by Doors4ever
09/05/2009 | 05:34 PM
We are already familiar with a Socket AM3 mainboard on AMD 790GX chipset from the earlier review of Asus M4A78T-E. We can’t say that we were too pleased with the results at that time. The board is well put together and has an extensive feature list that is totally up to contemporary standards. Its BIOS is very functional and easy to work with. However, we faced some difficulties not only during CPU overclocking, but also during work in nominal mode. Incompatibility with memory modules is a very serious and unpleasant problem, which no one ever wants to face. However, we learned almost right away that the mainboard maker was very unlikely to be responsible for that. Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P also failed to work normally with the same memory modules, although it was a mainboard from a different maker and based on a different chipset (even though from the same family). However, I don’t think it is a good excuse for the potential and present owners of Asus M4A78T-E as well as for the Socket AM3 platform fans in general.
Today we are going to talk about Foxconn A7DA 3.0. It is another solution based on AMD 790GX chipset. The name of this mainboard model may give you an impression that it is the third revision of A7DA solution, however, it is not the case. There is no and has never been a Foxconn A7DA 2.0, but Foxconn A7DA does in fact exist. This solution is very similar in design and features to A7DA 3.0 based on AMD 790GX, but it supports DDR2 SDRAM. Now it becomes clear that “3.0” in the model name stands not for the mainboard revision, but for Socket AM3 platform or DDR3 memory type, which is in fact the same thing. So, today we are going to talk about features and functionality of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard and share our experience from working with it.
Of course, the front of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 package is decorated with numerous logotypes, which make the mainboard model name somewhat lost:
The box is pretty much of the same length and width as the boxes for other mainboards, however, it is extremely thin: it is nearly half the size of a regular box. It could be partially explained by a very modest set of accessories included with the board, but many other boards out there with just as few accessories are nevertheless shipped in standard size boxes. Inside the box you find the following items:
Besides the drivers and almost mandatory Adobe Acrobat Reader and Microsoft DirectX9.0c, the DVD-disk contains a 60-day trial version of Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008, and a number of Foxconn’s brand name utilities:
The back side of the box contains brief information on the mainboard’s features and functionality in several different languages.
Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard looks very nice from aesthetical as well as practical standpoints. The combination of black and yellow colors as well as black and silver looks very appealing. As for the actual components, their layout is close to classical, which is the most convenient anyway.
The top part of the PCB carries Socket AM3, processor voltage regulator circuitry built with contemporary components, four memory DIMM slots for DDR3 SDRAM. All power connectors are in very convenient spots and even the FDD and PATA connectors are also right here instead of being pushed down to the lower edge of the PCB, like on many other mainboards we have discussed recently. Good job, Foxconn!
As for the cooling system, there is nothing sophisticated about it and employs no heatpipes that we are so much used to seeing these days. These are all conventional aluminum heatsinks, which are help with plastic push-pin locks with relatively weak springs. What a shame…
There are two PCI Express 2.0 x16 connectors for add-on graphics cards, two PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots, and two PCI slots in the lower part of the PCB. SB750 South Bridge provides support for six SATA ports with RAID capability (you can build RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 and JBOD arrays).
Besides weak heatsink retention, we noticed one more issue with Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard: the COM connector on the right side of the PCB a little above the Serial ATA ports. I haven’t seen additional brackets with COM ports bundled with mainboards for a while already, therefore, it is hard to tell if the cable is long enough to reach this far away connector. However, this is barely a serious drawback, because fewer and fewer users actually need outdated interfaces like that.
Since the integrated chipset North Bridge has embedded ATI Radeon HD3300 graphics core, the mainboard back panel carries the corresponding D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI connectors.
Moreover, there is also a PS/2 keyboard connector, six USB ports, six audio-jacks and an optical S/PDIF implemented via eight-channel Realtek ALC888 codec. Besides, there is also a local network port (the network adapter uses Gigabit Broadcom BCM5784MKMLG controller).
An experienced eye may easily spot a few indications of engineers’ attempt to simplify the design and lower Foxconn A7DA 3.0 production cost. The thing is that Foxconn is currently offering one more mainboard on AMD 790GX chipset and both these models use the same PCB layout. The top model Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 is equipped with a different cooling system, has an additional IEEE1394 (FireWire) controller, Power On and Reset buttons in the right PCB corner. These seem to be all the differences we noticed. As you can see, they are not significant at all. Overall, Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard functionality is quite sufficient for a mainstream user, which you can see by looking at the summary of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 technical specs taken from the manufacturer web-site.
