Foxconn MARS, and abit IP35 Pro (Intel P35)
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Date: 08.10.2007 |
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BIOS
The BIOS of both the board is based on the Award BIOS Phoenix version.
The section in charge of memory operation settings looks like this:
The next important parameter that affects the performance is setting the memory operating frequency.
Now look at the system monitoring sections. The Foxconn MARS has it all in a simple and traditional way:
The board displays the current temperature values for the CPU, system, north bridge, and offers a feature to adjust the rotational speed of the CPU cooler depending on CPU temperature (SmartFAN) as well as coolers connected to SYS_FAN and NB_FAN (a dependence on the temperature of the system and the north bridge, respectively).
The system monitoring of abit IP35 Pro is much more advanced, is implemented in the uGuru section and is partitioned into several screens. The first group is "Temperature Monitoring" that displays the current temperature values of the CPU, system, and the power supply module. Besides, the user can activate the CPU overheat signalization and enable the automatic system power-off feature upon attaining a certain temperature.
The second section displays the current voltage levels.
Regarding that, programmers at abit added the feature of warning and automatic system power-off if the power surges exceed the admissible boundaries. Then, look into the "Fan Speed Monitoring" section responsible for the system fans.
abit IP35 Pro keeps track of the rotational speed of of all the fans (6) which can be plugged in to the system. Moreover, you can assign signals of deceleration or stoppage to every fan, as well as enable the function of system power-off in case the fan has stopped.
Finally, there is the "FanEQ Control" with which the user can set a dependence between the rotational speed of the fan and the temperature.
This feature is accessible for all the six fans. Each fan has its own collection of settings:
The user can define a range of operating temperatures, as well as the range of adjusting the cooler's rotational speed. The latter parameter varies either as percentage or as absolute voltage values. Besides, the user can set the dependence of the fan's rotational speed on any temperature sensor.
Both the motherboards are able retaining and loading BIOS settings as profiles (the abit board supports 5 profiles, the Foxconn - 4 profiles).
To use the BIOS, each of the boards has respective utilities. In the abit board, that is FlashMenu for updating the BIOS,
and abitEQ, in the pokemon style, which does not work.
This utility can be seen at least, but the abit uGuru utility wouldn't start at all.
In fact, not all is fine with the software for the Foxconn board - the LiveUpdate wouldn't start. But the new proprietary utility AEGIS Panel (in charge of the system monitoring) started up without an issue.
In conclusion, we note that both the boards provide access of the user to all the features of modern Intel processors:
Overclocking and stability
Before we move on to overclocking, let's look at the power converters. The PWM of the abit IP35 board uses a 4-phase power scheme, in which there are ten 820 mkF and five 330 mkF capacitors. The PWM of the Foxconn board uses a 6-phase power scheme, in which there are ten mkF and eleven 561 mkF capacitors and four 330 mkF capacitors.
Now on to the overclocking features. In the abit board, all the features are gathered in the "OC Guru" section, and on the Foxconn board - in the "Gladiator BIOS" section:
| Board |
abit IP35 Pro |
Foxconn MARS |
| Multiplier adjustment |
+ |
+ |
| FSB adjustment |
within 133 to 600 MHz (1) |
within 100 to 999 MHz (1) |
| Vcore adjustment |
within 1.3375V to 1.8975V (0.01 V) |
within 0.8250 V to 1.6V/2.0736V (<=0.0025 V) |
| Vmem adjustment |
within 1.8V to 3.0V (0.025 V) |
within 1.665 V to 3.365V (~0.065V) |
| Vdd adjustment |
within 1.25V to 1.72V (0.04-0.08V) |
within 1.156V to 2.395V (~0.025-0.03V) |
| Vsb adjustment |
within 1.05V to 1.38V V (0.04-0.06V) |
within 1.338V to 1.95V (~0.038V) |
| Vsb-io adjustment |
within 1.5V to 2.0V (0.05-0.1V) |
- |
| Vtt adjustment |
within 1.2 V to 1.49 V (0.03-0.07V) |
within 1.2 to 1.725V (0.075 V) |
| PCI-E adjustment |
within 100 MHz to 200 MHz (1) |
within 100 MHz to 255 MHz (1) |
We note the following traits of the motherboards at overclocking. First, in case of the overclocking failure, the Foxconn MARS simply resets all the overclocking settings. And only use of the BIOS settings profiles allows not losing the carefully found balance between the voltages and frequencies. Besides, the board offers the undocumented feature "Frequency Unlimit" whose activation raises the uppermost bar of the multiplier adjustment to 60.
If the multiplier of the CPU is locked, then no feature is able raising it above the limit set by Intel. The Foxconn board offers the "Instant Overclocking" feature which is able overclocking the CPU by a specified value (up to 75%). And it does that in a smart enough way, keeping the memory frequency within ~800~933 MHz. That will do for newbies.
It is interesting to see how the feature for raising voltage on the CPU is implemented. One feature allows selecting the required value within the range from 0.8250 V to 1.6 V in 0.0025 V increments. The other one allows multiplying the selected value by a specified ratio. Therefore, the upper limit of Vcore can be raised to 2.0736 V, with the adjustment increment diminishing essentially.
Now a few words on the overclocking traits of the abit IP35 Pro. The most important thing is about the floating upper limit of voltage on the FSB. That is, only two values are originally accessible: 1.2 V and 1.23 V. Once the user has raised the Vtt to 1.23 V and the system starts up successfully, the board raises the upper limit of Vtt. Quite possibly, as the BIOS is improving, a scheme like that will be used for other voltages.
Now let's look at the practical results of overclocking. The maximum stable FSB speed in the abit board is 504 MHz; that for the Foxconn board - 552 MHz.
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