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Ever since the launch of the Duron processor from AMD, there has been a great market for a budget AMD-based system. However, we have not yet seen any widespread distribution of a motherboard solution that would benefit those looking to spend a minimum of cash on a new system. Both VIA and SiS had announced and shown motherboards with just this purpose, but we have still yet to see them in mass for sale to customers. Ensonic, a smaller and lesser know motherboard manufacturer that has a much larger influence on the OEM market than retail market, has released a motherboard that they hope can take this niche in the market: the MS-8308E.

Before we get into the analysis of the product, lets first take a look at the specs on the motherboard. Notice all the on-board features available:

Motherboard Specifications

CPU Socket

Socket A (100/200 DDR MHz Support)

Chipset

SiS730s

Form Factor

micro-ATX

Multiplier Options

none

Bus Speed Options

none

Voltages

default

Memory Support

2 x 168-pin SDRAM PC100/PC133 Support

Expansion Slots

2/0/1/1 (PCI/ISA/AMR/AGP)

AGP Support

4x AGP

USB Support

2 Standard USB ports

Integrated Components

SiS730-VGA Video

SiS900 Network

Realtek AC'97 Audio

Bios

AMI Bios

Onboard IDE

2 x ATA100 EIDE