We have taken a quick look at the PCB design and functions of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard, because this solution doesn’t boast any unique peculiarities, everything is simple and clear. However, we intend to pay a little more attention to the mainboard BIOS. It is based on AMI microcode and looks pretty unique:
The first section we see is called “System Information”. In fact, it is none other but the traditional “Standard CMOS Features” section with some additional information added about the mainboard, processor, memory and network adapter.
“Green System Mode” section also looks just like a combination of “Power Management Setup” and “PC Health Status” sections.
I was pleasantly surprised that the mainboard reports not only the CPU core voltage but also, memory voltage and chipset North Bridge voltage. However, the memory voltage is set a little higher right from the start: to 1.8 V. It turned out to be a reporting error, which seems to have migrated from the boards with DDR2 SDRAM support, because this is the nominal voltage for DDR2. All other utilities reported about 1.65 V memory voltage, which is a standard setting for DDR3.
“Advanced BIOS Features” section retained its traditional name for some reason. Its functionality is exactly what it is supposed to be, there is nothing new or surprising here.
Judging by the name, “Fox Central Control Unit” should be some kind of global control center containing all settings that could be of interest to overclockers and enthusiasts. Something like “Ai Tweaker” on Asus mainboards, “Genie BIOS Setting” on DFI mainboards, or “MB Intelligent Tweaker” on Gigabyte. However, it didn’t quite work out this way. First, this section is split in several smaller subsections. Second, there are no options for memory and integrated graphics core configuring.
“Smart BIOS” sub-section serves mostly informational purposes, reporting the current operational system parameters.
“Smart Power LED” parameter allows you to disable the complex error reporting system. By default, the power LED on the system case will inform you of the existing issues using sophisticated blinking sequences.
As for “Smart Boot Menu” parameter, it simply disables the display of the boot-up devices list by pressing Esc key during system boot-up. I doubt that anyone will get to the “Smart BIOS” section more than once. I believe it would have been much more convenient to leave all these options in the main section instead of moving them into an individual sub-section.
“Fox Intelligent Stepping” sub-section contains the complete set of parameters necessary for CPU overclocking. There is also the option that allows increasing the frequency of the integrated graphics core.
At first glance everything looks very good, but only until you start using these overclocking-friendly options. The parameter values do not get recalculated when you change the clock generator frequency, they are all set exactly according to the nominal frequency of 200 MHz. As a result, we can’t tell what the North Bridge frequency will be when we set it using the multipliers. Moreover, the memory, CPU and HyperTransport bus frequencies will also be above the indicated one, but you will have to calculate them manually, which is extremely inconvenient.
The next sub-section offers options for voltage increase. It is impossible to lower the voltages, though. The supported increment is pretty big. For example, for the CPU core voltage it makes 25 mV, i.e. 0.025 V.
Another bit of information about the CPU and the options for management of its power-saving technologies are hidden in the “CPU Configuration” sub-section.
“Advanced Chipset Features” section will allow you to configure the memory and graphics subsystem parameters.
Memory timings are all set automatically, but you can also configure parameters for each channel separately.
You can also work with all timings for both channels at the same time, but in this case they will simply be listed on the screen twice and you will still have to change each of them individually: for the first channel and then for the second one.
We never really check the “Integrated Peripherals” section, because there is usually nothing unique or unexpected there, all options are pretty familiar and clear.
We wouldn’t have checked it out this time, too, if it hadn’t been for the mysterious “SuperIO Configuration” sub-section, where some of the parameters are duplicated for some reason. And maybe Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard does in fact have two FDD controllers after all?
Overall, we can’t help admitting that the issues we pointed out are not critical, and the BIOS of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard does have all the options necessary to configure the system for optimal performance and even to overclock. It is a different story that these options are not very convenient to work with. The increment is too big, all settings are scattered over numerous sections and sub-sections, you need to have a calculator or be able to calculate the resulting values yourself in order to pick the correct values.
We performed all our experiments on the following test platform:
We used Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (Microsoft Windows, Version 6.1, Build 7600) operating system, and ATI Catalyst 9.8 graphics card driver.
Like all good boards that have no defects of any kind, Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard worked fine and without any problems. However, we had to deal with some peculiarities already during system assembly. The 24-pin power connector appeared to be turned with the lock facing inside. Serial ATA connectors also appeared rotated by 180 degrees. Moreover, things were real serious in this case: the connectors were numbered the other way around: not from top to bottom, but from bottom to top. However, all these differences won’t cause any problems neither to an experienced professional, nor to a mainstream user who puts together a computer maybe once every couple years.
Since so far we encountered no difficulties, let’s take a closer look at one of the company’s brand name utilities called FOX ONE.
Like many other brand name utilities bundled with the mainboards, this program allows monitoring and adjusting frequencies, voltages, temperatures and fan rotation speeds. It is even possible to enable automatic CPU overclocking: the mainboard will increase the clock generator frequency until the system freezes, after that it will slightly lower the frequency and declare system stability.
