Overview of the ABIT BE6-II Motherboard. Main technical parameters of the Abit IS7 motherboard

Specifications Abit AI7 boards
Supported Processors	Pentium 4 Socket 478 FSB 400, 533, 800 MHz
	Intel 865PE / ICH5R
PCI / AGP slots
	4xDDR 266, 333, 400, up to 4 GB
Disk subsystem
	RTL 8100C 10/100
Firewire Ports
USB 2.0 Ports
Proprietary technology
Overclocking opportunities	Very serious

The board is built on the i865PE chipset. Actually, this can end the conversation about the characteristics of the board, since this already says a lot. However, on this board, in addition to the chipset, there are a bunch of other interesting microcircuits, which we will talk about more.

AI7 is packaged in a dark box depicting the µGuru chip. What is not in this box! By the way, why not? There is no second SATA cord, everything else is there: a bracket with two USB and one FireWire, a SATA cable and an adapter for power, UATA and FDD cables, a back cover, a CD and three instructions: Quick Installation Guide, Quick Guide and the full User's Manual . In the first there is a Russian section, in the second - beautiful pictures, and in the third - all-all-all about the board and its functions.

The board itself makes it clear at a glance that it has more than enough functions. There is not a single more or less free space on it, except for a place for an unsoldered SATA controller and its connectors. Immediately striking is the large cooler on the north bridge microcircuit, as well as the processor socket rotated 45 degrees from the usual position. The processor power stabilizer consists of 12 capacitors, 8 of which each have a capacitance of 2200 microfarads, the rest of 1200 microfarads. Powerful.

The rear panel is also impressive. On it, in addition to the standard PS / 2, LPT and COM, there are four USB ports, one FireWire, RJ-45 port, five sound mini-jacks, as well as two SPDIF connectors: in and out. The network is provided by the RTL8100C chip, and the sound is provided by the new ALC658 codec, which we don’t even want to talk about “six-channel”, because everything is clear with the set of connectors. The board also has a µGuru chip, the functions of which we will discuss later, and a two-digit indicator that displays the progress of the initial self-test procedure. There are no microswitches on the board, and jumpers are responsible for standard functions, such as resetting BIOS Setup and USB bus power mode after turning off the PC.

There were no serious flaws in the wiring of the board, everything that was needed was signed and explained, to all that needed access, this access was provided, but what’s on the board a bit cramped - so there are too many elements to go.

Rummaging in Board BIOS, can change following settings Memory: CAS Latency Time, Active to Precharge delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge. You can tinker with overclocking, but in order to overclock AI7 and its processor, there is a much more convenient tool - the very “little guru”, that is, the µGuru chip with the appropriate set of software.

µGuru is essentially the second microprocessor on which are the functions of monitoring, recording and tuning the parameters of the board. There is nothing special about all these functions, however, the fact that a separate microcircuit is used to implement them does not need CPU resources is really interesting and new.

µGuru allows you to use six proprietary Abit technologies, each of which corresponds to a software tool: OC Guru, BlackBox, ABIT EQ, FanEQ, Audio EQ and FlashMenu. Abit EQ is a monitoring program that does not stand out in anything, and allows you to track a standard set of stresses, velocities, temperatures, and alerts you that some parameter is out of range permissible values. FlashMenu is a BIOS update utility that is already familiar to many motherboards directly from Windows. The name of the BlackBox utility speaks for itself - it really is a "black box" that collects information about the system for the "commission to investigate the causes of the disaster" - technical support. Collecting such a set of information (model, make, operating frequency, driver version, etc.) yourself is long and dreary, so the utility can be really useful, but we, of course, wish you never to use it ;-) Audio EQ - A program to configure the sound subsystem, with both a pleasant interface and good opportunities the actual settings. A ten-band equalizer, work with 3D-sound technologies, auto-detection of devices - these are just a small part of the program’s capabilities. By the way, the ALC658 codec is very good, and if you do not write music, then in the external sound card there is no need.

