AOpen AX37 Plus RAID socket 370 DDR

Friday, April 06, 2001


Introduction

Shortly after reviewing the Chaintech CT-6VJD, and Shuttle AV30 motherboards, AOpen chose to send us a sample of their very first DDR-enabled mobo - the AX37 Plus.

As you may expect, the AOpen AX37 Plus is a Socket 370 board based on the VIA Pro266 chipset - much like the last two DDR-boards we reviewed. That said, in addition to supporting the increasingly popular DDR-memory standard (which seems well positioned to take over the market at this rate), the AX37 distinguishes itself by incorporating its very own RAID card - the perfect compliment to an all-new memory subsystem.

Let's take a more detailed look at those mobo, shall we....

Characteristics of the AOpen AX37 Plus Socket 370 DDR
CPU
Intel FCPGA Pentium III 533 MHz ~ 1GHz+
Intel PGA Celeron 300 ~ 700+MHz and VIA Cyrix III
Chipset
VIA Pro266 VT8633/VT8233
Form factor
ATX - 30.5cm X 24.4cm
Expansion
6 PCI - 0 ISA - 1 CNR - 1 AGP - 6 USB - 4 IDE + 4 IDE RAID
Memory
3 184-pin DIMM 3Gb DDR SDRAM PC1600 - PC2100
FSB
66Mhz ˆ 248Mhz in steps of 1Mhz
Vcore adj.
Ajustable between 1.35vdc and 3.50vdc in steps of 0.05vdc.
Vio adj.
NA
Audio chipset
Analog Devices AD1885



Configuration

Configuration of the AX37 Plus is accomplished through the use of both the BIOS, and the on-board jumpers. Among the latter, we find jumper JP23 FSB/PCI CLOCK RATIO, which serves to force the FSB to operate at a frequency range of 66MHz, 100MHz, or 133MHz, as well as determining the operating ratio of the FSB and PCI busses.


Other adjustments, however, are performed from within the BIOS. Among those functions found within the "Frequency/Voltage Control" menu, we find the ability to:

  • Modify the clock multiplier to a setting between 1.5x and 12x.
  • Set the FSB to operate at a frequency of between 66MHz and 248MHz in 1MHz steps.
  • Modify the Vcore voltage by between +1.35vdc an +3.5vdc in steps of 0.05vdc.

    The rest can be accessed from within the "Advanced Chipset Features" menu, from which it's possible to enact a number tweaks & adjustments - albeit in a slightly different fashion than what we're all used to.

    Among those feats that can be accomplished, we can include the ability to adjust memory timings, the AGP bus, and the PCI bus.

    Within the "DRAM Clock Drive Control" sub-menu, for instance, lie the following functions:

    DRAM Clock: Permits users to change the PCI CLK x4 or PCI CLK x2 commands

    DRAM cas latency: Allows users to set the CAS latency of their memory manually - to a cycle length of either 2 or 2.5 - or to automatic.

    Finally, an option exists that allows the BANK interleave to be set to a value of 4, BANK 2, or "disabled".

    A variety of AGP commands, and PCI functions are also available, and can be accessed from their own sub-menus.

    Index:

    Next: Technical details.

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