Foxconn MARS (Intel P35)

Conclusion

Conclusion

If the MARS is to be any indication, Foxconn is heading towards the right direction in its quest to develop enthusiast motherboards. They've got the right formula here, with the right amount of features, thoughtful design elements, good cooling, decent layout and competitive performance. Besides the SYSmark 2004 issue we encountered in our testing, the MARS seems to be a very well balanced platform with proper implementation of the various subsystems. Graphics and gaming scores were high, memory performance was strong, and it even tipped the scales in SATA performance.

What is the best indication that the MARS is a good motherboard? It has the capability to walk the talk. Foxconn has been heavily promoting their Quantum Force series of motherboards, with the MARS at its forefront for extreme overclocking purposes. And extreme overclocking it does indeed. The Foxconn MARS is one of the few Intel Core 2 motherboards since the P965 chipset was initially launched to be able to achieve a solid overclock beyond 500MHz. Foxconn's Gladiator BIOS is clean and simple with adequate options available, though Foxconn still has some ways to go in terms of fine tuning options and settings.

The MARS is a very solid entry from Foxconn into the enthusiast market, and we have no problems recommending this board as an excellent choice for overclockers to mess around with. At US$190, the Foxconn MARS is priced around the same range as its competitors, though this time, Foxconn doesn't have the price advantage. For instance, both abit's IP35 Pro and MSI's P35 Platinum boards are slightly more competitive.

Like MSI's initial Diamond Club, which was an exclusive membership for users who purchased their Diamond series of products, Foxconn seems to have committed themselves to follow a similar path with their Quantum Force, offering MARS users membership and early access to BIOS updates and other special offers. Hopefully, this isn't a one-off kind of thing. If Foxconn can actually maintain its current momentum to support and supply MARS (and future Quantum Force products) users with continuous updates and tweaks, the MARS can get better over time and Foxconn will be on track to become a serious contender in the enthusiast segment.