Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/56
A few months back, I went out and bought an ABIT AX5 just after its release. Unfortunately, the board I came home with was plagued with problems ranging from the SoftMenu CPU Setup to the CMOS battery. Naturally, based on this, I had no option other than to give the board a bad review. However, since then, ABIT has released a newer revision of the AX5, revision 2.2 which supposedly fixed the very problems I, as well as other AX5 owners experienced. At first I was very skeptical, however ABIT contacted me asking for a re-evaluation of their AX5. So, in order to be fair to ABIT, as well as all of you, I re-reviewed the ABIT AX5 and the results I came across have produced some interesting conclusions. Has ABIT fixed the problems with the original AX5 in the newer revision? Let's find out...
| Socket Style: | Socket 7 |
| Chipset: | i82430TX |
| Cache: | 512KB |
| Form Factor: | ATX |
| BUS Speeds: | 50 / 55 / 60 / 66 / 68 / 75 / 83 MHz |
| Clock Multipliers: | 2.0x / 2.5x / 3.0x / 3.5x / 4.5x / 5.0x / 5.5x |
| Voltages Supported: | 2.5 / 2.7 / 2.8 / 2.9 / 3.2 / 3.38 3.5 |
| RAM Slots: | 4 72pin SIMM
Slots (EDO/FPM) 3 168pin DIMM Slots (EDO/FPM) |
| PCI/ISA Slots: | 4 PCI Slots 4 ISA Slots (1 Shared / 4 Full Length) |
| BIOS: | AWARD PnP BIOS w/ SoftMenu CPU Setup |
| PCI EIDE Controller: | Super I/O 2 EIDE Channels 1 FDD Channel 2 Serial /1 EPP |
I should say this before commenting on any aspects of the AX5. In revision 2.2 and later of the ABIT AX5 motherboard all of the problems I had originally experienced were not present and apparently have been corrected. ABIT also made some significant improvements with this revision of the AX5, which easily make it one of the best TX based motherboards I have even tested. The AX5 features the trademark 3 voltage regulators for added stability, as well as the 3 DIMM slots to allow the user to break that 64MB RAM barrier although the chipset still only caches the first 64MB of RAM. Along with that, the AX5 features 4 SIMM slots, 4 PCI and 4 ISA slots. Like many other TX based boards, the AX5 does come in an ATX form factor and abides by the specifications strictly. It is the ATX form factor which allows it to feature the great expansion capabilities it has. For those of you that are ATX challenged, ABIT has also made a scaled down version of the AX5 in an AT form factor, named accordingly, the PX5 (see ABIT PX5 Review - Coming Soon). If you aren't familiar with the Jumperless style of ABIT motherboards, featuring the patented SoftMenu CPU setup, here is a quick run-through. You basically install all of your components in your system, without worrying about any jumpers etc..., fire it up, enter the BIOS setup utility, and then setup your CPU in the BIOS. Sounds easy, huh? Well it is, and unlike previous versions of the AX5, r2.2 of this board retains all data stored in the SoftMenu setup upon a reboot.
The AX5 Revision 2.2 in my opinion, is comparable to the Shuttle HOT-569 in many aspects. It fully supports the 50, 60, 66, 68 (turbo frequency), 75, and 83MHz bus speeds as well as a CPU core voltage as low as 2.5v which should be close to the required voltage of the upcoming AMD K6/266. The familiar AWARD BIOS Setup Utility of the AX5 is also a major plus, however, lets get to the performance of this bad-boy before jumping to any conclusions...
Performance-wise, the AX5 is one of the fastest TX boards as well as one of the fastest Socket-7 motherboards I have tested. With all processors the AX5 produced some excellent benchmark results, including the tests with the Cyrix 6x86MX, a processor known to perform better on non-Intel based chipsets. Did ABIT fix absolutely everything with the AX5 though...?
I reported earlier that I was having huge problems with the ABIT AX5 (Revision 2.2) and SDRAM with the 83.3MHz bus speed setting. Luckily, this problem is only limited to revisions of the motherboard prior to 2.21. Apparently, all revisions after 2.2 (2.21 and 2.22) work perfectly with pairs of SDRAM and the 83.3MHz bus speeds. So the only complaint about the AX5 is that you should be sure not to get a revision other than the absolute latest which may cause a small amount of trouble for some. Be sure to request revision 2.21 or later by NAME when ordering from a reliable vendor, otherwise don't plan to use the 83MHz bus speed with pairs of SDRAM anytime soon...
Allows user to Enable/Disable usage of IRQ12 for a PS/2 Mouse
Allows user to individually set IRQs for each Legacy ISA card
Allows user to reserve IRQ/DMA Channels if necessary
Auto-detects PnP Cards after HDD Detection
Here are my Recommended BIOS Settings for those of you who have been having problems with the IT5H and higher bus speeds. Below are my recommended settings for bus speeds < 66MHz, 75MHz, and 83.3MHz. If you are using Non-EDO RAM, then use the settings the in the 2nd (Non - EDO) column, if you are using EDO RAM with a 50/60/66MHz bus speed use the 3rd (66MHz Setting) column. If you are using EDO RAM with a 75/83.3MHz bus speed use the 4th (75/83MHz Setting) column. Finally, if you are looking for the safest and most stable setting, use the last column.
