Introduction.

In recent months we have reviewed a number of motherboards from leading Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer Aopen. September saw the review of the Socket A, VIA KT133 based AK33 which was followed by the Socket 370, Intel i815e based AX3S Pro. Both of these boards have proved to be outstanding in both speed and stability throughout testing and have helped to build up a formidable reputation for Aopen boards held by Processor Emporium.

As with any reputation, building it is one side of the story, holding onto it is another. It is with this in mind that the AX34 Pro II was delivered for testing in mid November. The AX34 Pro II has a tough act to follow from the AX3S Pro and we were curious to see whether it was up to the challenge.

The AX34 Pro II is Aopen’s latest board built upon the highly successful VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset designed for Intel P6 based processors. Like many new boards based upon the Apollo Pro133A, the AX34 Pro II is designed for Socket 370 processors only, such as the FC-PGA Pentium III and Celeron, PPGA Celeron and VIA Cyrix III. The AX34 Pro II is not the first VIA Apollo Pro133A board that we have tested, that honour belongs to the Epox EP-3VCA, but it is interesting to see how Apollo Pro133A boards have moved on since then.

Aopen are also known for making some of the more visually appealing motherboards currently available on the market, with the inclusion of Gold plated heatsinks on the chipset North Bridge controller. The Aopen AX34 Pro II is also rather special in that it features a “military grade” black PCB which definitely makes for one of the most unique looking motherboards currently available on the market. This isn’t the first time that Aopen have produced a motherboard based upon a black PCB as they launched the BX based AXxx Pro Millennium in time for the Christmas season last year.

Whilst the AX34 Pro II looks stunning, the question remains as to whether it fits the old British motoring maxim, “If it looks good, it is good”? To find out, read on.

VIA Apollo Pro133A.

The VIA Apollo Pro133A has definitely been one of the most significant chipset designs of 2000 as it managed to effectively fill the gap between the ageing i440BX and the new i815e as the main chipset’s for the Intel P6 processor range. The VIA Apollo Pro133 offers support for 133 MHz Front Side Bus operation, PC-133 SDRAM, AGP 4X and now ATA-100 Hard Disks.

Unlike the Intel i815e, the VIA Apollo Pro133A is based upon the traditional North and South bridge controller layout, and not the new Integrated Hub Architecture as pioneered by recent Intel chipsets such as the i810 and i815. In architectural terms, the VIA Apollo Pro133A is closer to the i440BX than it is to the i815e.

At the core of the Apollo Pro133A chipset is the VT82C694X North Bridge controller, which has been in existence for the best part of a year now, and supports PC-133 SDRAM, VC (Virtual Channel) SDRAM, AGP 4X.

The big difference with the Apollo Pro133A configuration found on the AX43 Pro II as opposed to that found on the Epox EP-3VCA is the addition of a new South Bridge controller in the shape of the VT82C686B. The 686B essentially adds support for Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drives as opposed to support for only Ultra ATA-66 Hard Drives as found with the 686A controller. Expect most new board designs based upon the VIA Apollo Pro133A to feature the 686B over the 686A.

Specifications.