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P4SPOOKY's AOPEN AX4R+ ROCKS

P

P4spooky

Senior member
Here is a shot at a "Thugs/PJ" style review

Board: Aopen AX4R+ (Serial# 24808835KN77)
Date: 01/10/2003
Observations: Black PCB, Has the word "SECRET" on the ICH4 :Q

ISSUES:
1. ONBOARD SOUND DEAD AT 150FSB - OK at 133FSB - OK at 145FSB - WILL FIND OUT EXACT FAILURE FSB LATER
Solution: Set AGP/PCI at 68.5/34.3 and reinstalled drivers. Sound WORKS AT ANY FSB NOW


Test System:

CPU: 1.6A NW
Memory: Corsair XMSPC3200C2 (Ver 1.1)
CPU Cooler: Alpha 8942 + Sanyo Denki Fan 30CFM/28db + ASIII
Video: Leadtek A250LE TI4200 / 41.09 Drivers
HDD: WD 180GB 8 MB Cache (IDE-1)
Power: Antec TRU 550W
Case: Kingwin KT436 mid tower
OS: WIN2K SP3
PCI Cards: Firewire, Highpoint 1540 SATA RAID

Initial Board Impressions:

  • The SATA controller is a RAID controller (no mention in the manual about this)
    All CPU capacitors are 3300MFD/6.3V - The largest I have see on a MB
    Six USB 2.0 ports - Only two on MB (header)
    CPU heatsink retention mechanism is fastened with screws with a base at the bottom of the MB (feels solid) - Removed it to install Alpha
    SPDIF IN/OUT on board connector (NO BRACKET SUPPLIED - Why?) - Not many boards offer SPDIF IN function
    Position of all connectors (IDE/POWER etc.) fantastic
    NB Heatsink with Fan
    Fan Control (CPU/SYSFAN-1) Works perfectly, Silentek software works like a charm -
    Onboard Realtek Lan (Gigabit LAN would have been nice!)
    Six PCI Slots - Nice
    Three YEAR WARRANTY
    Stand-By LED (red) and Operation LED (green) - Nice
    Twin BIOS chip (second BIOS optional) --> They why have a second BIOS?
    Main BIOS chip soldered on the board. No BIOS updates for me until I get a backup BIOS chip installed.
NUMBERS

FSB: 133 (Mild FSB overclock, my CPU is default 100)
DDR: 266
Vcore: Default
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3279/3281
3DMark: 10817
Prime95: Pass (8 hours) Temps: CPU/System: 42.5/28

FSB: 150
DDR: 300
Vcore: Default
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3670/3684

FSB: 160
DDR: 320
Vcore: 1.525
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3826/3817
3DMark: 11788
Prime95: Pass (8 hours) Temps: CPU/System: 40.5/28 (lower than previous number ASIII effect?)

FSB: 166
DDR: 332
Vcore: 1.575
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3929/3924
3DMark: 12146


FSB: 167
DDR: 332
Vcore: 1.6
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3969/3964
3DMark: FAILED

Voltages - Actuals () - BIOS

Vcore: 1.49 (1.50)
+5V: 4.97
+12V: 11.80
+3.3V: 3.28


FINAL CONFIG (01/12/2003): :Q

160FSB (1.6A@2.56) Vcore:1.525
AGP/PCI: 68.5/34.30 (locked)
Memory: DDR320 (2/5/2/2)
VDimm: 2.55V

Temps: CPU: 32 System: 28 (Idle)
CPU: 40.5 System:29 (Full load - Prime95)

Stability Tests:

Prime95 Stable 12 Hours - No Errors 🙂
Memtest: 11 tests, 10 loops - No Errors 🙂

Benchmarks:

Sandra:

CPU Arithmetic: 6718 (Dhrystone ALU)
1433/3346 (Whestone FPU/ISSE2)
CPU Multimedia: 10122/12681 (Integer/Floating Point)
HDD: 28285 Kb/s (non raid disk)
Memory: 3840/3836

PC Mark: 6101/7288/1174 (CPU/Memory/HDD (non raid))

3DMark: 11790

NO COLD BOOT ISSUES SO FAR :Q
 
awesome.. i'm starting to get interested in this motherboard so keep us informed. i'll follow your progress. Please note any good or bad things u notice 🙂
 
I think my cpu is stopping it from going further than 160 fsb. Also, ut2k3 and 3dmark didnt like my radeon 9700 pro and catalyst 3.0, had to go to 2.5. My scores are on par with the other gb boards i see around. Great board imo.
 
FIRST SANDRA NUMBERS:

FSB: 133 (Mild FSB overclock, my CPU is default 100)
DDR: 266
Vcore: Default
VDimm: Default
VAGP: Default
Timing: 2/6/3/3

Sandra: 3279/3281 🙂

The machine feels more responsive than my 4GEA+ (845GE, which was running at DDR400).

So far Granite Bay blows away 845PE/G

Next up: FSB: 150


All numbers will be consolidated at the first post
 
Originally posted by: Jgtdragon
I am interested in this board too. Does it have agp/pci lock in the bios?
Click to expand...

Yes it does. What is this about setting FSB to slightly above or below default when overclocking? So far not run into that issue
 
P4spooky,
Where you get your board and how much? Myaopen.com increased the price from yesterday and it say it should be available end of the month.
 
I got the board from myaopen.com Looks like I got the only board in the west coast according to myaopen, mine was drop shipped from Aopen San Jose office.

Read all about it (pages 5/6) HERE
 
It is Thugsrook, PostarJay --> Learnt a lot from these guys, Take a look at some of their reviews and you will know what I mean 🙂
 
i think for some reason onboard sound isnt included in the agp/pci lock ~ so yea it cr@ps out rather quickly
rolleye.gif
 
Sound issue resolved. See First post. This board has ZERO issues so far. At 160FSB now at 1.575 vcore. Will run Prime95 and 150 and 160 before pushing higher.
 
Lowered vcore to 1.525 at 160FSB. Prime95 running for the last hour. Temps: CPU/SYSTEM: 42.5/28. Vore/+5/+12: 1.52/4.97/11.8 :Q
 
Updated numbers at the top. Passed 160FSB at 1.525. I am going to leave it here for now.

No COLD BOOT issues this morning so far.
 
Hit a brick wall at 167FSB. Boots into windows fine and fails 3dmark within a few minutes of benchmark.

Tried to boot at 170FSB, no go. BUT AOPEN BIOS recovers automatically, loads fail safe defaults automatically and boots. Nice feature rather than the stupid beeps and howling

Rolled back to 160FSB, Vcore: 1.525 everything else default and running like a charm with sound. So the question is 166FSB seems to be the max, is it the CPU or the chipset?

Going to kick back and enjoy the machine.
 
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