Thursday, January 18, 2001

Introduction

With the introduction of the AK73 motherboard, AOpen has officially opened itself to the newest generation of Socket A logic-boards. Unlike the AK72, which was a Slot A board that implemented the VIA KX133 chipset, the AK73 uses the Socket A CPU interface coupled with the VIA KT133 chips. As a result, the AK73 supports both ATA100 drives, and PC133 memory, and also happens to sport an integrated AC"97 audio-card along with a number of other interesting features.

Now, with that said, let's see what our newest board has to offer.

The features

The Aopen AK73 motherboard is expandable via 5 PCI slots, an AGP port, and an AMR slot. Three 168-pin DIMM slots are also included, which can handle upto 1.5GB of PC100, PC133, or VCM memory.

Configuration of the AK73 can be accomplished from within the BIOS, or through the use of DIP switches and jumpers.

SW1, for instance, can be used to set the CPU's clock multiplier between 5X and 12.5X - provided the latter is "unlocked" of course. JP21 allows the range of FSB frequencies to be set to either 100MHz to 120MHz, or 124MHz to 166MHz. Please note however that the higher range of frequencies are essentially inaccessible, as there isn't a single Socket A Athlon that will run past 115MHz under the best of circumstances. We even tested the AK73 using a T-Bird 1.2GHz that is rated to run with an FSB of 133MHz, but met with little success. That said, the rest of the configuration work is done from within the BIOS. From within the "Advanced Chipset Features Setup" for instance, it is possible to set the memory bus to operate at a frequency 3 to 4 times that of the PCI bus, which itself typically operates at 33MHz. Do note that Overclocking the system bus has a similar effect on the memory. Pushing the FSB to 115MHz, for instance, and setting the memory coefficient to 4, will effectively set the memory to operate at 153MHz - so be forewarned!

Finally, from within the confines of the "Frequency/Voltage Control" menu, users are also capable of adjusting the CPU's core voltage in steps of 0,025v to a setting between 1.10v and 1.85v.

Technical details

Plenty of space has been made available around the CPU socket, which should allow for the installation of even very large heatsinks.

The memory slots are located far enough from the AGP port that there is little chance of a retention clip coming into contact with the graphics card.

Two 3300Mfd, and nineteen 1500Mfd capacitors have been placed around the CPU socket, with certain among them being Low ESR.

The CPU locking lever is made of metal, and its shape shouldn't interfere with the installation of a heatsink.

Three fan connectors have been included.

Hardware monitoring is controlled by the chipset.

Manual assignment of IRQs is not available.

The BIOS can be reset to its last batch of valid settings by holding the "Home" key at start-up.

The Dr LED, Dr Voice, and AGP Pro features are available as options.

Particularities

Resettable Fuse

Most conventional boards use normal fuses in order to provide a basic level of protection against power surges and short circuits caused, for instance, by the USB or keyboard. These fuses are usually soldered to the board, which makes it very difficult to replace them should they burn out following such an event. The AK73, for its part, employs fuses that are capable of automatically resetting themselves following any electrical anomalies.

Battery Less operation

The AK73 is also designed in such a way that it deactivates the use of its internal battery while the system itself is plugged in - thus prolonging the life of the battery itself.

Die -Hard BIOS 100% virus protection

Recently, viruses such as CIH have been found capable of corrupting BIOS data. The AK73, though, does not use a software-encoded BIOS system, and, as a result, is protected against this form of invasion. A second, backup BIOS is also made available which can be used to reset the primary in case of a corruption.

"Low ESR" Capacitors

The quality of a board's capacitors is of primary importance as to how well it will operate. The capacitors used by the AK73 are Low ESR (low electrical series resistance), which improves stability further. Placement, though, is also important, which is why AOpen has seen fit to place 7 capacitors close to the CPU socket, and another 4 nearby the memory slots.

Frequency Isolation Wall

The distribution of a boards components also plays a major role in its performance, because electrical systems have a habit of interfering with one another through the generation of parasitic signals. To combat this problem, AOpen has made especially certain that the AK73's traces do not generate frequencies that are likely to interfere with their neighbors.

Next: Additional features.