FanEQ - very interesting technology, allowing you to control the speed of the fans. You set the top and lower limit temperature of the cooled device, whether it be a chipset or a video card, and the fan does everything possible if the temperature is close to the upper limit, and does nothing at all if the load is low and the temperature, respectively, too. Everything is done very simply, and if you mess with the settings, you can choose one of three fan operation modes: Cool, Quiet or Normal. Fans of silence will be pleased.

And finally, the OC Guru utility, which, in our opinion, is the most important highlight of µGuru technology. It is designed to overclock the system directly from Windows. Changeable: FSB and AGP frequency, processor multiplier, if unlocked, CPU, memory and AGP voltage. If the acceleration is successful, the parameters are entered into the BIOS Setup settings, and in the future the system works in this mode, if it is unsuccessful, the system will roll back to the old settings. It is clear that not always working on an overclocked system makes sense - for example, in games this is necessary in order to squeeze out four more frames per second, and when working in Word it is absolutely useless. OC Guru also solves this problem - now for each type of application you can save certain settings, and for their application it will be enough to call the corresponding profile and click Apply. It seems that overclocking is becoming really massive, and therefore very simple.

All these technologies work, if not flawlessly, then at least very well and without any special problems (there are flaws in the work, but these are nothing more than normal errors of normal programs). Any user will have a lot of joy from them, regardless of whether he is going to torment the board or just wants to work calmly and comfortably. The board itself works in such a way that you begin to doubt the need for the BlackBox utility - we could not get a single case about which we could in principle turn to technical support.

At the same time, the board works quite quickly. Most recently, we published an article on the ASRock P4i45PE on an overclocked i845PE. Please note that Abit AI7 almost everywhere bypasses both participants in that test.

We have no desire to comment on a few percent of the performance gain in one or another test, all the more so since this board is not valuable at all. Its main advantage is µGuru technology, which, based on the chip of the same name and without affecting cPU, gives the user tremendous opportunities for tuning, monitoring and overclocking the system, moreover, directly from the operating system, and not by digging into BIOS Setup, which is incomprehensible to many. And it is precisely for this, as well as for good functionality, that you should pay close attention to this board.

An interesting, nevertheless, situation with motherboards. In just two weeks, Intel is releasing a new i820 chipset designed to replace the i440BX, and this seems to be not the case with motherboard manufacturers. They continue to produce old ones and announce new boards on the old i440BX and are not going to switch to Camino. Apparently, everyone is stopped by the fact that the i820 chipset can only work with the new ultra-expensive Direct RDRAM memory, and support for the old PC100 will be possible only by installing an additional MTH controller chip on the board. As for the other advantages of the i820, such as AGP 4x and Ultra DMA / 66, the increase in speed from applying the first one is rather doubtful because all modern video cards have a sufficient amount of local video memory, and the second one can be easily implemented on BX- motherboards. According to some Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, systems based on the i820 will not be popular until December, and before that, the i440BX will maintain its dominant position. Unless, of course, Intel stops its production at all.

This is where the main problem with BX motherboards lies. The release of i440BX chipsets has already decreased so much that Intel is not able to provide orders for all motherboard manufacturers. Moreover, the need for chipsets is only met by about a third. Therefore, manufacturers often find themselves unable to meet the needs of customers for boards, and therefore are forced to maintain interest in their products in other ways. Apparently, ABIT was guided by this logic, therefore, almost immediately after the already sensational board, BE6 released a new product - BE6-II. Moreover, ABIT again managed to surprise users with its new product, and to realize what no one else has - the frequency system bus 200 MHz We will talk about the appropriateness of such a solution later, but for now let us take a look at the BE6-II specification.

Specification

The ABIT BE6-II board comes in the usual blue Abitov box, in which in addition to the board you can find a set of loops, including one additional Ultra DMA / 66 cable, detailed guide, a CD with drivers from Intel and Xstore and a monitoring program from WinBond, a floppy disk with drivers for the Ultra DMA / 66 HPT366 controller under Windows 95/98 / NT, as well as a temperature sensor with a 30-cm cable connected to the system board.

