Foxconn A7GMX-K (AMD 780G)
Author:
Date: 10.12.2008 |
|
Motherboards based on the AMD 780G chipset are getting increasingly cheaper. The thing is, the effect of novelty has almost come to naught, and buyers have already got used to the powerful and "freeware" integrated video core. Besides, first motherboards built on the more powerful AMD 790GX chipset are appearing on sale, and part of users have switched to them. However, for the vast majority of value systems the speed of the graphic core is not so important, what matters is the retail price. That is why motherboards based on 780G with minimum expansion options have appeared in wide assortments. Foxconn A7GMX-K is one of such boards: the engineers have cut down whatever possible.
Foxconn A7GMX-K Specifications
| Foxconn A7GMX-K |
| CPU |
- AMD Phenom/Athlon 64/Sempron with the bus speeds 200 (and higher) MHz;
- Socket AM2+; |
| Chipset |
- North bridge 780G;
- South bridge SB700;
- Interbridge communication: PCI Express x4; |
| System memory |
- Two 240-pin slots for DDR-II SDRAM DIMM;
- Maximum memory capacity 4 GB;
- Dual-channel memory access;
- Supported memory DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066(*); |
| Graphics |
- One PCI Express x16 (v2.0) slot;
- Integrated graphic core Radeon HD3200; |
| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots;
- One PCI Express x1 slot;
- Ten USB 2.0 (4 integrated + 6 additional ports);
- Integrated High Definition Audio;
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller; |
| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable within 190 to 400 MHz; multiplier adjustable
- Adjustable frequency of the integrated video core within 170 to 700 MHz
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, chipset (nb), and the HT;
- Foxconn One;
- AMD OverDrive |
| Disk subsystem |
- 1 link for UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices & RAID 0, 1);
- Support for SerialATA II (4 links - SB700, with support for RAID 0,1, 0+1);
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM; |
| BIOS |
- 8 Mbit Flash ROM;
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, and PnP Features;
- Foxconn LiveUpdate and Logo; |
| Misc |
- One port for FDD, One port for FDD, one serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard;
- IrDA;
- STR (Suspend to RAM);
- SPDIF Out; |
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- 24-pin ATX (ATX-PW) power connector;
- Additional 4-pin power connector;
|
| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the temperatures of the CPU, system, monitoring
of voltages, detection of rotational speeds of the two fans;
- Foxconn Smart Fan; |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 244mm x 224mm (9.63" x 8.8") |
Package bundle
- motherboard;
- User's Manual in English + brief usage guide;
- two software & drivers CDs;
- one ATA-133 cable + one FDD cable;
- 1x SerialATA cable + a power supply adapter (1 connector);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing;
The package bundle is minimized, however, it fully meets the requirements of a value product. In particular, there are PATA- and FDD cables, one SATA cable with a power adapter, as well as a cap to the rear wall of the housing.
We liked the master user's guide which gives a detailed account of all the stages of system assembly and tuning. The board also comes bundled with a brief manual.
In conclusion, we note a CD with Foxconn drivers and utilities, as well as a CD with Norton Internet Security suite.
Foxconn A7GMX-K: Layout and Features
To save space, engineers at Foxconn have cut down the number of memory slots. In the end, they got a really compact board of 244 by 224 mm in dimensions:
However, the reduced overall dimensions have not affected the complexity of the board as well as the convenience of system assembly. In particular, the main 24-pin connector is positioned over the bottom edge of the board and allows plugging in "old" PSUs with a 20-wire cable. The additional 4-pin connector is positioned on the left-hand edge of the board. Therefore, the cables are quite convenient to plug in. Nor there is the issue of blocking the memory slots by a PCI Express video card.
On the south and north bridges, there are low-profile radiators whose efficiency is quite enough in view of the low heat emission of the 780G and SB700 bridges.
Near the DIMM slots, there is a 4-pin CPU_FAN connector to plug in a CPU cooler.
Besides it, there is one more 4-pin connector SYS_FAN (near the rear panel).
Under the CPU socket, there are two DIMM slots on the board. The maximum memory capacity makes 4 GB.
It should be noted that 780G offers support for DDR2, and its maximum frequency is in direct dependence on the AMD CPU model, in which the memory controller is integrated. In practice that results in that a Phenom CPU is required to support DDR2-1066 memory.
As regards the expansion options, the board uses one PCI Express x16 slot (both a holder) as well as one PCI Express x1 and two PCI slots.
Note that 16 PCI Express version 2.0 lanes are allocated to the PCI-E x16 slot.
Expansion options
Foxconn A7GMX-K offers merely 4 SerialATA-II links. This is one more example of "cutting down" on features: the south bridge SB700 supports 6 matching links. SATA connectors are colored blue and are positioned near the south bridge:
On the photo, you can see the wiring for the fifth SATA connector. in other words, using the same PCB Foxconn is planning to make a motherboard with 6 SATA links (the sixth link will be most likely brought to the rear panel). Besides, SB700 supports only one PATA link, which allows plugging in merely six hard disks to Foxconn A7GMX-K: 4 disks through the SerialATA II, with 2 more through the ParallelATA.
The board offers support for merely ten USB 2.0 ports (of 12 supported by SB700), four of which are mounted on the rear panel, with 6 more ports connected with brackets (missing in the bundle). Then, there is a RTL8110SC controller made by Realtek:
The last thing to dwell on is the integrated audio - High Definition Audio. The Realtek ALC662,chip is used as the codec, which supports output for 6 channels.
The board's rear panel looks like this:
Of the outdated interfaces, only an LPT port is there on the board. As regards the COM ports, Foxconn A7GMX-K supports only one, using a bracket (missing in the bundle).
On the board, there is an additional TigerOne chip which is meant for performing such tasks like dynamic overclocking, system monitoring, power management, and control over the fans' rotational speeds. At the same time, it also closely interacts with the same-named utility that allows the user to control the mentioned features.
Now on to the BIOS settings.
 |
Content: |
 |
|
|
Top Stories: |
|
 |
|
MoBo:
|
|
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
|