However, like the majority of manufacturers’ own utilities, FOX ONE is very inconvenient to work with. It is bulky, not very informative and has limited functionality compared with the mainboard BIOS. FOX ONE only looks good in mini-mode. In this case the program displays different system parameters on the screen in a cycle and the list can be adjusted to your taste.
In fact, this utility looks more or less OK in default mode. Those users who will feel like loading one of the available alternative skins, should probably get checked up by a psychiatrist. :) The first two themes are really something you don’t see too often.
And speaking of the things we really liked about this mainboard, I have to say that the algorithm used to adjust the rotation speed of the CPU cooling fan is really neat. The FOX ONE screenshots above show that the board reports unrealistically low processor temperature of only 19-20 °C. However, it is this particular temperature that mainboards rely on when they adjust the processor fan rotation speed. There were no problems in nominal mode, but during overclocking on Asus M4A78T-E mainboard, which we will use to compare against Foxconn A7DA 3.0 today, we had to completely disable this control algorithm and run all tests at maximum fan speed. Things are completely different with Foxconn A7DA 3.0: its BIOS offers extensive functionality for fan rotation speed adjustment and there is no need for any additional tools or utilities to get involved.
By lowering the “Start PWM Temperature” parameter from 35 to 25 °C we simply increased the startup rotation speed for the processor fan. By increasing the “Slope PWM Value” from 2 to 8 PWM we slowed down the mainboard’s response to CPU temperature changes, which ensured acoustically comfortable working conditions not only in the nominal mode, but also during overclocking. And most importantly, it didn’t affect the system stability in any way.
Strange as it might seem, but the first impressions from CPU overclocking on Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard were extremely positive. We used a new AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor and we previously overclocked it on Asus M4A78T-E mainboard in order to find out what it is capable of. The CPU from Black Edition family features an unlocked clock frequency multiplier and we took advantage of this feature to simplify and speed up our overclocking experiments. The system remained stable up until the multiplier hit 19x, i.e. we managed to overclock this processor to 3.8 GHz. Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard could easily repeat the same result.
However, not all processors come with an unlocked multiplier that is why we decided to see how well we could overclock by raising the clock generator frequency. What multiplier should we set for the CPU in this case? AMD Phenom II X4 family includes CPUs from 900 and 905 models that work with 12x and 12.5x multipliers, but this is definitely not the best example, because they belong to energy-efficient type of solutions. There is also a regular, non-energy-efficient AMD Phenom II X4 805, but in the end we decided to go with a 13x multiplier. There are two processors that work with this multiplier at 2.6 GHz frequency: AMD Phenom II X4 810 and 910.
Simple calculations showed that to achieve 3.8 GHz frequency with a 13x multiplier we had to increase the clock generator frequency to 292 MHz. this is when the problems started to surface: Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard refused even to boot at this frequency. The problem was that that board’s WatchDog Timer technology that monitors the successful progress of the POST didn’t work correctly, or was simply missing at all. If the boot-up fails, then normally mainboards would restart in safe mode giving you the opportunity to change the incorrect BIOS settings. Foxconn A7DA 3.0 doesn’t know how to do it. Even if it can restart, then the only way out is to clear CMOS completely. However, the mainboard doesn’t know how to save BIOS settings profiles, so once to resort to this drastic measure you have to reset ALL parameters again, including even date and time!
After a few unsuccessful reboots, we decided to do what we should have done right from the start: find out the maximum clock generator frequency at which the mainboard would remain stable. To eliminate any possible limitations, we lowered the North Bridge and HyperTransport bus frequencies. Soon we managed to find out that with the multiplier lowered to 10x, i.e. at an even lower than the nominal CPU frequency, the board can only boot at 260 MHz clock generator frequency, and at 270 MHz all settings need to be cleared again.
It was obvious that the potential of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 was not enough for us to achieve acceptable overclocking results that is why we went back to overclocking using the clock frequency multiplier. I have to stress that unlike Intel processors, AMD CPUs keep all their power-saving technologies up and running even if the processor core voltage increases or multiplier changes to anything other than the nominal. AMD Cool’n’Quiet technology keeps running and lowering the processor core voltage and multiplier in idle mode. However, we learned that it only keeps going on until the multiplier is no higher than 18.5x. In our case we had to push the multiplier to 19x in order to overclock the CPU to its maximum. It is possible even on Foxconn A7DA 3.0, but in this case AMD Cool’n’Quiet won’t work anymore and the CPU will consume much more power than it actually needs. To be fair I have to say that it is not Foxconn’s fault: we saw exactly the same thing on Asus M4A78T-E.
