Overclocking

The Frequency/Voltage control page has the options for overclockers. There are not many, but some of them are unique.


The FSB can be selected from 100 MHz up to 400 MHz which is overly optimistic. I like the underclocking options a lot. On a Media PC system it often makes sense to trade processing power for reduced heat output.


Power Master is an AOpen exclusive feature which monitors the CPU's current draw and changes clocks or fan speed according to that. The four options Performance, Normal, Automatic and Silent sound like an easy way for many users to tweak their system performance by just changing one option.


DDR Voltage can be increased over a wide range which should cover all scenarios under which you will use this board.


Chipset voltage options are also numerous.

What I really miss here is a CPU Voltage setting which you can actually change. The option is greyed out and set to "Auto". According to AOpen this is because I'm using an EIST enabled CPU. EIST will change the voltage on its own so setting a fixed voltage here would be counterproductive. Why not give "Auto" and fixed options so the user can pick himself? Or maybe a setting which lets you disable EIST to manually pick voltages?

Monitoring

The monitoring options are what you would expect. Three temperatures, three fan speeds and five voltages.

Fan Control

The fan control options are further proof that AOpen targets this motherboard for use in reduced-noise Media PC systems.

The option Fixed lets you pick a certain percentage at which the fan should run at.
Another way to control your fan is by selecting "Smart Control" where you can select a target temperature. Now the motherboard will automatically regulate fan speeds to be as close as possible to the "Smart Temperature" setting.

Profiles

A very useful feature is that you can save your settings to EEPROM, which is non-volatile, even when the CMOS is cleared.