Installation

Along with the announcement of BE6-II, ABIT introduced another motherboard - BF6. The differences between the two products are minimal - the BE6-II has support for Ultra DMA / 66 and five PCI slots, and the BF6 comes with six PCI slots, but does not have support for Ultra DMA / 66. The manufacturer’s calculation is understandable: since the appearance of the ASUS P3B-F motherboard showed that solutions with six PCI slots are popular, ABIT decided to keep up with the largest motherboard manufacturer. However, on the ASUS board, the sixth PCI slot was almost certainly made for installing an Ultra DMA / 66 controller, and therefore making the same number of PCI slots on the BE6-II with an integrated controller is simply not practical. And users who for some reason are not satisfied with the controller that is installed on the BE6-II will use the BF6 board.

Apparently from the economy and due to small differences between BE6-II and BF6, both boards are manufactured on the basis of one PCB and do not differ in the element base (except for the Ultra DMA / 66 controller and one PCI slot), that's why everything said in this review about BE6-II practically without corrections it can be transferred to BF6.

In addition to the AGP slot and five PCI slots, the amount that has almost become standard for modern motherboards, the BE6-II also has one ISA slot. The previous version, BE6 had two ISA slots, but probably influenced by the realities of today, when the ISA is about to order a long life, the number of ISA slots has been reduced to a minimum. As a result, the BE6-II turned out to be compact - the size of the board is the same as that of the BE6, therefore, in almost any ATX-case, the BE6-II will feel at home.

It's a little disappointing to see only three DIMM slots on the BE6-II. That is, it turns out that the board only supports up to 768 MB of RAM, while all modern competing products up to a gigabyte. Apparently, the traditional memory buffer, which ABIT always supplies its boards with four slots, could not fit on the board without increasing its size, and therefore the developers decided to sacrifice not only the buffer, but also the fourth slot. Of course, to find applications that would require such a large amount of resources is currently quite difficult, but the operating day is not far off windows systems 2000, which alone requires (according to Microsoft's recommendations) 256 MB of RAM.

As for the overall design, then everything is in order with him. The evolution of the BE6-II was long - its four predecessors (BX6, BH6, BX6 Rev.2, BE6) simply forced to "lick" the relative position of the components. In all slots except ISA, full-size boards can be installed without problems. DIMM connectors are close to the chipset, therefore, there will be fewer failures, including during overclocking. And the last - the BE6 error was fixed, which had a too large heatsink on the chipset, which prevented the installation of a number of large cooling systems on the processor. A standard size radiator is now used. Only one thing overshadows the rainbow picture - the power connector is not very conveniently located behind the processor.

Now about the nice features. As already mentioned, the Ultra DMA / 66 High Point HTP366 controller is integrated on the board, which allows you to connect an additional four devices that support this protocol. Thus, up to eight IDE devices can be connected to ABIT BE6-II, four of which can operate in Ultra DMA / 66 mode.

In the lower right corner of the board, you can see a thing that is completely uncharacteristic for boards from ABIT - a set of dip-switches for setting the system bus frequency and multiplication factor. However, the functions they carry are somewhat specific. Since ABIT boards are primarily designed for overclockers, settings in the SOFT MENU, which allows you to change processor parameters from the BIOS Setup, always take precedence over the values \u200b\u200bset by dip switches. But in the case when the settings made in Setup will have to be reset, for example, in the case of a re-clocked and non-starting processor, the processor will start its work not at the minimum frequency of 233 MHz, but at the one indicated by the switches. So the idea of \u200b\u200busing a block of dip-switches can be called successful. However, it should be borne in mind that when installing ABIT BE6-II in the case, access to this unit will be difficult - it will be closed by drives and hard drives. Although, on the other hand, these switches are unlikely to be clicked frequently.

