decision

The ABIT PD5N is a decent motherboard, although it doesn't take full advantage of the SiS 5598 chipset it is based upon it is still a great low cost alternative to some other single chip solutions.  It doesn't measure up to ABIT's usual quality and excellence, however the motherboard as a whole isn't bad, in fact it is much better than quite a few of its competitors...ABIT seems to hold the SiS 5598 throne, however MTech is working on an answer to it...the Mustang Ultra...with SDRAM support!  We'll just have to wait and see...