AOpen AX4R Plus (Intel E7205) Mainboard

Intel E7205 chipset

The board offers a rich suite of functions like other solutions built on expensive E7205 chipset.

Accessories:

Package of the standard design;
Documentation: user manual and poster with brief installation steps in English;
Cables: SATA, ATA66/100/133, ATA33 and FDD;
Bracket for the rear computer panel;
Diskette with drivers for SATA RAID;
2 CDs containing:

drivers;
user guides for a number of company's boards in PDF;
system monitoring utilities;
DirectX 8.1;
Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.05;
AOConfig;
AOModify;
AOpen EzSkin;
Pro Magic 6.0;
DocuCom Reader (for reading PDF files);
E-Color;
Norton Antivirus 2002.

The downsides are usual: audio-ins and Serial ATA connectors make it difficult to plug in cables. IDE and FDD connectors placed behind PCI slots worsen ventilation and prevent installation of full-sized PCI cards. A video card inserted may lock memory modules. It can be difficult to reach some jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.

The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 7 capacitors of 3300 uF and 2 of 2200 uF.

Controllers integrated:

audio controller based on the chipset and Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported, front audio inputs/outputs and SPDIF connectors provided;
Realtek RTL8100BL based network controller with 10BaseT/100BaseTX;
Serial ATA RAID controller based on the Silicon Image Sil3112ACT144 chip with RAID 0, 1 supported through SATA150 protocol.

Technologies supported:

AOpen JukeBox (CD playback and FM tuner without the OS booted);

Die Hard BIOS (a connector for a back-up BIOS chip provided);
Dr.Voice II (voice messages on problems during the OS booting).

+5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the onboard LED. One more LED blinks while the POST procedure is running and gives steady light on its completion.

On the back you can see a plate that prevents twisting of the textolite in case of powerful CPU coolers.

Non-unsoldered connectors: none.

System monitoring is supported by Winbond W83627HF-AW chip. It controls:

processor voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V;
speed of 3 fans;
temperatures of the processor (built-in sensor) and the board (two built-in sensors).

There are 2 connectors for adjustable and 1 for unadjustable connection of fans (connected to a fan on the MCH heatsink).

Brief board's characteristics: memory slots - 4 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x245 mm.

Settings:

with jumpers and switches	Jumper to clear up the CMOS
	Jumper for starting up computer from a PS/2 keyboard
	Jumper turning PC Speaker on/off
	Jumper selecting a mode of Die Hard BIOS function		Rescue/Normal
BIOS based on Phoenix AwardBIOS 6.00PG	Setup of memory timings	+	CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, Active to Precharge Delay
	Setup of memory frequency	-
	Setup of AGP bus	-
	Setup of PCI bus	-
	Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses	+	AGP(PCIx2) = 66.5-80.8 MHz in ~1 MHz steps
	Manual assignment of interrupts	-
	Changeable FSB frequency	+	66-255 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Changeable CPU multiplier	-
	Changeable core voltage	+	1.1-1.85 V in 0.025V steps
	Changeable memory voltage	+	2.5, 2.55, 2.6, 2.65 V
	Changeable chipset voltage	-
	Changeable AGP bus voltage	+	1.5, 1.55, 1.6, 1.65 V

We used the BIOS R1.04 as the latest available version.

This is a good board with decent functionality (though it yields to some competitors on the same chipset) and it looks a good choice for those who want a high-performance board at a relatively low price.

Test results:

SiS655 and SiS R658 - latest, very interesting but so different chipsets

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)

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