Following ASUS, ABIT also began to use the new sixth version of the Award BIOS. Access to options in Setup has become more convenient, and their list has expanded significantly. Setup allows both the distribution of IRQ on PCI slots and the fine-tuning of all memory timings.

Hardware mounting on ABIT BE6-II is performed on a Winbond 83782D chip that controls the rotation of two of their three fans, which can be connected to ABIT BP6, nine voltages and three temperatures, one of which can be measured by an external sensor, by the way, included in the delivery .

In conclusion, I would like to mention that the BE6-II, as well as other new motherboards, uses color-coded external connectors that comply with the PC99 specification. And on the board itself, among other things, there are two SMBus connectors, as well as SB-Link, Wake-on-LAN and Wake-on-Ring connectors.

Overclocking

Undoubtedly, the most interesting question when it comes to motherboards from ABIT is overclocking. This motherboard manufacturer pays particular attention to the overclocking process and relentlessly offers new features to meet the needs of extreme users. In each freshly baked board from ABIT in the SOFT MENU we find new options that allow the processor to reach new frequencies. For example, in our BE6-II, ABIT promised support for FSB frequencies up to 200 MHz.

However, the SOFT MENU in ABIT BE6-II differs from previous versions already in appearance and the reason for this, firstly, the application new version Award BIOS 6.0, and secondly - the availability of new options. But consider all the features of the SOFT MENU in more detail.

Thanks to the use of the new RTM520-39D clock (by the way, these chips are already in full use in Chaintech boards) ABIT BE6-II allows you to set 119 different values \u200b\u200bof the system bus frequencies. This is 66, 75 MHz and the entire interval from 83 to 200 MHz with an interval of 1 MHz. Yes, we have not seen such a set. True, here is the use of such abundance is not as much as you want. Naturally, with FSB frequencies of more than 140-150 MHz, the memory, AGP and PCI performance is in great doubt.

Multiplication factors currently available in the BIOS are up to 8x. True, changing the multiplication coefficient in the BIOS Setup does not affect the functioning of all modern processors - multiplication is fixed in them. But, you can change the dividers for PCI and AGP buses. In the first case, their set consists of 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4, and in the second - from 1 and 2/3. Yes, unfortunately, the i440BX chipset itself does not allow dividing the FSB frequency by more than 2/3, and this fact significantly limits the system overclockability when using AGP video cards, which are very jealous that the AGP frequency deviates slightly from the standard 66 MHz.

Nevertheless, to ensure more stable operation of the system at high frequencies, FSB ABIT makes every effort. The result of these efforts was the emergence of two new options in the SOFT MENU (the first of which we already saw in BIOS ABIT BE6) - Level 2 Cache Latency and In-Order Queue Depth. Level 2 Cache Latency allows you to increase the latency of the L2 cache, which in many cases makes it possible to increase the CPU speed by another ten or two megahertz. The performance drop due to increased cache access time is not so large and does not overlap the resulting acceleration. And the Order Queue Depth option disables the bus conveyor between the north bridge and the processor, which can also increase the stability of the overclocked system, though, again, due to some performance drop.

As for the traditional change in processor voltage, it is in place. Voltages from 1.3 to 2.3V in 0.05V steps are at our disposal. It is especially nice to see that this series starts with just 1.3V - such a low voltage may be required very soon, in particular, processors with a core made using 0.18 micron technology. It is gratifying that ABIT added the ability to change the voltage supplied to the memory, chipset and AGP in the SOFT MENU. This feature has been implemented for a long time in many other boards, allowing in critical situations to slightly increase the stability of the system.

As for the practical aspects of overclocking, then on ABIT BE6-II, if you do not use all the exotic features available only on this board, the processors overclock no worse than on competing boards, for example, ASUS P3B-F. However, the presence of the SOFT MENU functions, which are absent on other boards, allows you to overclock the processor a little more, unless of course it is he, and not the video card or memory that resist the increase in frequency. True, the real performance with such violence over the system may not increase, but you can brag about another number of megahertz.

