Overclocking

While the CL31-A isn't exactly a feature-oriented product, it does recognize the importance of having overclocking abilities. FIC takes the OC game one step further by integrating bus speed selection in system BIOS. The CL31-A supports bus speeds of 66Mhz, 75Mhz, and 83Mhz. No other speeds or overclocking settings are included.

While this may seem a little anemic, having multiplier settings nowadays is pretty much useless. All of Intel's processors are multiplier-locked, and the 31-A's BIOS will automatically set the correct multiplier speed from the CPUID. This basically leaves bus-speed modification as the only possible avenue for overclocking, but as FIC deals mainly through OEM sales, overclocking isn't as big a focus for them as, say Abit.

One of the things that should be reiterated is that this board is based on the 440LX chipset, which doesn't use a "Front-side bus" frequency. This means that overclocking to 100Mhz (while guaranteeing the stability of your PCI/AGP peripherals) isn't possible, but as 100Mhz isn't an option in the bus speed field, it's a moot point. Just remember to look elsewhere if you're set on getting a Celeron 300 to pump up to 450.

Ugh, on-board audio

The compact design of MicroATX also tends to promote more on-board features, something system integrators and MIS managers love, but end-users ultimately abhor. We're very happy to see that the CL310A hasn't gone the route of the Rage-Pro on-board chipset, as the available AGP slot is one of the major factors allowing the board to be competitive in a 3D-gaming context. Throw a TNT or Voodoo3 into the box and the motherboard simply won't matter.

The only notable on-board feature added to the CL31-A is the 16-bit audio, consisting of a Yamaha OPL-3 FM Synthesis chipset. While this may be fine for Windows business audio or today's mostly-wav games, we'd definitely replace it with a current PCI sound card, if anything to get duplexing and mixing for multiple playback channels.