Techware Labs - Reviews - AOpen AX4SG Max i865G

Review by Michael Tran on 05.21.03
Managing Editor: Harry Lam
Motherboard provided by AOpen
MSRP $229, ESP $209

Sure, the AOpen AX4SG Max has lots of innovative features, but what overshadows the featured packed motherboards are AOpen's awesome BIOS engineers. The BIOSes on AOpen motherboards have some pretty unique features, with options that appeal even more to the overclockers and performance enthusiasts.

Some of the CPU fans on the market feature a variable fan speed controller to slow down the fan at will. SilentTek features an integrated fan controller which controls the CPU and system fans. The purpose of this feature is to reduce the noise level of fans by spinning them at lower speeds. The SilentTek controls fans in four different ways:
Smart FAN Control - which will automatically adjust the fan speed by the changes of CPU and system temperature.
Fixed FAN Control - which allows the user to manually set the speed.
Multiple Level Control - which changes fan speed in relation to temperature.
AOpen Recommend Setting - which will detect the fan speed that will produce the smallest noise while performing at working environments and temperatures.

The controls depicted on the screenshots below feature the Fixed Fan Control, which allows the user to change the fan speeds in increments 1% from 0%-100%.


Fixed FAN Control in BIOS	Close up of the settings

This function allows the user to change BIOS settings in Windows, eliminating the need to reboot the computer and pushing the DEL key. WinBIOS allows the user to change any setting that's is avaliable in the BIOS directly from Windows.

AOpen also has implemented a utility that allows the user to upgrade/flash the BIOS while in Windows. It's a pretty neat feature and many of the other major motherboard makers have similar utilities.

Dr. Voice II is a feature that identifies and announces any problems along with the location of the problem that the system may be having. The user may change Dr. Voice II to four different languages: English, Chinese, German, and Japanese. The voice is a bit distorted, but I guess this feature doesn't hurt (and hell, it's much better than having to look up beep codes).

This function allows the user to display GIFs and animations to present during the POST process. The Vivid BIOS function basically allows you to skin your POST screen (so instead of just editing your EPA logo, you can edit a larger area of your screen while still retaining the diagnostic messages).

Overclocking:

The overclocking features on the AX4SG Max are pretty decent, allowing for AGP/PCI bus speeds to be independent of FSB. In addition, the motherboard allows 3 different FSB:Memory Clock multipliers (on a 800Mhz FSB CPU). The voltage adustments are pretty standard, allowing for a maximum VCore of 1.85V.

This was somewhat odd, but there are credits in the BIOS of this motherboard. Well, I guess AOpen's engineers deserve some credit for creating such innovative BIOS features.