#aopen

AOpen i945GMm-HL - The Retro Web

Welp. This board is weirder than I ever thought it'd be. Not the board in general, but the specific one I bought.

To begin, it turns out that my particular board, and likely many others of the same model, are OEM-customized boards that AOpen provided to a little company called RM Education. They make all-in-one PCs for the UK market.

...And they are using evaluation BIOSes (in other words, BIOS software that's normally only meant for prototyping and... well, evaluation) in their retail boards.

My specific board contains BIOS version R1.08, which is actually R1.02 apparently. There is evidence of an R1.07 existing as well from a reddit thread on the r/buildapc subreddit, but I doubt that it's been dumped anywhere.

Moving on to the original point of this writeup, I got this board because I wanted to build a system that pushed the 32-bit Core Duo T2700 as far as possible, meaning I needed a mobile-on-desktop board. AOpen built a reputation for doing this sorta stuff in the 2000s, so I went ahead and picked one of their boards for use (although I would've much preferred using the top of the line AOpen i975Xa-YDG instead if it were being sold anywhere. That's a VERY tasty looking board with its full size DIMM slots and SLI-compatible dual PCIe x16 slots and ability to crank the FSB all the way to 305MHz).

Slightly surprisingly, the Core Duo T2700 is quite the overclocker! It's able to push from 2.3GHz all the way up to 2.7GHz with some FSB overclocking using the SetFSB tool. It's multiplier-locked to a range from 6.0 to 14.0, so I can only push it through this means.

The board I'm using, the AOpen i945GMm-HL, supports running the FSB up to 195MHz. It's okay-ish in terms of stability, but crashes when running Aida64 benchmarks unless I loosen the memory timings from the 5-5-5-15 settings that it uses at 333MHz to 5-6-6-18, which is just the tiniest bit faster than its stock settings for 400MHz operation by SPD. With these settings, it's much more stable and is able to run the benchmarks, though unless I lower the FSB from 195MHz to 190, it will consistently crash Chrome when trying to play Youtube videos on integrated graphics. I'll likely experiment some to see if adding a card capable of handling the video playback in hardware helps.

For now, this is all for this blog post. I'll follow-up with more details as they come in reblogs. As follows are the specs of the system:

AOpen i945GMm-HL (OC'ed from 166MHz FSB to 195MHz, 190MHz for more stability)

Intel Core Duo T2700 @ 2.7GHz (OC'ed from 2.3GHz)

2x 2GB Crucial DDR2 SO-DIMMs @ 5-6-6-18 timings

Some random 40GB Hitachi hdd lol

Windows XP Pro SP3, fully updated via LegacyUpdate

Supermium Browser (fork of Google Chrome and the reason why I was able to test Youtube playback in the first place)

Acer Aopen 49.53 cm (19.5-inch) HD Backlit LED LCD Monitor – 200 Nits with VGA and HDMI Port – 20CH1Q (Black)

Price: (as of – Details) From the manufacturer Outstanding Viewing with Crisp, Immersive Visuals. AOPEN’s 19.5 inch monitor with HD resolution delivers the incredible. Crisp colors come alive with the amazing 1366 x 768 resolution, allowing you to enjoy High-Definition entertainment in the comfort of your home. Enjoy smooth video playback with a rapid 5ms response time. Your eyes will stay…

21.5 Inch AOPEN CV1 Series Monitor – 22CV1Q BI

Computers, Tablets & Components  Electronic Components & Home Audio  21.5 Inch AOPEN CV1 Series Monitor – 22CV1Q BI-Full HD 1080p Resolution Are you looking for a budget monitor? Look no further, then. This AOPEN CVI Series has all the feathers you need from the FHD Resolution that provides the clarity and sharper images you need when battling your enemies. The 5Ms Response Time takes away…

New Post has been published on https://bestedevices.com/aopen-32hc1qur-gaming-monitor-review-impressively-affordable.html

AOPEN 32HC1QUR Gaming Monitor Review: Impressively Affordable

"The AOPEN 32HC1 offers impressive gaming performance and solid picture quality at a reasonable price."

