MikeC wrote:
I have a MZ915 system on the test bench right now. Some issues with the fan controller is delaying things.
I have just built a system on the MZ-915 M. I'd like to share my observations. First the system setup:
- AOpen MZ-915 M
- Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz, 533 MHz)
- 2 x 1 GB Kingston Valueram DDR2 533MHz
- Seagate Barracuda ATA V 80GB
- IBM branded Panasonic DVD-ROM drive (PATA)
- Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
- DTemp for HDD temperature monitoring
- Z-CPU for system info
- all updates from Windows Update, also checked no newer drivers exist from AOpen, Intel, etc.
Major issues:
1. System airflow is insufficient. Built on instructions, after some heavy-duty installation work HD temperature was reported to be 60 degrees Celsius!!
2. Sims 2 crashes the Intel Graphic driver some 1-2 hours into the game play in random locations. XP usable with color-mangled 640x400 VGA, tells Intel Graphics driver did not respond (hanged).
3. Running case open with an extra fan blowing above the ICH6, 915G, RAM and below HDD cools the system to hover around 30 degrees celsius, and my kids just reported Sims 2 NOT hanging for some 2-3 hour gameplay.
4. AOpen Quick Installation Guide has a picture of 915, where ICH6 chip has a (small) heatsink. My system has this chip WITHOUT any heatsink! (like the corresponding chip in the 855 figure on the same guide)
5. Running case closed and with the CPU fan only, but most of the left side openings covered causes more airflow between the HD and the ICH6, this made the HD report temperatures around 48-50 C instead of the 59-60 C.
6. DDR2 533 RAM is clocked at 399 MHz by the system. Z-CPU shows the RAM SPD data to include 3 modes:
- 200 MHz w/ 3-3-3-9 timing
- 266 MHz w/ 4-4-4-12 timing
- 266 MHz w/ 5-4-4-12 timing
Both Z-CPU and memtest86+ (
http://www.memtest.org/) show the system running the RAM at 399 MHz with 4-4-4-12 timing, although the BIOS tells the RAM to be running at "533MHz". Setting the BIOS to "400 MHz" causes the RAM to be clocked at 133 MHz!
7. I tested setting the memory to the 3-3-3-9 timing as reported in it's SPD data, but XP crashes randomly and the memtest86+ tests fail to complete with that setting. It could be the memory, but I started to feel maybe AOpen is running the memory at 400 MHz on purpose, what if the system is actually incapable of running the standard DDR2 533 MHz speed (as advertized AND told by the BIOS)?
Minor issues:
8. System has only one P-ATA channel connector, I had to use an old ATA cable to connect both the HD and the DVD-ROM. Now the HD is limited to UltraDMA mode 2 (33MHz) due to the 40-pin cable and the DVD on the same channel.
9. Advertized SPDIF coax out doesn't exist, even though the system came with a loose cable for "coax out". The ONLY SPDIF output is in the FRONT, and it is optical. For HTPC applications a coax out in the REAR is what is needed.
10. DVI digital out seems to require either an ADD2 card in the PCI Express x16 slot, or a full PCI Express x16 graphics card. Seems that there are not many suitable ones (low profile).
11. AOpen specs say the unit has 8 USB ports: 2 in the back, 2 in front, and 4 on board. In fact the 2 in the front + the card reader are connected to the on board headers, there seems to be one free on board.
12. Motherboard headers and jumpers are undocumented. The figure in the Quick Install Guide does not match with the real board, and the markings in the board leave a lot to be guessed, at least for me.
Positive points:
13. System is well capable of showing WMV HD video (both 720p and 1080p) my 1280x1024 LCD panel. 1080p playback has CPU utilization of around 65% during playback. Did not notice any stutter on the image!
14. Sims 2 game play seems OK, even if antialiasing etc. cannot be turned on due to the limitations of the Intel 915 graphics.
I have still couple of days to decide whether to return the M915 or to keep it. If it stays up with the added ventilation, I'll try to locate a quiet system fan (there is a 3-pin header for it) and have some airflow between the HD
and ICH6+i915G+RAM. If this works out I might keep it in the hopes that AOpen manages to fix the BIOS and run the memory at spec'd speed.
My experience with AOpen tech support this far is abysmal: I have left 2 notes on their Dr.AOpen system with NO feedback whatsoever. But their other products seem to have updated BIOSes available, so maybe there is hope?
Additionally, I'd like to know if the AOpen SilentTEK utility works with this unit? There is one for download for the i915G based motherboard product.
I have tried to locate a slot loading DVD-multi burner, but the Panasonic models are OEM only and I haven't yet found a reseller for those.
Regards,
Jarno