FIC AD11 Socket-A AMD 760 DDR ATX

Our initial experiences with the AD11 were quite positive back in September, especially considering that it was a very early beta then.  Now five months later, the AD11 proves to be one of the most stable motherboards we have seen.  FIC puts a total of fifteen 2200uF and ten 1000uF capacitors around the CPU socket, AMD 761 North Bridge, as well as the DDR DIMM slots.  All the MOSFETs around the CPU socket are mounted to heatsinks to aid cooling. 

The capacitors and the heatsink for the MOSFETs are placed together

Even when running the DDR SDRAM at CAS 2 settings, the system did not crash once within 24 hours of our stress tests.  We continued to run the stability tests and finally the first crash occurred after 34 hours of operation.  Considering that this is FIC's first try at a DDR board we were very impressed with the stability of the AD11.

One thing to look out for is that after hours of testing, we noticed that the heatsinks on the MOSFETs got quite hot, as did the heatsink on the AMD 761 North Bridge.  Therefore careful cooling around the CPU area becomes essential in keeping the system stable.

Two fan headers are available on the motherboard, one for the CPU and one for the chassis fan.  The VIA 686B Super South Bridge has an integrated hardware monitor, and it monitors the speed of those two fans as well as up to two temperatures. 

FIC continues to include their NOVUS II enhanced motherboard features on the AD11.  BIOS Guardian basically acts as a firewall against all virus infection of the BIOS data.  You will have to disable this setting before you can flash your BIOS.  Easy Key provides shortcuts for users to get into specific sub-menus in the BIOS, and Clockometer is a software interface for Windows 98 users to overclock their systems from within Windows. 

The fourth feature of NOVUS II is LogoGenie that allows users to customize, create, or select a logo to display during bootup.  The software currently supports only Windows 95/98, so users with other operating systems won’t be able to take advantage of the feature.  This feature isn't be that useful for most users, but remember, FIC is a major player in the OEM market and LogoGenie and easily allows OEM builders to include their own logos during boot up.

Last of all, FIC includes Audio Alert II as an optional diagnosing tool.  Users can connect the Audio Alert II module to a speaker and every time you boot up the machine the module will tell you if any part of the system is experiencing problems.  Motherboard diagnostics have come quite a way since the days of simple beep codes.

The manual included with the AD11 has brief instructions on how to install the motherboard as well as its unique features, however it lacks some pictures that would be more helpful.  All the jumpers and connectors are listed, but again detailed explanation is not provided.  FIC does include explanations of BIOS settings, but they do not provide any information on software and driver installation.  FIC provides two CDs with the AD11: one containing all the necessary drivers and utilities, and the other featuring Norton Ghost, Norton Antivirus, and Norton Virtual Drive.