Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/323
What happens when you combine Intel's latest motherboard chipset with the second largest motherboard manufacturer in the world? You get the new AOpen MX3W, the first 810 based motherboard AnandTech has looked at that truly fits the mold of what a low cost 810 board should be. Combining AOpen's history of stable motherboards, and the 810 chipset should yield some interesting results, the final question pretty much boils down to "how much?"
Most 810 boards that have hit the market seemed to be geared towards the wrong audience, often times the motherboard sell at prices greater than single processor BX motherboards. With the MX3W, AOpen may be able to break the tradition and actually sell a low-cost 810 board, which was what the chipset was originally designed for use with, low-cost motherboards.
New Anand Tech Report Card Rating 89/B+
| CPU Interface | Socket-370 |
| Chipset | Intel 810-DC100 |
| On-Board Video | 810-DC100 GMCH |
| I/O Controller | 801 ICH |
| L2 Cache | N/A (on-chip) |
| Form Factor | MicroATX |
| Bus Speeds | 66 / 72
/100 / 107 / 112 / 117 121 / 125 / 127 / 130 133 / 136 / 140 / 145 / 155 |
| Clock Multipliers | 3.0x - 8.0x |
| Voltages Supported | 2.0v/2.8v (Auto-Detect) |
| Memory Slots | 2 168pin DIMM Slots |
| Expansion Slots | 0 AGP Slot 1 AMR Slot 3 PCI Slots (3 Full Length) 0 ISA Slots |
| BIOS | Award BIOS |
The Good
| The Socket-370 MX3W features a 3/1/0 expansion slot configuration. The nomenclature AnandTech will be using for the expansion slot configuration of all 810 and future 820 motherboards is as follows: PCI/AMR/AGP. Meaning that the MX3W features 3 PCI, 1 AMR (Audio Modem Riser) and no AGP slots like most other MicroATX 810 boards. The PCI/AMR slots are driven by the on-board Intel 801AA ICH (I/O Controller Hub) which will be one of the more popular hub selections for motherboard manufacturers. | |
| The MX3W makes use of
the 810-DC100 GMCH (Graphics
and Memory Controller Hub) with a 4MB 100MHz display cache on the board itself.
The two 2MB 7ns SDRAM chips are manufactured by Hyundai and are automatically set at a 1:1
ratio with the FSB frequency of the motherboard. The MX3W does allow for two
settings, a 1:1 ratio or a 3:2 ratio, however in AnandTech's tests there was virtually no
noticeable increase/decrease in performance using either of the settings. This is
mainly because the display cache is used for z-buffering and the performance difference
between a 100MHz DC and one that is clocked at a higher frequency such as 133MHz or 150MHz
is negligible. All three of the PCI slots are capable of accepting full length PCI cards if that is a particular concern, however for most users interested in this type of a motherboard, it won't be. |
|
As with all 810 boards, the M3XW only features two 168-pin 100MHz SDRAM DIMM slots. The amount of memory rows a motherboard is capable of addressing is defined by the chipset, in this case, the 810 chipset. The 4 rows (two double sided banks) supported by the chipset is reflected by the two DIMM slots on the M3XW; the chipset also defines the memory bus frequency to be locked at 100MHz, regardless of the FSB frequency, so the only requirement is that you have PC100 compliant memory, there is no need to seek out the most reliable SDRAM at 133MHz+ since it'll only be running at 100MHz on this board (as well as any 810 board, once again, independently of the FSB speed).
The MX3W features an on-board AD1881 audio codec that powers the audio input/output jacks towards the rear of the motherboard. The AD1881 audio codec is what is known as "soft audio" meaning that it does require both software driver support and your CPU power to operate. This does translate into a higher level of CPU utilization when using audio in any way, if the CPU utilization issue grows to be a problem, the MX3W does allow you to disable the on-board audio codec, at which point you can install your own PCI sound card.
As with all 810 boards, the MX3W shows the first hints of being PC'99 compliant with the colored ATX I/O ports on the back of the motherboard. Because of the integrated video, one of the two spaces for a 9-pin serial port is occupied by a 15-pin VGA connector, this is necessary to allow the MX3W to be used in all ATX cases. The absence of any ISA slots, although supported by the chipset, isn't a radical move by AOpen, as most 810 motherboard manufacturers will be choosing to walk down the same path.
The MX3W continues AOpen's tradition of leaving overclocking avenues as open as possible with the supported, most unofficially, FSB frequencies of the board. The 66/72/100/107/112/117/121/125/127/130/133/136/140/145/155MHz FSB settings can come quite in handy if your Celeron can't seem to handle one or more of the higher FSB frequencies. Specifically, the 72MHz FSB setting can be considered a faster version of the 68MHz "turbo" setting that found its way onto most motherboards, the same goes for the 107MHz setting and the 121/125MHz settings as well. The board is jumperless, and the revision AnandTech tested supported clock multipliers in the 3.0x - 8.0x range however clock multiplier support isn't a big issue anymore with Intel processors now that all Intel CPUs are multiplier locked.
