New Motherboard scoring criteria - February 2002.

After nearly two years of use, we have decided to review our motherboard scoring criteria. This is driven by the need to place greater differentiation between boards tested whilst also providing adequate rewards for examples of high quality design and engineering which we see on a regular basis.

The new criteria is as follows:

90-100% - Gold Award.

This is for boards which offer both excellent performance and class leading stability. To qualify for a score in this bracket a board must display:

• Class leading performance levels (or comparable)
• Class leading stability (or comparable)
• No visible manufacturing defects
• Excellent expansion capabilities
• Excellent design and layout
• Flawless driver installation

Compared to previous reviews we are tightening the criteria for gaining a Gold award. This applies to the driver disk supplied with boards also. Any driver disk which has a number of majors flaw will not qualify for a Gold Award.

80-89% - Commended Award.

This category is for boards which offer excellent performance and excellent stability, but do not quite qualify for a “Gold Award”. To qualify for a score in this bracket a board must display:

• Excellent performance
• Excellent stability
• No more than 1 visible manufacturing defect (we are being lenient)
• Good expansion capabilities
• Good design and layout
• Easy driver installation (no more than 4 flaws)

Essentially this bracket is for excellent motherboards which don’t quite make it into the top bracket. Nonetheless these boards are nothing short of superb and would not otherwise make the top bracket. A board may offer excellent stability but not quite class leading performance and thus would qualify for this bracket.

70-79% - Worth a look Award.

This category is for a good but flawed board. These boards have the potential to make it into the commended bracket given a BIOS, driver or minor hardware revision. To qualify for a score in this bracket a board must display:

• Good performance
• Good Stability
• No more than 3 visible manufacturing defects
• Good expansion, but very reliant on riser slots
• Reasonable design and layout

60-69%.

This will be for boards which do display a significant number of flaws. Boards will display below average performance with below average stability. Any board in this category will work but will require a large amount of effort from the user in comparison to its rivals.

Below 59%.

These boards will have a significant flaw or number of flaws. Essentially any board which fails during a review period (not failing due to external factors) will qualify for this score.