915 Motherboard Roundup: Socket 775 for the Rest of Us

AOpen i915Pa-EFRII: Features and Layout

AOpen i915Pa Motherboard Specifications
CPU Interface	Socket 775 Pentium 4 (Prescott)
Chipset	Intel 915P/ICH6R
BUS Speeds	100MHz to 400MHz (in 1MHz increments)
DDR2 Speeds	Auto, 400, 533
PCI Speeds	33.33, 36.36, 40.00
Core Voltage	1.4375V to 1.7875V in 0.0125V increments
DRAM Voltage	1.80V to 1.95V in 0.05V increments
NB (Northbridge) Voltage	1.50V-1.65V in 0.05V increments
Memory Slots	Four 240-pin DDR2 533 Slots Dual-Channel Unbuffered Memory to 4GB
Expansion Slots	1 PCIe x16 Slot 2 PCIe x1 slot 3 PCI Slots
Onboard SATA/IDE RAID	4 SATA 150 drives by ICH6R Can be combined in RAID 0, 1, Intel Matrix plus 2 SATA by Promise 20579
Onboard IDE	One Standard ATA100/66 (2 drives) One Promise 20579 (2 drives)
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	8 USB 2.0 ports 2 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports by TI42AK0KT
Onboard LAN	Gigabit PCIe Ethernet by Broadcom BCM5751
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC880 (HD Audio) 8-Channel with SPDIF in/out
Tested BIOS	R1.01A Award

AOpen lists a wide range of 915 motherboards that are sold into different areas of the world. The AOpen board tested was a very full-featured model called the i915Pa-EFRII. Packaging used a windowed box and a clear internal clamshell to show off the actual board that you are buying. The overall look reminds us of past Abit top-line, as it is similar to the Abit MAX series.

AOpen generally provides a wide range of BIOS tweaking controls on the i915Pa. The range on FSB and CPU voltage is particularly wide and should satisfy most users. However, the very small range of 1.8V to 1.95V for memory voltage is really not enough for most enthusiasts. As you will see in our overclocking tests, however, this is all a moot point, since AOpen has not provided a design that allows overclocks over 10%.

On the feature side, AOpen has done a very good job of including the features of the 915/925X chipset that really make a difference in performance. This includes using a Gigabit LAN on the faster PCI Express bus instead of the slower PCI bus. AOpen also implements Intel Azalia High-Definition audio with the 8-channel Realtek ALC880 codec. We have complained that the single 2-device IDE of the 915/925X is really not enough for many people, and AOpen agrees. The i915Pa-EFRII adds a Promise controller for 2 additional IDE devices plus 2 more SATA ports. For those looking for Firewire, the AOpen will not disappoint either, though the Firewire is based on the more common 1394A spec instead of the 1394B used by a very few motherboard manufacturers.

Manufacturers can use either DDR or DDR2 on 915 motherboards, and AOpen has used the newer DDR2 memory. The four 240-pin DDR2 slots support up to 4GB of DDR2 memory.

Recent AOpen boards have shown great attention to layout of the components and this is particularly true on the i915Pa. The nice-looking black board with rounded corners will look good in any case, and it will also be a great board for cable placements. The bulky connectors - 24-pin power, 12V 4-pin, IDE - are all at board edges where the bulky connectors can be kept out of the way. The only badly placed connector is the floppy, which won't matter to many, since they no longer use floppy drives. The CD-in connectors, for those who need them, are located above the slot area. This location is much easier to use than the afterthought location at the bottom of the board, which we have seen in some other designs. Front panel connections were also well-marked and easy to identify.

Most users will be pleased with the layout of the AOpen i915Pa. There is little to complain about and much to praise. Even the often overlooked fan connectors are here in numbers and locations to please most users.