Performance

It remains to look at the performance. The test system used the following components:

• Intel Pentium III 450 Processor
• ASUS V3800 Deluxe video card based on nVidia Riva TNT2 Ultra chip
• Sound card on chip Ensoniq ES1370
• HDD IBM DJNA 372200
• 128 MB SEC PC-100 SDRAM

The following applications were used:

• Windows98 SE Operating System
• Winstone99
• Quake2 massive1 working through OpenGL in resolution 1024x768x16

Results:

However, nothing surprising. All ABIT BE6-II predecessors worked fast and the BE6-II itself also works fast. Although of course the concept of speed for the motherboard is very relative - the speeds of different products on the same chipset differ "by a penny."

conclusions

Of course, the world has not changed with the release of the new ABIT BE6-II motherboard, but this motherboard has gathered all the innovations that can only be implemented on the motherboard based on the i440BX chipset. And if you choose your motherboard specifically on the i440BX chipset, closing your eyes to the i820, then ABIT BE6-II definitely deserves attention, at least for its SOFT MENU.

• Huge set of FSB frequencies - 119 values
• Additional features to increase stability during acceleration
• Ultra DMA / 66 Support
• Presence of dip switches

• Only three DIMM slots
• Using the stale i440BX chipset with all its consequences

They say that one of the ancient Chinese curses says: "So that you live in an era of change." It does not seem scary ... if you did not have to live in such an era. It is human nature to desire peace, tranquility, constancy, reliability and the abit AW9D-MAX motherboard makes a small contribution to ensuring this stability. If you do not pay attention to the new logo and its spelling with a small letter, then this is the same good old Abit, known to us for many years. In today's review, we will be able to see that familiar traditions have been preserved, the company's products are recognizable even in details, from packaging to characteristic bIOS settings. The words "traditionally", "as always," "familiar to you" will be found more than once in this article, are the leitmotif, the "red thread" that goes through the entire description. At the same time, it cannot be said that the company stands still, as there are new interesting opportunities that, hopefully, will also become traditional. Let's take a closer look at motherboard abit based on the Intel 975X Express chipset.

Packaging and equipment

Packaging is not the most important thing in the motherboard, however, it is intended not only to introduce the potential buyer to the product, but also to ensure the safety of contents during transportation. It should be noted how carefully abit treats this aspect.

advertising

The box is very large and equipped with a handle for easy carrying. Its external decorative shell opens like a book, allowing you to personally familiarize yourself with the characteristic features motherboard through prudently made "windows", and on the back of the shell there is a photograph of the board and a description of its capabilities. The board itself is not wrapped in the usual antistatic bag, but is located in a separate box made of thick cardboard with a transparent plastic cover.

No less thorough is the abit approach to packaging accessories that do not lie in a messy pile under or above the motherboard, as is usually the case with other manufacturers, but are neatly packed in two separate cardboard boxes. Among them:

• quick installation guide in 20 languages \u200b\u200b(including Russian);
• board manual;
• abit μGuru guide;
• adhesive jumpers layout (it can be glued to the inside of the wall system unit, for example, to be always at hand);
• CD disk with electronic versions of documents, drivers and utilities;
• driver diskettes for RAID arrays;
• a bridge for connecting two video cards;
• plug for the rear panel;
• seven SATA cables, as well as round cables for FDD and IDE;
• bracket with two IEEE1394 ports and two USB;
• optical audio cable.

As you can see, the bundle is traditionally rich, but for the first time we come across an accessory cable for connecting to the optical S / PDIF connector.

The search module is not installed.

Motherboard Abit IS7

Evgeny Rudometov, Victor Rudometov

The basis of the Abit IS7 motherboard, released by Abit, was the high-performance Intel 865PE chipset. This motherboard, which implements a large number of proprietary technologies, is aimed at creating high-performance computer systems based on NetBurst architecture processors with Hyper-Threading technology.