Clean, understated, curved monitor design

Cable routing built into the stand

Fast refresh rate and response time

The color-accurate screen makes this monitor a versatile monitor

Intuitive joystick for navigating on-screen display menus

The glossy black surface is a fingerprint and dust magnet

Limited adjustability

No built-in USB ports

Although there are many gaming monitors that offer fast refresh rates and response times, only a few offer an affordable price.

Our $ 300 AOPEN 32HC1QUR tester is a slightly curved gaming display with AMD FreeSync support, a fast 144 Hz refresh rate, and a simple design that makes it look natural in a game room or on a desk. With a compelling set of specifications and features, the AOPEN holds its own against more expensive rivals like the 35-inch FreeSync-capable Asus for $ 749 ultra-wide curved display, Alienware's $ 700 34-inch ultra-wide-curved gaming paneland even partner Acer's $ 799 Predator Gaming X34 curved UWQHD panel.

The power of stealth

Because of its gaming lineage, the AOPEN 32HC1 is one of the most understated gaming monitors we've come across. Like a stealth bomber, this monitor is free from the glaring flourishes of many of its competitors.

Although the last generation Alienware 34 curved display – based on the Epic design language from Dell – already feels simple with a subdued black finish. AOPEN goes one step further and removes its panel of LED backlighting, contoured ribs and hard angles, typical of aggressive gaming designs, and eye-catching color accents in favor of a monochromatic solid black. Finish with a smoothly curved tail.

This level of restrained aesthetics, which can be found on the AOPEN, is more typical of business displays like Dell UltraSharp and Samsung CHG90and panels for creatives like the Ultrafine 4K and 5K monitors from LG.

However, do not confuse it as fundamental. The thin black 0.38-inch bezels on the screen still give this monitor a very modern look. While the black borders are minimal, they are designed to frame the content of your screen so you can focus on your spreadsheets, office documents, or your game – without being distracted by LED backlights or eye-catching red accents.

Buying into AOPEN's high-tech design requires a little assembly. The screen, the plastic stand and the metal base are immediately ready for use. This is probably part of the effort to keep the packaging compact. You will need a screwdriver to secure the large screw that is pre-assembled to the bottom of the base to secure the stand.

The glossy back makes up for the monochromatic design, but the finish is a magnet for dust and fingerprints.

We would have liked AOPEN to have used a thumbscrew to make this part of the assembly as tool-free as possible, but it's a fairly simple task. Once the stand and base are assembled, the screen snaps onto the stand, or you can use your own VESA mount.

Although the largely plastic construction feels solid enough – the metal base helps to anchor the entire setup securely on our desk – we would have liked to have used more metal to construct the stand to give the monitor some strength. The AOPEN weighs only 13.45 pounds or half the weight of Alienware's 34-inch curved panel, although the latter has a slightly larger screen.

The glossy back makes up for the monochromatic design, but the finish is a magnet for dust and fingerprints. Since the stand does not offer an option to pan or pan the screen, you must physically move the monitor if you want to adjust the screen. Fortunately, the panel itself is light enough so that moving the monitor isn't a challenge. However, you should have a microfiber cloth ready to wipe the back if you want to rearrange your desk regularly.

Immersive window in your games

The highlight of the AOPEN 32HC1 is its 31.5 inch wide QHD panel, which supports a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. Although the AOPEN comes with a standard aspect ratio of 16: 9 and is not "ultra-wide" like many other curved gaming panels, it can still be impressive thanks to its 1800R curvature. The curve feels more subtle than the crossed Alienware 34 with a radius of curvature of 1900.

The AOPEN is based on vertical orientation (VA) LED screen technology instead of the IPS panels on most consumer monitors, which improve the contrast and reproduce deeper black tones. Gamers will likely appreciate these features. Like IPS, the AOPEN's VA panel supports wide viewing angles of 178 degrees, although most gamers probably want to be centered in front of the monitor due to the curvature of the screen.

With FreeSync technology and a response time of 4 ms from gray to gray and a refresh rate of 144 Hz, the AOPEN surpasses last year's G-Sync panels – ours Alienware 34 curved AW3418 review The device could only reach 120 Hz with overclocking technology – but does not come close to the 240 Hz refresh rates of this year's G-Sync monitors like the new Alienware 34 Curved for 2019.

