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Foxconn WinFast 755FXK8AA-8EKRS Review :: Foxconn WinFast 755FXK8AA-8EKRS
The WinFast 755FXK8AA-8EKRS has a pretty decent overall motherboard layout. Everything is well placed and belongs where it should be, with the exception of the 4-pin 12v connector. It's located at the lower left corner of the CPU socket and requires the power cable to wrap around the CPU cooler. It's not that bad though because there is plenty of space around the CPU socket to allow good positioning of the power cable.  4-pin 12v  CPU Socket This WinFast motherboard is based on the SiS 755FX chipset. The chipset is designed to use AGP graphic cards instead of the PCI-E. Unlike Nvidia's MCP chipsets, the SiS Northbridge doesn't get very hot under stressful load. In fact, the passive cooling heatsink is more than enough to cool the Northbridge. If you wanted to, you can remove the Northbridge heatsink for a better heatsink. There is plenty of clearance around the Northbridge to allow all kinds of aftermarket heatsinks. There are motherboards out there that allow you to switch out heatsinks and provide you with the two holes, but they don't provide enough clearance. Capacitors around the Northbridge often cause compatibility issues. The Southbridge is the SiS 964 and is left bare without cooling aid. That's certainly not a problem as the Southbridge was barely warm to the touch during testing. There are a total of 4 SATA ports, two controlled by the SiS 964 Southbridge and two controlled by the Silicon Image 3112 chipset. Both of the SATA controllers support RAID 0 or RAID 1.  Northbridge  Southbridge  SATA  Silicon Image The WinFast motherboard makes use of AMD's Socket 939 CPU's, which means that dual channel support is included. With that, there are 4 DIMM slots to provide up to 4GB of system memory. Next to the DIMM slots are the well-positioned ATX power connector and the IDE and floppy ports. Personally I find this to be the optimal placement as it allows large cables to be tucked away into unused drive bays. For those who might be concerned, there is plenty of space between the AGP slot and the DIMM slots. For enthusiasts who have large graphic cards like the Nvidia 6800 Ultra, you won't have to frustrate over pulling out the card just to add or take out memory. Underneath the AGP slot are 5 PCI slots for future add-on cards. There isn't much need and most enthusiasts will probably just use 2 or 3 of these. The motherboard provides 8-channel sound and is controlled by Realtek's ALC850 chipset. While not the best audio solution available, it's considered to be the current best on-board solution. It does help many save the additional costs of buying a separate sound card. If you're a gamer, I'd suggest you go with something else that's better. The ALC850 also provides SPDIF solution at the back I/O of the motherboard.  DIMM Slots  PCI Slots  Realtek Speaking of the back I/O ports, there are the usual 4 USB headers, an IEEE 1394, and a RJ45 jack for broadband. There are two additional USB headers on the motherboard for an additional 4 more USB ports as well as an onboard IEEE 1394 header to provide even more IEEE 1394 connections. All the headers are well located ad the very bottom of the motherboard near the last PCI slot. When I first tested the motherboard, I had trouble finding the front I/O for the power and reset buttons. I checked the manual to find out that it doesn't look like the typical ones found on regular motherboards.  USB Firewire  Front I/O Contents:
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