August 16, 2005 – ABIT receives the Editors choice award from Tech Report in their LGA775 motherboard roundup. The roundup consisted of five other contenders, each with unique features, but our AL8 board shone through. Tech Report says: "ABIT's AL8 is the only board in this round-up to use Intel's mainstream 945P chipset, so it's no surprise that it's the least expensive of the lot. That doesn't mean that ABIT has skimped on features, though. The AL8 shares the same ICH7R south bridge as high-end 955X boards, and with ABIT's µGuru chip onboard, the AL8 features more robust fan speed control and hardware monitoring capabilities than boards that cost twice as much".
The upgradeability and flexibility of the AL8 board were focus points for our success: "the AL8's three PCI-E x1 slots do set it up nicely for the wave of PCI Express cards that we hope will arrive sooner rather than later. ABIT's µGuru software is easily the most flexible tweaking tool of the bunch, if only because the µGuru-equipped motherboards offer more hardware monitoring and fan speed control features than their competition. The latest version of the µGuru software consolidates hardware monitoring and overclocking into a single application".
Tech Report summed up the boards features and selling points:"The AL8 is the cheapest board in this group by nearly $70, making it an ideal candidate for a budget dual-core system based on a Pentium D 820… performance is decent and the ICH7R has enough built-in functionality to handle most enthusiast's demands. The AL8's µGuru hardware monitoring and fan speed control blow even most high-end boards out of the water."
The conclusion says it all: "Our first Editor's Choice recipient is an easy pick. With a comparably low price tag, decent all-around performance, and fantastic µGuru hardware monitoring and fan speed control, the AL8 is a perfect companion for a budget dual-core system based on a Pentium D 820."
For the full review, go to:http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q3/lga775-mobos/index.x?pg=1
For more information on the AL8, go here: ABIT AL8 |