PCB Design and Functionality
Even at first glance Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe gives us to understand that the manufacturer pins a lot of hopes on this solution. This is a top model in the line-up, the so-called face of the company.
I have to say that this face is pretty handsome :) Unlike the previous model we have discussed today, Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe is almost ideally designed. Only one remark I have to make: the memory slots have been pushed too far down and are very close to the graphics card.
The chipset cooling system uses heatpipe technology. The first heatpipe is a very long one, it starts at the South Bridge heatsink and goes through the base of the North Bridge heatsink.
It ends on one of the MOSFET heatsinks. And this is where the second heatpipe starts: it connects both heatsinks with one another. When Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe works, all heatsinks heat up quite noticeably but are of practically the same temperature, which indicates very high quality of the implemented cooling system.
The CPU is powered from the eight-pin ATX12V power connector, the processor voltage regulator circuitry features eight-phase design and uses only solid-state capacitors, just like the rest of the Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe mainboard.
There are a few hanging elements on the reverse side of the PCB, but they are on the side and not beneath the processor socket, so they are very unlikely to hinder installation of processor coolers with backplates.
Unlike the previous BIOS mainboard we discussed today, Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe uses ICH9R South Bridge with RAID support and 6 Serial ATA connectors. Power On and Reset buttons light up, the front panel connectors are color coded and the IDE connector is now positioned sideways very conveniently. COM and LPT connectors are also in the same spot, as they haven?t been laid out on the rear panel.
Besides the keyboard and mouse connectors, 6 USB ports, 2 RJ45 network ports and 6 audio jacks, we also see a pair of eSATA connectors on the mainboard rear panel.
Note that even the FDD connector is placed in its ?classical?spot. We could complain about only three fan connectors and only two PCI clots. But all in all the design of Biostar TP35D3-A7 Deluxe is simply outstanding.