The models of computer components on the market are very diverse. This complicates the choice. This is especially difficult to do with complex products such as motherboards.

Dozens of large and small motherboard manufacturers persistently recommend their products to potential users.

Their products differ not only in price and packaging, but also functionality, reliability and stability parameters.

At the same time, these parameters largely depend on the choice of microcircuits and the quality of manufacturing boards by manufacturers. And it depends on the suppliers, the qualifications of the developers, the equipment used and the thoroughness of testing.

Fig. 1. Structure of a computer based on the Intel 865PE chipset

The development and release of motherboards involved in many computer companies, the number of which is several dozen. One such manufacturer is the well-known company Abit. This company produces a wide range of products focused on modern high-performance processors.

As an example, motherboards developed for Intel Pentium 4 and Intel Celeron processors of NetBurst architecture, created and manufactured by specialists intel, you can bring the motherboard ABIT IS7, presented by several models.

The Abit IC7-G motherboard is designed for the desktop market for office and home use.

The basis of this board is a high-performance Intel 865PE chipset, which allows to realize all the advantages of the architecture intel processors Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading Technology.

Intel 865PE chipset Abit IS7 motherboard

The Intel 865 (i865) chipset line consists of the i865PE, i865P, i865G models. This line of chipsets, formerly known as Springdale, is focused on desktop development personal computers. Supports Intel Pentium 4 processors with Hyper-Threading Technology, created using 0.13 micron technology, connected via Socket 478 and working with the FSB type QPB (Quad-Pumped Bus).

The flagship of the i865 line - the i865PE chipset is designed for a clock frequency of 100, 133 and 200 MHz, which provides a data transfer frequency of 400, 533, 800 MHz.

The PAT technology implemented in the i875P is not supported by the i865PE chipset (officially and actually, contrary to the marketing messages of some motherboard manufacturers). In addition, ECC is not supported by chipsets of this line.

The basic kit consists of Intel 82865PE Memory Controller Hub (MCH) and Intel 82801EB (ICH5). As the second chip can be used Intel 82801ER (ICH5R).

The MCH chip supports dual-channel memory DDR266 (for any FSB frequency), DDR333 (for 533 and 800 MHz) and DDR400 (only for 800 MHz), AGP 8X, CSA bus (for Intel Gigabit Ethernet chips).

ICH5 / ICH5R supports up to 6 PCI Busmaster devices, AC "97 codec (s) (20 bits, AC" 97 2.2), 8 USB 2.0 ports, 4 IDE devices with an interface up to ATA100, 2 IDE devices with a Serial ATA interface ( with a number of restrictions). Using south bridge ICH5R can organize Serial ATA devices in RAID0.

Fig. 2. ABIT IS7-E motherboard kit

Main technical parameters of the Abit IS7 motherboard

CPU

Supports Intel Pentium 4 (Socket 478) processors with FSB frequencies 800/533/400 MHz

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology Support

Intel 865PE / ICH5 (ICH5-R)

Dual Channel DDR 400 Support

Game Accelerator Technology Support

Support for Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)

4 slots for RAM (184-pin, DIMM)

Supports 4 DIMM Single / Dual Channel DDR 400 memory (Max. 4 GB)

Accelerated Graphics Port with AGP PRO 8X / 4X support (0.8 V / 1.5 V)

Serial ATA / Serial ATA RAID

2 channel Serial ATA 150 MB / s data transfer rate / RAID 0 (optional)

LAN support

Integrated network controller

10/100 Mbit (10/100/1000 Mbit option)

USB 2.0 Interface Support

Supports 8 USB 2.0 ports with transfer rates up to 480 Mbps

IEEE1394 interface support (optional)

Supports IEEE1394a interface with 100/200/400 Mbps data transfer rates

Sound subsystem

Professional digital interface supporting 24-bit S / P DIF optical In / Out

Media XP (Option)