In fact, this problem seemed to be easy to avoid. In order to overclock the CPU to the desired 3.8 GHz frequency, but maintain proper functioning of the processor power-saving technologies, we simply had to increase the clock generator frequency to 206 MHz and set the multiplier at 18.5x. I was sure that Foxconn A7DA 3.0 could handle this overclocking. Ok, done deal, but for some reason the system booted at 205 MHz.
This is how we suddenly revealed another issue with Foxconn A7DA 3.0. It turned out that the board increased the frequency not with 1 MHz increment, but with 2.5 MHz increment, at least in the interval from 205 to 210 MHz. Up until the BIOS setting of 207 MHz the board kept working at 205 MHz, and starting with 208 MHz setting suddenly jumped over to 207.5 MHz. But in this case the resulting CPU frequency with 18.5x multiplier would get close to 3.84 GHz, which was way too high for our CPU sample, so we had to stop at 205 MHz clock generator frequency. What a disappointment…
However, AMD Cool’n’Quiet power-saving technology in this case worked perfectly fine lowering the processor core voltage and frequency multiplier in idle mode.
As you understand, we were somewhat disappointed with the results of our overclocking experiments with Foxconn A7DA 3.0. The success of the mission was relative and only possible due to a Black Edition processor with an unlocked clock frequency multiplier that we had at our disposal, and not to the outstanding abilities of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard. Summing up, I have to conclude that there are quite a few drawbacks that we uncovered during this test session:
As a rule, the performance of similar systems working in identical conditions doesn’t differ that much at all. Before, the core logic set used on the mainboard could have substantial effect on the system performance. Now, however, when CPUs with integrated memory controller become more and more widely spread, even this parameter becomes secondary. In our case, both mainboards in question - Foxconn A7DA 3.0 and Asus M4A78T-E – are based on the same exact chipset, so the difference in their performance should be minimal.
At first we will compare the performance of two testbed configurations in nominal mode. This way we can get an idea of the performance level the user can count on with default BIOS settings. The only changes made to the mainboards’ BIOS settings were connected with enabling Intel processor power-saving technologies. The mainboards configured all other parameters on their own.
We were a little concerned with the fact that Foxconn A7DA 3.0 fell behind the competitor in Everest copy and latency tests. This is probably the reason for SuperPi and Custom PC Bench 2007 Multitasking Test results being so low. The board is a little behind in almost all other tests, but the difference in them is insignificant and will hardly be noticeable to the users.
Now let’s see how the boards compare during overclocking. Even if they run neck and neck in nominal mode, it doesn’t guarantee parity during overclocking. In this case the boards operational conditions change dramatically and a lot can happen:
No wonder that the performance ratio remained about the same: Foxconn A7DA 3.0 mainboard is almost always a little behind. Of course, there shouldn’t be any significant differences, because we overclocked by raising the clock frequency multiplier. In fact, this overclocking barely increased the load on the mainboard. There is no need to fight for stability at high clock generator frequencies, to increase the memory frequency and lower the timings. So where could the differences possibly come from? Therefore, this comparison is not very interesting to us, but unfortunately, this is the only type of overclocking that Foxconn A7DA 3.0 allows us.
We measured the power consumption using Extech Power Analyzer 380803 device. This device was connected before the system PSU, i.e. it measured the power consumption of the entire system without the monitor, including the power losses that occur in the PSU itself. When we took the power readings in idle mode, the system was completely idle: there were even no requests sent to the hard drive at that time. We used LinX program to load the CPU. First, let’s check the results in nominal mode:
In idle mode the power consumption of Foxconn A7DA 3.0 and Asus M4A78T-E mainboards is almost the same. Under heavy load Asus board proves a little more energy-efficient. And what will we see during overclocking?
Again things remained the same: the boards consume about the same amount of power in idle mode, and under maximum load Foxconn solution falls a little behind.
The results of our today’s Foxconn A7DA 3.0 test session are obvious and quite unambiguous. This is an entry-level solution, but despite the absence of numerous additional controllers, its functionality is sufficient to satisfy the needs of a mainstream user. We can certainly forgive slightly lower performance in identical testing conditions and a little higher power consumption under heavy load if Foxconn A7DA 3.0 will be priced lower than faster and more energy-efficient competitors. The only thing you shouldn’t count on is good CPU overclocking. The board does have overclocking-friendly features, but they are still very raw and have probable been added just for the sake of it. The board is way too inconvenient for overclocking. Of course, overclocking is always unpredictable, but it will be way more unpredictable with Foxconn A7DA 3.0. However, while the anticipated retail price of this solution is only a little over $100, it will become a good choice for a home computer system for not very complex games and everyday routine work. Especially since you won’t have to invest into a graphics accelerator since the board already has an integrated graphics core in place.