|
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., February 26, 2004 - One of the largest
and most frequented hardware sites ClubOC has recently reviewed the ABIT
motherboard, the AI7. Here are the highlights:
"ABIT was the first company to embrace the overclocking community,
and they still maintain that commitment today. Our ABIT AI7, Intel 865PE
/ ICH5R chipset based motherboard review will examine one of ABIT's latest
efforts in the high performance "budget" segment. Does ABIT
still have what it takes? You might be surprised...
Layout and Features:
The board layout is very well done. The only small complaint we had was
that he floppy disk connector is on the lower edge of the board, making
the cable run quite long.
| Some of the noticeable features are the large
active North Bridge cooler, the "uGURU" chip, and the dual
digit LED diagnostic readout. The memory slots are color coded for
dual channel operation. |
 |
 |
I was quite impressed by the use of Rubicon
capacitors throughout the board. There should be no erupting capacitors
taking your board out of commission a year or two from now with these
high quality parts. |
uGuru Utility:
The major marketing feature of the AI7 is the uGuru overclocking
system. Upon installation of the uGuru software in Windows, a system tray
utility gives access to the uGuru utility.
The Turbo screen is a basic FSB clocking utility. For those that
don't have to worry about voltage increases, or if you are new to overclocking
and higher voltages worry you, this is all you need to get started. Here
we can see our CPU identification information, which is a nice touch.
This is the ABIT EQ hardware monitor. The chip that handles the
monitoring functions is proprietary and as of this writing we do not know
of any 3rd party monitoring software that will support it. The display
can be fully customized, allowing you to add and delete any monitored
values to suit your taste.
The final utility is the "Black Box". This is a messenger
of sorts, that will store your hardware and software configurations so
that ABIT tech support can help diagnose any problems you may be having
(like when a plane crashes, but for your crashed PC).
Conclusion:
ABIT has done a terrific job on the AI7, based on the Intel 865 chipset.
The board's performance is within 4% of our ASUS P4C800 Deluxe, running
the Intel 875 chipset. By going with the AI7, you will save around $80.00
and end up with the 5:4 memory ratio available so you can re-use your
PC3200/3500 RAM.
The uGuru is a great breakthrough in overclocking technology.
The ability to change and save bios settings "on the fly" in
Windows make all but major system or RAM tweaks available without a reboot.
Good job ABIT, on giving us a useful utility we can enjoy. The other included
ABIT utilities are useful and well thought out. Flash Menu allows you
to bios flash from within Windows, is easy to use and works very well."
Club Overclocker recommended!
Club
Overclocker Rating |
Innovation:
|
10
out of 10 |
Performance: |
9.0
out of 10 |
Quality: |
9.0
out of 10 |
Stability: |
10
out of 10 |
Overclocking: |
9.0
out of 10 |
Software
Pack: |
7.0
out of 10 |
Value: |
9.0
out of 10 |
For the full review go here: http://cluboc.net/reviews/motherboards/abit/AI7/index.htm
| 
