Other features

Other features

The MX3L also has some additional features which make it more interesting. First of all, there's the variety of wake-on headers. This motherboard practically has wake-on everything. I bet I could turn this motherboard on from the microwave in the kitchen! Between the FOUR options to turn on your computer, either remotely or from in front of the machine, you shouldn't have any problem getting your computer powered up. These options are nice to have, although in practicality somewhat redundant. The main function for the variety of wkae-on headers would be to fit into a corporate environment, where the small form factor systems are hot, and timing/asset tracking an issue. Wake-on headers also give network/system administrators the ability to get into computers from across a network, so they don't have to be local to the machine.

Jumperless? Good!

As we have come to love, the jumperless design is good. This allows for easier configuration cough*OVERCLOCKING*cough of our CPUs. They also have a "battery-less" design, which uses the system's standby current instead. This isn't really a big deal in my book.

Protection features

The good bundle of protective and monitoring features makes this board a good beginner board indeed. They have a general hardware monitoring system, which reports things such as the system's voltage, in case there is something wrong with the power supply or the outlet's voltage. Also, useful for those crazy individuals who run their machines above the official specification (overclockers), this board has a CPU thermal temperature monitoring circuit. Then there's the fan rotational speed monitorto keep a watchful eye over in-case airflow, and finally, over-current protection, which provides protection to the CPU and motherboard in the case of power surges and spikes. These features are a nice bundle to add to the MX3L, since its micro-ATX form factor makes expansion limited. Aopen compensates for limited expandability by giving the consumer a good bang for the buck.

Blech……on-board audio

There is a built in audio chipset on this motherboard. It is the ESS Solo 1, and though I do not doubt that it is a decent 16-bit chipset, I prefer by a wide margin the ability to add my own audio. Then again, this board may not be targeted at the hardcore gaming audience, due to its limited expansion. However, if you throw in a sound card and a video card, it's looking pretty good as a gaming machine anyway.