AX5 Chipset Features Setup
| Item | Non - EDO | 66MHz Setting | 75/83MHz Setting | Safe Setting |
| Auto Configuration: | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | Enabled |
| DRAM Leadoff Timing: | 11/7/3 | 10/6/3 | 10/6/3 | 11/7/3 |
| DRAM Read Burst (EDO/FPM): | x222/x333 | x222/x333 | x222/x333 | x444/x444 |
| DRAM Write Burst Timing: | x222 | x222 | x222 | x333 |
| Fast EDO Lead Off: | Disabled | Enabled | Enabled | Disabled |
| DRAM Write Burst Timing: | x333 | x222 | x222 | x222 |
| Turbo Read Leadoff: | Disabled | Enabled | Disabled | Disabled |
| Refresh RAS# Assertion: | 4 Clks | 4 Clks | 4 Clks | 5 Clks |
| Fast RAS to CAS Delay: | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| DRAM Page Idle Timer: | 2 Clks | 2 Clks | 2 Clks | 4 Clks |
| DRAM Enhanced Paging: | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled |
| Fast MA to RAS# Delay: | 2 Clks | 2 Clks | 2 Clks | 2 Clks |
| SDRAM(CAS Lat/RAS-to-CAS): | 3/3 | 2/2 | 3/3 | 3/3 |
| SDRAM Speculative Read: | Disabled | Enabled | Disabled | Disabled |
| System BIOS Cacheable: | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled |
| Video BIOS Cacheable: | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled |
| 8 Bit I/O Recovery Time: | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 Bit I/O Recovery Time: | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Memory Hole At 15M-16M: | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled |
| PCI 2.1 Compliance: | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | Disabled |
This little addition to my review layout was put in here just so you all can have an idea of what brand of SDRAM I recommend and have tested with the board, just to avoid problems in the future if you decide to purchase the board.
Recommended SDRAM: Advanced Megatrends SDRAM;
Corsair SDRAM; SmarTech SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 2 x 32MB Advanced Megatrends SDRAM DIMMs; 2 x 32MB SmarTech SDRAM DIMMs; 2 x
32MB Corsair SDRAM DIMMs
SDRAM to Avoid with this board: Any combination of 2 SDRAM DIMMs if you are using revision 2.2 or earlier, not a problem with all later revisions.
Manufacturer: Advanced Megatrends
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.megacom.com
Manufacturer: Corsair Microsystems
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.nf-ny.com/nfny/comp.html
The Test
In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.
Test Configuration
| Processor(s): | AMD K6/233 ANR & Intel Pentium MMX 233 & Cyrix 6x86MX-PR2/200 |
| Board Revision: | 2.2 |
| RAM: | 2 - 32MB Advanced
Megatrends SDRAM 2 - 32MB SmarTech SDRAM 2 - 32MB Corsair SDRAM 2 - 32MB Micron 50ns EDO |
| Hard Drive(s): | Western Digital Caviar AC21600H |
| Video Card: | Matrox Millennium (2MB WRAM) |
| Busmaster EIDE Drivers: | Intel v2.85 |
| Video Card Drivers: | MGA Millennium 4.03.00.3410 |
| OS: | Windows 95 Service Release 2 |
| Notes: |
Windows 95 Performance of the ABIT AX5
| CPU | Business Winstone |
| AMD K6/200 | 54.1 |
| AMD K6/208 | 58.3 |
| AMD K6/225 | 57.5 |
| AMD K6/233 | 56.8 |
| Cyrix 6x86MX-PR2/166 (150/75) | 54.0 |
| Cyrix 6x86MX-PR2/200 (166/66) | 57.0 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 200 | 52.6 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 208 | 56.0 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 225 | 55.1 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 233 | 54.0 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 262.5 | 56.1 |
| Intel Pentium MMX 290.5 | 57.6 |
I reran all of the ABIT AX5 tests with some 50ns Micron Turbo EDO to get reliable scores at the 83MHz bus speed setting since I was one of the unlucky few to test the Revision 2.2 AX5 instead of the Revision 2.21 or 2.22 which don't feature the 'wonderful' SDRAM compatibility problems I experienced. In order to even the playing field I used a wonderful utility known as TweakBIOS which allowed me to really max out my memory timings with the EDO, using that utility I got the performance decrease when using EDO instead of SDRAM down to an amazing 0.4 Winstone points at most!!! The scores are truly amazing, looks like the Shuttle HOT-569 finally has some competition for that best Socket-7 motherboard based on the Intel TX chipset award...
Should you buy this board? YES!!! I am very impressed with the improvements ABIT has made since the original revision of this board, and ABIT continues to amaze me with the improvements they can make to an already near-perfect design. The AX5 features speed, reliability, and compatibility that all power users disserve, as well as that wonderful SoftMenu CPU Setup and the world famous "ABIT Manual" that cannot be rivaled by any other piece of documentation I have seen.
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