The jumperless setup is a function of the Award BIOS utility that is part of the board's 802AB FWH (Firmware Hub). The BIOS used on the motherboard is the updated revision 4.60PG of Award's popular BIOS setup utility, the latest revision does provide a cleaner operating interface as well as expanded options for configuration and system tweaking, definitely a plus for hardcore hardware enthusiasts. The board does allow the user to power on the system using a keystroke combination, or a click of either mouse button depending on the setting you specify in the BIOS.
Bundled with the MX3W is the now commonplace anti-virus program bundle. With the MX3W, along with most AOpen boards, Norton Anti-Virus is the choice that is made for you. The bundled CD includes the latest drivers for the Intel 810-DC100 GMCH as well as the ICH. The board's written documentation comes in the form of a Quick Installation Guide that documents the bare essentials of the MX3W and essentially gives you a recap of the spec sheet. The Quick Installation Guide does contain a few helpful pointers and a brief description of what to connect to the motherboard first, etc.. for those users that aren't too experienced with building systems.
Even more of an AOpen trademark than the green labeled heatsink on the GMCH is the stability of the MX3W. With the exception of one motherboard AnandTech reviewed, the MX3L, AOpen has has an excellent stability track record. The MX3W does not break that tradition one bit as it rivaled the Microstar's 6182 in terms of reliability and strengthens the unity between the words AOpen and quality. A bond that has lasted for quite some time.
The Bad
AOpen's tragic design flaw seems to revolve around the placement of the floppy drive connectors on their motherboards, the MX3W is no exception as the connector is placed adjacent to the AMR slot. This forces you to stretch the FDD cable over the surface of the motherboard to reach its final resting destination on the connector, a mistake made once too many times by AOpen.
The journey away from providing high quality written documentation with motherboards is not necessarily a welcome one, and AOpen unfortunately did away with their excellent user's manual in favor of the quick installation guide. For more advanced users, this isn't a problem and helps cut down on the final cost of the motherboard as well as saves a few trees in the process. For the novice or beginner, the absence of detailed written documentation is definitely a downside. Unfortunately that seems to be how the story goes in this highly competitive market, companies have to make whatever decisions are necessary to keep profits high.
The lack of an option for hardware audio support may scare away some gamers/music enthusiasts as the on-board audio codec does eat up CPU time. This does help keep the price of the MX3W down to a very reasonable level, which should be under the $100 mark.
Hardware monitoring support on the MX3W is next to non-existent, although the motherboard does allow for the monitoring of the on-board fan connectors it does not support any temperature readings (other than CPU temperature) due to the absence of any external thermistor headers on the board. An unfortunate oversight by AOpen for those users that are "hardware monitoring happy."
Celeron 300A owners may be a bit disappointed with the message that the MX3W does not support any sort of manipulation of the core voltage of Socket-370 processors. It's not so much that such a feat can't be accomplished, as it has already been proven that it has (ABIT, Iwill and Microstar have all proved that to name a few), but it does take a little time and effort to implement. If anything, AOpen wants to keep stability their number one priority, meaning that implementing core voltage tweaks isn't high on the to-do list until more of their customers demand it.
USB Compatibility
Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root (USB2) Ports: 0
Front USB Cable Provided (USB2)? No
Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2
USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes
USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes
Recommended SDRAM
Recommended SDRAM:
Mushkin SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM; Memory Man SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 256MB
Corsair PC100 SDRAM DIMM (for compatibility testing only)
Manufacturer: The
Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com
Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.mushkin.com
The Test
In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.
AnandTech Motherboard Testing Methodology
Test Configuration |
|
| Processor(s): | Intel Celeron 433 |
| RAM: | 1 x 64MB Mushkin
PC100 SDRAM 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM |
| Hard Drive(s): | Western Digital Caviar AC35100 - UltraATA |
| Video Card(s): | 810-DC100 w/ 4MB DC |
| Bus Master Drivers: | Microsoft Win98 DMA Drivers |
| Operation System(s): | Windows 98 |
| Motherboard Revision: | AOpen MX3W Revision 1.0 |
Windows 98 Performance |
||
| Winstone | Quake 2 (OpenGL) | |
| Business 99 | Quake 2 demo1.dm2 | |
| Intel Celeron 433 | 18.6 | 31.6 |
As an affordable solution as well as one targeted to the market the 810 chipset was intended to address, the AOpen MX3W is a definite success when it comes to a stable, reliable, and affordable design. But would you want to buy one?
The 810 market is an interesting one, most hardware junkies won't find themselves drooling over the thought of integrated video, however as the base for a cheap second system or a system to give to growing children, a novice family member, or even yourself as another 'net surfing box, boards like the MX3W will definitely get the job done. And with AOpen behind the driver's seat, you can expect your second (or third, or fourth) system to purr without even the slightest hiccup.
AnandTech Motherboard Rating |
|
| Business | |
| Performance | 78% |
| Price | 85% |
| Ease of Use | 96% |
| Overclocked Stability | 95% |
| General Stability | 95% |
| Quality | 90% |
| Documentation | 85% |
| Reliability | 90% |
| Overall Rating | 89% |
Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.
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