We tested the AOPEN on systems with AMD's Radeon graphics cards, and as announced, the performance was smooth. Controlling the monitor's refresh rate with the AMD graphics card has significantly reduced tearing and stuttering – usually caused by misalignment with a game's frame rate – on the AOPEN 32HC1.

Although the black levels cannot match more expensive panels that support AMOLED or QLED technologies, the AOPEN was a very responsive screen that AMD players no longer want. And although Nvidia players with FreeSync support are advertised, they are not left out – recently released drivers Help GeForce players take advantage of FreeSync displays. Titles like Battlefield VThe monitor kept pace with the game, ghosting and cracks on the display were very small, and users with a more modern Radeon graphics card will be satisfied with the performance.

With a maximum brightness of 250 nits, the AOPEN isn't the brightest panel we've encountered, but the visibility of the screen shouldn't be difficult at all.

Confusing connections

To keep the design clean, the AOPEN has a cut-out on the bottom for the basic connections. Because the control panel cannot be swiveled 90 degrees to achieve portrait orientation, it is difficult to reach due to the downward facing connectors.

Of course, when setting up the monitor for the first time, you will probably only need access to the ports once, since the AOPEN does not have a USB hub, which is typical for most high-end monitors to access USB sticks. If your gaming setup includes the AOPEN, you'll need to grab your desktop tower to connect all of your USB peripherals.

On the bottom of the monitor you will find DVI, HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2a Ports together with a plug for the power cable. Fortunately, the power supply is built into the monitor, so this setup at least means you don't have to saddle up with a large power brick hanging from your desk.

Typical of the stands of most modern monitors, the stand of the AOPEN is provided with a long, oval cutout. If you're obsessed with keeping your place clean, you can run the wires through the slot to make cable management easier. Since there is no USB hub integrated in the AOPEN, you probably only need to route two cables through the opening – the display cable that connects the panel to your AMD gaming PC and the power cable.

To keep costs down, the AOPEN does not have built-in speakers. You must therefore bring your own gaming speakers or headphones for audio output.

Instead of a series of buttons, AOPEN uses a single joystick with which the display can be switched on and various settings can be switched. Pressing the joystick turns the control panel on and off. If you move the joystick in any direction, the OSD menu is activated so that you can switch to one of the preset modes or adjust the contrast and brightness.

In addition to the detailed controls, there are three preset game modes: a custom user mode, a standard mode, an eco mode, a picture mode and a video mode. The game presets are tailored to action, racing and sports.

Made for games, but good for more

Although the AOPEN 32HC1 was developed for games, it can also be used for basic creative work if necessary. If you are a designer and want to put the finishing touches on a creative project, the color-accurate control panel of the AOPEN can take this monitor beyond playing. After our display analysis with SpyderX Pro from Datacolor The AOPEN color calibration tool benefits from a panel that supports a wide range of colors.

The screen supports 99 percent of the sRGB color space, 86 percent of the Adobe RGB space and 92 percent of the P3 color space. The screen contrast is also good at 1070: 1 and is therefore in the range of the contrast ratio of iMac 5K 1040: 1 and Surface Studio 2 1140: 1. In comparison, Alienware 34 Curved had a lower contrast ratio of 730: 1 last year, but one higher brightness of 326 nits.

In games with large dark areas on the screen, you will notice a little light around the edges of the display.

In terms of color accuracy and color uniformity, Datacolor's Spyder5 Elite display analysis rated the AOPEN at least four out of five. For the color accuracy, the average delta score for the AOPEN is 2.40. It is therefore more suitable for creative workflows than the integrated AMOLED panel of the Alienware m15 laptop with a delta of 6.31. When it comes to color accuracy, a lower delta is better, and creative monitors like the LG Ultrafine 4K developed for Mac users only did a hair better at 2.39. Dell's premium Ultrasharp U3818DW had a delta of 0.97, but this display has a price tag of over $ 1,000.

Where the AOPEN can improve is its luminance uniformity. If you are working on general computer tasks such as surfing the Internet or office documents, you will not notice the areas where the screen brightness differs. However, in games with large dark areas on the screen, you will notice that a little light around the screen bleeds around the edges of the display. Our Datacolor Spyder5 Elite has determined that the top center, bottom side edges and bottom right side of the display are lighter than the center of the display.

