AOpen AX4C Max i875P Motherboard Review
While DDR memory crept into mainstream Pentium 4 systems in 2002, back then users looking for top of
the line performance still had to go with RDRAM. The i850E/PC1066 RDRAM combo
held the performance crown for most of last year, but in 2003 things
are turning out to be totally different. Cast aside
the i850E chipset and RDRAM which have gone
the way of the dodo, and the new king of the hill is clearly Intel's i875P chipset
a.k.a. "Canterwood."
As for the actual performance and architectural
differences between the i865PE and i875P which runs with DDR memory, we'll get
to that in just a bit.
Intel had previously road mapped the Pentium4 from
533MHz FSB to 667MHz with the "Springdale" chipset. Springdale-based motherboards were
originally expected to support 667/533/400MHz FSB
Pentium 4 processors, but with Canterwood everything has been shifted towards
800MHz FSB.
These
changes were announced on November of 2002 during Comdex Fall 2003, much to
the surprise of motherboard manufacturers who had many 667MHz FSB
Springdale motherboards actually on display. When we take into account AMD's
recent rise to 400 MHz FSB, Intel's mirroring of this bus speed change in
November of last year now makes more sense.
| Intel Chipsets: |
Canterwood |
Springdale-G |
Springdale-PE |
Springdale-P |
| FSB Support: |
800/533MHz |
800/533/400MHz |
800/533/400MHz |
533/400MHz
|
| System Bus:
| 6.4GB/SEC |
6.4GB/SEC |
6.4GB/SEC |
4.2GB/sec
|
| Memory:
| DDR400/333 |
DDR400/333/266 |
DDR400/333/266 |
DDR333/266
|
| Memory Channel:
| Dual/ECC |
Dual |
Dual |
Dual
|
| AGP Type:
| 8x |
8x |
8x |
8x
|
| PAT Technology:
| Yes |
No |
No |
No
|
| Southbridge:
| ICH5 /ICH5R |
ICH5 /ICH5R |
ICH5 /ICH5R |
ICH5 /ICH5R
|
| Serial ATA:
| Serial ATA 150 |
Serial ATA 150 |
Serial ATA 150 |
Serial ATA 150 |
Today
we're going to examine AOpen's flagship AX4C-Max Pentium 4
motherboard which is based on the new i875P chipset. The AX4C Max comes
with a lot of features that deserve as much mention as the chipset itself, including such items
as Gigabit LAN, 5.1 audio, Serial ATA/Serial ATA RAID (ICH5R and Promise
PDC20378), IEEE 1394 firewire and dual BIOS's.
| aopen
ax4c max |
 |
Ships with the following:
- IDE ATA66/100 Cable
- IDE ATA33 Cable
- FDD Cable
- 2x Serial ATA Cable
- Serial ATA HDD Power Cable
- Driver CD
- Serial ATA Floppy Driver
- User Manual
- I/O Back Plate
|
| Brackets: |
Optical Audio Bracket
USB/Game Port Bracket
IEEE 1394 Bracket
 |
The AX4C Max includes
five 32-bit PCI slots for future peripheral expansion as well as an 8X compatible AGP port for
the gaming junkies out there. The four 184-pin DIMM slots will accommodate up to 4GB of
PC2100/2700/3200 memory as well as ECC DDR RAM for those of you
considering using the motherboard for workstation situations.
With the
switch to i875P chipsets it is important to mention that the AOpen AX4C Max
only
supports Pentium 4 processors which run on a 533 MHz or 800 MHz FSB. Users with 400 MHz FSB Pentium4 (Williamette or Northwood)
and socket 478 Celeron processors are simply out of luck.
We've been pleased with the way AOpen organizes the
layout of components on their motherboards, and AX4C Max is no exception. The main
ATX power connector as well as the floppy drive are located in an ideal
position to the right of the DDR DIMM slots. The auxiliary ATX12V line is also placed in
good spot near the top of the motherboard just left of the DIMM's where it is
unlikely to get in the way.
With more
and more USB devices on the market, two USB ports
is often not enough which is why we're happy to see that the AX4C Max places six
USB 2.0 ports on the back I/O panel rather then relying on riser cards. Having
the option for a riser is great, but we'd prefer not to waste a PCI slot for
that.
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