Card reader for Memory Stick, Secure Digital, and Type I / II CompactFlash cards

Support Wireless Control and S / PDIF Out / Mic In / Headphone Out / USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394

SoftMenu Technology

Plug-and-Play (PNP) Support

Support Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)

Antivirus Feature (AWARD BIOS)

Internal connectors

1 x AGP, 5 x PCI slots

1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88 MB

2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Connectors

4 x Serial ATA 150 Connectors (2x Option)

2 x USB 2.0 headers, 2 x IEEE 1394a header (optional)

1 x CD-IN, 1 x AUX-IN

Rear panel connectors

1 x PS / 2 Keyboard, 1 x PS / 2 mouse

1 x Printer Port, 1 x COM port

1 x S / PDIF Out connector, 1 x S / PDIF In connector

1 x Audio connectors (Front Speaker, Line-in, Mic-in)

1 x Audio connectors (Center / Sub, Surround Speaker)

2 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394a

2 x USB 2.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector

Additional

ATX form factor

Hardware monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, System environment temperature

Fig. 3. Motherboard ABIT IS7-E, developed and manufactured by Abit

Motherboard Models Abit IS7

The composition of the kit motherboard Abit IS7-E

The kit includes:

Box;

Motherboard Abit IS7-E;

CD with drivers and utilities;

English user manual with brief descriptions in different languagesincluding Russian;

A quick guide to installing the motherboard and software;

Cables for ATA 100/66 devices and floppy drive;

ATX compliant I / O panel, etc.

Fig. 4. Connectors of the motherboard ABIT IS7-E

Features of the architecture and design of the motherboard Abit IS7-E

The design of the Abit IS7-G motherboard, developed and manufactured by Abit, generally corresponds to the reference design of such products, created and recommended by companies that produce system logic sets.

Since the Abit IS7-E is focused on applications in high-performance systems, the use of Intel Pentium 4 processors with Hyper-Threading technology and a 800 MHz bus is recommended in systems based on this board. This ensures maximum performance. However, it is possible to use less productive models. It can be, for example, processors designed for a bus of 533 MHz and even 400 MHz.

Together with the Abit IS7-E motherboard, created on the basis of the i865PE chipset, it is possible to use models without support hyper-Threading Technology. However, Celeron processor models can be used together with this motherboard, although it must be recognized that this does not provide the high level of performance available to more productive versions of processors and this motherboard.

The memory subsystem of the board is dual-channel. At the same time, the operation mode of the modules dDR memory SDRAM can be either single-channel (3.2 GB / s) or dual-channel (6.4 GB / s). At the same time, the first two DIMM slots of the Abit IS7-E motherboard belong to the first channel of the memory controller integrated into the i867PE chipset, the last two to the second channel.

Fig. 5. MCH chip i865PE chipset with cooling means and socket processor Socket 478

It should be noted that the two-channel mode allows you to get a fully balanced system. This is ensured if the bandwidths of the processor bus and the memory bus coincide and are equal - 6.4 GB / s. In this case, the operation of DDR SDRAM memory modules can be either synchronous - the clock frequency coincides with the FSB frequency, or asynchronous - the clock frequency differs from the FSB frequency. This is set in the BIOS Setup - SDRAM Frequency.

One of the design features of the Abit IS7-E is the cooling means of the MCH chip. Despite the fact that the reference design of the motherboard from Intel provides for passive cooling of this chip, Abit engineers used the traditional solution for their products - a relatively small radiator equipped with a fan. This, according to the developers, increases the stability of the board, especially in the overclocking modes promoted by Abit in their products, although it should be noted that additional fan It does not reduce the overall noise level.

The second chip of the i865PE chipset - ICH5, which is responsible for input / output, due to insignificant heat generation, traditionally does not need cooling means, which was reflected in the design of the Abit IS7-E.

In the architecture of the motherboard, in addition to Intel and Abit chips, elements of such companies as Abit, RealTek, Avance Logic (a division of RealTek), Texas Instruments and others are used.