If you play games with dark scenes, do creative work, or frequently use night mode with a black background, the uneven screen brightness can be a bit distracting. However, this is not noticeable in general productivity tasks.

Another mediocre score for the AOPEN is the screen's white point rating. While the effects of brightness uniformity are enhanced by darker content on the screen, the white point, also known as the color temperature of the screen, influences the display of white on the display.

The effects of the white point on the AOPEN can be felt after the display has been calibrated using the Datacolor calibration program. After unpacking, the panel appears warmer and has a subtle yellowish or reddish hue that is not unlike some of the vibrant AMOLED panels on smartphones. The calibration reduced the overall saturation of the screen and the skin tones seemed cooler. I preferred the more punchy colors when playing on the pre-calibrated display and only applied Datacolor's calibration settings here when I needed to perform tasks that required more accurate colors, such as: B. Photo editing.

Our opinion

The curved 32-inch gaming panel from AOPEN is a competent monitor that is intended as a companion for players who play with AMD technology. An affordable price combined with performance-oriented functions such as a screen update of 144 Hz, fast response times and a color-accurate panel that supports a large P3 color space in a subdued monochrome design makes the AOPEN a versatile panel with an attractiveness that goes beyond the essentials goes beyond gaming.

Is there a better alternative?

Possible alternatives to the curved 32-inch WQHD gaming monitor from AOPEN are: HP's omen 32, a panel of similar size and resolution that supports 5 ms response time and slower 75 Hz refresh rate. As an AMD FreeSync-compatible panel, the Omen display costs a competitive price of $ 344 for the AOPEN. The downside here, however, is that you won't get a curved screen and the response time may be a little slower than what players ask for.

In the AMD arena, Alienware's 25-inch AW2518 monitor is another popular monitor. Although this is the model of last year – the company recently announced a major redesign for 2019 at Gamescom – it is currently slashed to $ 279, making it an affordable entry into the AMD ecosystem. This panel offers advanced specifications such as 240 Hz refresh rates, 1 ms response time, a 400-nit screen and FreeSync performance, which appears to be more advanced than the AOPEN test device.

The downside here is that the much smaller 25-inch panel has an FHD resolution and you lose the impressive design of the AOPEN's curved screen if you choose the Alienware option. While Alienware offers a larger 34-inch curved display, this monitor is based on Nvidia's G-Sync technology and is a more expensive option.

How long it will take?

With a refresh rate of 144 Hz and a three-year warranty, the AOPEN should be suitable for most players for at least three years or until the display technology changes. An example of the 34-inch G-Sync-capable monitor from Alienware is that the panel from 120 Hz with overclocking jumped to a native refresh rate of 144 Hz this year. Similarly, within a few years, we expect the FreeSync-equipped Alienware 25's 240 Hz refresh rate to be a common feature for high-end AMD gaming ecosystems, and enthusiasts will likely want to choose a panel with the faster refresh rate. In the meantime, the AOPEN monitor offers many convincing high-end specifications at an affordable price.

If you don't own a premium gaming rig from a boutique plan, or have had an extended warranty on your PC, AOPEN's three-year limited warranty will likely help the monitor outlast most PCs in terms of support coverage . The directive applies to both parts and workers and is one of the most generous standard guarantee guidelines we have seen for PC accessories on the market.

Should you buy it

Yes. The 32HC1 from AOPEN is an affordable gaming monitor that offers the most important functions that many players need. Non-gamers will appreciate the monitor's color-accurate screen, which supports a wide P3 color space, and the understated design makes this panel versatile enough for gaming or work.

AOPEN Announced First Rugged Chromebook Tab For Commercial and Industrial Tab Use

Definitely not for everyday people.

Acer unit debuts in PH, offers cheap monitors to local gamers

By Ram Christian Agustin

Tech firm AOPEN, which was recently acquired by computer maker Acer, has made its official launch in the Philippines.

Acer assistant VP Ken Wang

AOPEN produces smart product solutions for on-premises and cloud computing which include smart kiosks, machine vision and data capture, and digital signages.

AOPEN said its cost-friendly monitors are specifically…