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MOTHERBOARD MONITOR LITE
The processor in your computer, especially
if it's a high-end K6-2, etc. represents a significant investment--one
certainly worth protecting. If that little fan attached to the heat
sink on your CPU stops and you don't know it in time to shut-down your
system, the CPU will rapidly get hot and die. Before it dies
it could corrupt your hard disk directory and files.
Previously, I reviewed the Epox EP-MVP3C-M, EP-MVP3G-M, EP-51MVP3E-M and EP-58MVP3C-M Super7
motherboards and Epox's
Unified System Diagnostic Manager (USDM). Both of these
motherboards have good system monitoring capabilities, which can be observed
and managed from the CMOS setup, or from Windows 95/98 with the USDM. However,
there is one glaring omission: they do not detect or sound an alarm if the
CPU fan dies. Valuable time is lost while the CPU or the system temperature
raises high enough to trigger an alarm.
The Abit
BH6 is worse. Although it has the LM79 hardware monitoring
chip, which monitors system temperature, CPU and system fans plugged
into motherboard, and motherboard voltages, I could find no way of setting
any kind alarm threshold. As is, the protection is a zero.
After reviewing the BH6, I discovered
the solution to all of these shortcomings: Alex
van Kaam's Motherboard Monitor Lite.
This Windows 95/98 software
accesses various system monitoring chips (LM75, LM78, LM79, and W83781D)
and provides motherboard and CPU temperatures, motherboard voltages, and
fan speeds of fans plugged into the motherboard. Alarms can be set
on any of the monitored fans and temperatures. I've tested the software
with the BH6 and the Epox EP-58MVP3C-M motherboards
and it works fine. You might want to rename the "Case Fan 1" to "CPU
Fan" for the Epox motherboard. The software works on the BH6 without
modification. The download includes two versions of the motherboard
monitor. Overclockers may want to try version 3.73 which has
Alex's CPUIdel feature. I didn't play with it much and couldn't
get the fan alarm working with that version. I have the Lite version
running on my computer. Now, when the fan dies, my computer starts
beeping at me.
The software is Freeware. Click here to
download the latest version.
Larry
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