Manufacturer: Lucky Star Tech: 440BX Motherboard Price: $125 (ESP)

The theme of the week at Sharky Extreme seems to be 440BX-based mainboards, as the Lucky Star 6ABX2V we're reviewing today is the fourth board we've tested in almost as many days. Based in Taiwan (all our reviews seem to start that way) "Lucky Star" produces more than 215,000 mainboards and 70,000 video cards each month. As a reference, that puts Lucky Star in the top four highest volume mainboard manufacturers worldwide.

The particular Lucky Star board we're examining in this outing is the mainstream positioned 6ABX2V. Incorporating all the features you've come to expect from the newer "BX" boards on the market, the 6ABX2V is a good quality piece at a fair price.

The size of the Lucky Star 6ABX2V is very small. At only 12" by 7.0" it seems small enough that the Mossad could put it in his pocket along with his cell phone, pager, pepper spray, and set of retainers. (He wears those damn baggies…..All the kids do these days….)

Needless to say fitting the 6ABX2V into a variety of ATX cases went well, and buyers shouldn't expect to run into any trouble. As with the Microstar MS-6119 and the Soyo SY-6BA+ BX boards we reviewed earlier this week, Lucky Star has positioned the ATX power connector in the spot we love to hate, the microscopic gap between the dual stack peripheral connector ports and the CPU's mounting slot. It's a tough fit, but we will say in the mainboard designer's defense that there's not much room left anywhere else to easily place the connector anyway. The newer boards are that small.

The instruction manual that comes with the 6ABX2V is adequate, but won't win any prizes for prose or grammar. It's relatively short in length, but outlines everything an installer or upgrader needs to know, albeit briefly. A C+ grade on the manual seems appropriate…..