Chipset Guide

What ALi hoped to accomplish with the TXPro was exactly what the VXPro was intended to do, offer a low cost solution to take a chunk of Intel's sales. With most TXPro based motherboards offering stable performance at the 75 and 83.3MHz bus speeds, and going for about $60 why wouldn't you want a TXPro motherboard? The chipset itself is quite competitive although I wouldn't compare the scores of a TXPro board to a genuine TX board like the ABIT AX5 or the Shuttle HOT-569, however if you don't need the absolute best of the best, then you may want to consider this chipset.

The TXPro is closely based on ALi's Aladdin IV/+ chipset which is amazingly enough (yeah right...) a lot like Intel's TX chipset with a few extra features, hence the name TXPro. One of the major advantages of the TXPro over the Intel TX chipset is the fact that it DOES support ECC DRAM, although it can still only cache the first 64MB of RAM installed when using an 8-bit Tag RAM.   Motherboard manufacturers have the option of using an 11-bit Tag RAM to expand the cacheable memory area to 512MB, however doing so does raise the cost...a sacrifice most manufacturers that opt to go with the Aladdin IV won't make.  An interesting feature the Aladdin IV boasts, which remains undocumented in most TXPro motherboards, is that the chipset features internal L2 cache Tag bits, therefore reducing cost, and also virtually eliminating any problems you might have experienced with running your motherboard at a higher bus frequency as a direct result of the L2 cache. 

If you're looking for a cheap motherboard with some advanced features only found in more expensive models, give a TXPro based board a try...but beware, you aren't getting the world's most compatible product when you buy a TXPro board, just a reminder, you get what you pay for in this industry.