Built around the same "Black Beauty" PCB as the AX4B Pro (also reviewed here), the AX45V is one of a growing number of motherboards using the SIS 645 chipset with its support for the latest PC-2700 standard of DDR memory.

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Feature wise it's very much the same as the AX4B Pro, with six PCI and three DIMM slots and a single CNR slot. The onboard audio chip is a Realtek ALC201, which unfortunately doesn't support surround sound.

The AGP slot is one of those that are annoyingly close to the DIMM slots. There is absolutely no room available between the end of the AGP card and the DIMM retaining levers. This could be a problem when DIMM 1 is populated and you need to remove the memory module while there is an AGP card installed. You are left with three options; don't use DIMM 1, remove the video card before trying to remove the stick of memory, or gently bend your AGP card to the side in order to release the latch. Irritating...