New enhanced features of AX5T

AOpen AX5T-3 ATX motherboard, based on Intel 430TX chipset, is one of new generation of motherboard that support fully features of TX chipset. Here AX5T-3 provides:

HOT! High Efficient Synchronous Switching Power Regulator

Although the good old design of linear regulator can still support the new generation of CPUs for a while, it is estimated this period will not last for too long. This is because the new generation CPUs will generate more heat and require more demands on energy-saving as well. A trend to implement switching regulator onboard seems fulfill these two demands efficiently. We can save more energy with Switching Voltage Regulator than the old Linear Regulator. Most current Switching Regulator Designs are Asynchronous Mode which, from the technical view, still consumes tremendous amount of energy and generate large amount of heat. The AOpen AX5T is implemented with high efficient Synchronous Switching Design. The temperature of the MOS FET used in Synchronous Switching Design is less than 36 degrees Celsius compared to 57 degrees Celsius on the Schottky diode used in Asynchronous Design.

HOT! 3V Over Current Protection Circuit

The AOpen TX mainboard AP5T with onboard switching regulator supports 3.3V (Vcpuio, chipset, PBSRAM, SDRAM) and 2.8V (CPU Vcore) Over Current Protection, in conjunction with power supply's 5V/12V over current protection provide the total Over Current Protection. The Over Current Protection Circuits are popularly implemented on the Baby AT or ATX +5 Volt / +12 Volt switching power supply. It is very useful to prevent accidental short circuit when installing the motherboard, HDD and add-on cards into housing. But unfortunately the function only works on 5 Volt and 12 Volt power outputs. The new generation CPUs and chipsets use 3.3 Volt or 2.8 Volt, motherboard uses the mentioned Synchronous Switching Voltage Regulator to transfer 5 Volt into 3.3 Volt or 2.8 Volt, and makes the 5V Over Current Protection useless.

HOT! CPU Thermal Protection Circuit

The higher the speed of CPU, the more heat dissipation needed to be taking into consideration. If a user does not use a proper fan for the CPU cooling, it is highly possible that the CPU can be over heated and causing system unstable. The AOpen AX5T has a special thermal detection circuit under the CPU, and slows down the CPU speed as well as warning either through speaker or application software when the CPU temperature is higher than a predefined value.

HOT! CPU Fan Monitoring

The AOpen AX5T has an additional "CPU Fan Monitoring" function to prevent CPU overheats. The system will report and alarm if CPU fan is malfunctioning either though BIOS or utility software such as ADM (Advanced Desktop Manager).

HOT! System Voltage Monitoring

Furthermore, the AOpen AX5T is implemented with a voltage monitoring system. When the user turns on the system, this smart design will continue to monitor the system's working voltages. If any of the system voltages is over the component's standard. There will be an alarm sound through the internal speaker or ADM (Advanced Desktop Management) to warn the user.

Despite of above, the AOpen AX5T TX motherboard still implemented with the following outstanding features:

Zero-Voltage Modem Wake-up

The most outstanding feature of the AOpen AX5T is the in-depth implementation of the ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) of the 430TX PCIset. Using advanced design techniques, AOpen reserves a small trickle current when the system enters the so called "Soft Off" stage defined by ACPI specifications (which means everything else in the system will be shut down except the +5V standby current from the ATX power supply). If any modem activity is detected during this stage, the AX5T standby circuit simply sends out a signal to wake up the whole system for recording incoming messages. Using an external modem normally can achieve at this with ease, but AOpen goes one step further and enables this feature even when an internal modem card is installed.

Suspend to Hard Drive

One other significant feature of the AOpen AX5T is the first-in-market implementation of "Suspend-to-Hard-Drive" mode in its ACPI power management. In this mode the system status and memory image will be saved to the hard drive, then the system can be totally powered-off to save more power. Next time when you turn on your system, system content in the hard drive is quickly loaded back to system memory and the system is brought back to its initial stage prior to the power-down. The whole recovering process takes less than 2 seconds then the system is ready for user again.

Wake Up Timer

Furthermore, AOpen adds a new function called "Wake Up Timer" in the BIOS setup that allows user to set appropriate date/time for automatic system wake-up. This function is a bit like alarm of your watch. For example, a user can set the machine to power on automatically at 8:25, just 5 minutes before he (she) walks into the office. This advanced feature greatly improves user convenience and system management.

Ultra DMA/33

The Intel 430TX PCIset comes with many new features, among them Ultra DMA/33 is the most frequently inquired. Ultra DMA/33 is a new IDE interface specification for improved hard drive transfer rate performance. Using Ultra DMA/33 compatible hard drives, user enjoys faster-than-ever IDE transfer rate (33MB/s) without changing cables or software. The Ultra DMA/33 interface is also backward compatible, which means you can use the Ultra DMA/33 interface for PIO mode 0 to mode 4 drives.

FCC DoC Label

The DoC (Declaration of Conformity) is a new certification standard of the FCC regulations. This new standard allows DIY component (such as mainboard) to apply DoC label separately without a shielding of housing. The DoC test of mainboard is more difficult than traditional FCC test. The AOpen AX5T had passed DoC test, that means it has very low EMI radiation and you can use any kind of housing (even paper housing).

2M bit (256K byte) Flash ROM BIOS

AOpen AX5T comes with Intel 2M bits Flash ROM BIOS, reserves the upgrade ability for new features, such as ACPI and Intel LDCM.

Optimized SDRAM Performance

AOpen AX5T comes with four 72-pin SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module) as well as two DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) sockets, which accept up to 256MB EDO/FPM DRAM or 128MB SDRAM, respectively. To release the potential of high-speed SDRAM, the 430TX enhances the read-burst cycle to 5-1-1-1 instead of the 6-1-1-1 implemented in the 430VX. Use SDRAM with Ultra DMA/33 drive on this board and the system will reach a performance level no other Pentium® system has been.

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