Installation
AOpen made the AX6BC Pro very easy install with the help
of an easy to read quick installation guide. The guide is pretty small, only 8
pages, but it does give you all you need to know. I was able to install the
board in about 10 minutes.
The AX6BC Pro is just big enough so that no DIMM slots
were blocked off by my Alpha heatsink.
This is really cool. Notice the tall cap on the
motherboard? This does a great job of holding up the Alpha P125 cooler! I didn't
have to zip tie the unit down because of it. I'm sure AOpen didn't plan for
this but it sure is nice.
For an overclocker's motherboard, AOpen sure was cheap in
supplying fan connectors. There are only 2. This meant I had no connector to
plug the Viper Ultra Fan into since the Alpha used up both connectors.
Overclocking
The biggest benefit of the AOpen AX6BC Pro is of course
its ability to overclock your CPU. The AX6BC pro features AOpen's version of
soft menu. This allows you to adjust the CPU multiplier, FSB, voltage to 2.2V,
and AGP divider. Everything can be adjusted in software with no need to ever
open the case.
While the number of bus speed adjustments is no where near
as great as the Abit BE6-II, there should be enough to get the most out of any
CPU. You can chose from the the follow FSB: 66.8, 68.5, 75, 83, 100, 103, 112,
117, 124, 129, 133, 138, 143, 148, and 153Mhz.
The 117Mhz bus allows you to chose between 1/3 or 1/4 PCI
dividers. Above that bus speed, it's all 1/4. AGP divider can be either 1 to 1
or 2/3.
The AOpen has no problem running my P3-500 at 620Mhz. It
was 100% stable. However, it was unable to run my Celeron 366 at 616Mhz
(112x5.5). The highest it could do was 567Mhz (103x5.5). It's really too bad
that AOpen didn't include a 105 or 110Mhz bus as this lapped Celeron 366 has no
problem running at 605Mhz (110x5.5). To be fair, no motherboard has been able to
run my C366 at 616Mhz 100% stable, but the Abit BE6 and BP6 can run the CPU at
605Mhz without any problems.
I found the AX6BC Pro very stable as an overclocker's
motherboard. Every bit as good as what Abit provides. It was just too bad I
couldn't get the most out of my C366 because of the lack of a 110Mhz bus.
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