Fig. 6. ICH5 chip (Intel 82801ЕB, responsible for input / output) of the i865PE chipset and Serial ATA connectors

Another important feature of the architecture and design of the Abit IS7-E motherboard is the use of tools that provide the implementation of the Serial ATA 150 interface. However, the RAID architecture and features are not provided in the architecture of this model.

Audio is provided by the traditional ALC650 chip. This integrated controller provides six-channel sound.

An integrated network controller is integrated into the motherboard architecture. This allows you to easily turn on your computer through the built-in RJ-45 connector as part of a high-speed LAN.

Like all motherboards of this company, Abit IS7-E supports overclocking modes.

For overclocking enthusiasts, it is possible to set forced processor modes. This is done by increasing the frequency (overclocking) of the FSB processor bus and memory bus, as well as by choosing the optimal values \u200b\u200bof the DDR SDRAM modules.

Fig. 7. Four-channel VRM motherboard Abit IS7-E

The implementation of hardware monitoring, which provides control over supply voltages and the operation of cooling fans, contributes to increased reliability and stability. This feature simplifies control when using overclocking modes.

Another feature of the Abit IS7-E architecture is the use of the four-channel version of the voltage converter (VRM), which is typical for Abit motherboards. The VRM converter is traditionally located between the processor and the I / O connectors.

Assessing the operational parameters of the described motherboard, it should be noted that, when performing numerous, lengthy tests, the Abit IS7-E motherboard worked stably, providing high performance computer, however, this is the topic of one of the following articles.

ABIT IS7-E motherboard provided by Abit Moscow office

The appearance of the i845 step "B" chipset was the impetus for a noticeable revival of the market for motherboards and processors. Those who prefer to use Intel products can now safely switch to the new platform - Pentium-4, without worrying about poor performance or lack of support for new technologies. With traditional stability, reliability and compatibility, the new Intel chipset can use the most promising PC2100 (DDR SDRAM) standard memory today. At the same time, it officially supports both the previous Willamette processors and the current Northwood, and unofficially can work with a bus frequency of 133 MHz (or 533 MHz), allowing you to postpone the next upgrade of the motherboard for several years.

Motherboards on the new chipset were released by all manufacturers without exception. Among them - ABIT, a firm that is consistently in the top ten largest manufacturers motherboards whose products are aimed at the most demanding users. She recently announced a line of BD7 boards, which includes three models - BD7, BD7-RAID and BD7L-RAID.

All models of the family have the same design and differ only in the presence of certain additional controllers. The BD7 model is the youngest in the family - it has neither an ATA / RAID chip, nor a network codec, nor a USB2 controller. This is a full-size ATX-board, surpassing many analogues in size.

The set of board slots includes six PCI and one CNR. The AGP slot has a latch that securely locks the graphics card. There are two memory slots.

The I / O port panel of the BD7 is non-standard. The game port has been removed, and the RJ-11 network connector should be located in its place (BD7L-RAID has it). However, the board did not remain without joystick support - a bracket with a corresponding connector is included. The second feature of the ports is the presence of three, but not two USB-connectors. So that the user does not have problems installing the board in the case, ABIT inserts a plate with suitable holes in the boxes.

As the built-in sound, the Avance Logic ALC200 codec (a proprietary feature of ABIT boards) is used. It has 18-bit ADC and DAC, supports customizable sampling rate. For simple office tasks (for example, playing MP3-music), it is quite suitable. Three sources can be connected to the codec analog signalsince there are three connectors on the board.

In addition to the POST indicators, ABIT placed two buttons on the BD7 - Power and Reset, which help in testing the board. There are also LEDs - IDE, PWR, RST and SBY. The DIP switch block allows you to select the processor bus frequency (100 or 133 MHz), disable additional USB ports, select the primary AC "97 codec, and disable SoftMenu-III - a separate BIOS Setup item responsible for overclocking.