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- Date:
- Wednesday, January 28, 2004
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ABIT AN7
ABIT’s latest board featuring the uGuru processor and its host of features, the AN7 is the newest iteration in the AMD socket 462 line of boards. If the board is anything like its predecessors, then this may be the AthlonXP board to beat…
Introduction
ABIT has been a long time favorite among the enthusiast crowd. This is not surprising given the companies devotion to pushing the performance limits with innovative technologies and above specification settings. Their latest technological feat, the uGuru processor, continues this trend of technological innovation bringing a new level of functionality to the enthusiast community.
The AN7 is the latest ABIT AthlonXP board featuring both the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset and the much hyped uGuru processor technology. The NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset supports all AMD socket 462 based processors including their performance line of 400 MHz FSB processors. The chipset also offers full support for PC3200 DDR memory running in Dual Channel mode. Similar to most current motherboards on the market, the AN7 is a feature complete solution, requiring only CPU, DRAM modules, video card, and drives. The following components are integrated in to the board itself: 2 ATA 133 IDE ports; 2 SATA-150 ports with built-in RAID0 and RAID1 support through the Silicon Image controller; integrated NVIDIA 10/100 Ethernet controller; 6 total USB 2.0 capable ports(4 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header supporting 2 ports); 3 IEEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, and 1 onboard header); 6 channel audio featuring NVIDIA’s SoundStorm technology and S/PDIF optical input and output ports; and the standard serial, parallel and PS/2 ports.
Main Specifications Overview:
CPU | AMD Socket 462 based processors |
Chipset | NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 / MCP-T |
FSB | 266/333/400 MHz |
BIOS | Phoenix AwardBIOS |
Memory | 3 DDR DIMMS, up to 3 GB |
Expansion slots | 1 x AGP, 5 x PCI |
Onboard IDE | 2 x ATA 133 ports; Silicon Image controller supporting 2 x SATA 150 RAID 0 and RAID 1 capable ports |
USB 2.0 | 4 rear panel / 1 header supporting 2 ports (6 ports total) |
AGP | AGP 4x/8x |
Audio | 6-Channel NVIDIA based SoundStorm solution with S/PDIF optical input and output ports |
NIC | 1 x NVIDIA 10/100 Ethernet controller in rear panel |
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
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Packaging
The AN7’s box is adorned with a simplistic design, centered around the ABIT uGuru technology. Surprisingly, the board comes with a very minimal set of included items: ATA 133 and floppy cables, 2 SATA 150 cables, 1 dual ended SATA power plug, the rear panel shield, and the normal complement of driver CDs and manuals. Note that no brackets, for either the USB or IEEE 1394 headers, are packaged with the board itself.
Board Layout
From a layout perspective, the AN7 is nearly perfect. There are no real tightly packed areas on the board, and most connectors, jumper, and headers are well placed. One strange thing with the board is the fact that there was no identifiable revision or serial number present anywhere on the board itself. Note that ABIT chose to design the board using capacitors manufactured by the noted Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rubycon.
Note that there have been reports in the field of shipping AN7 boards with cut traces and hand soldered components on the back of the board. The board that we received for testing did not have any evidence of either cut traces nor hand soldered components.
The CPU socket area is mostly clear of obstructions, allowing for installation of a standard sized CPU HSF or waterblock. However, I found that the row of capacitors just above the CPU socket prevented proper seating and use of a universal type waterblock with the board. In the case of a universal type waterblock, the block supports both AMD sockets 462 and 768 as well as the Intel socket 478 implementation. The Northbridge chipset to the left of the CPU socket is actively cooled with the standard ABIT chipset cooler. The Northbridge HSF unit is held to the chipset by 2 push pins that mount through the board, requiring access to the back side of the board in order to remove the unit. The BIOS monitored NB_FAN1 and FAN4 headers are located above the Northbridge chipset, with the ATX and ATX12V connectors located just above the fan headers. This location for the ATX and ATX12V connectors can be a bit of a hassle when trying to effectively route the power cables around the CPU HSF and any rear case fans you may have. Just above the ATX connector are the USB-PWR1, and USB-PWR2 jumpers which enable system wakeup based on activity on the rear panel USB ports. The KBPWR1 jumper, which enables system wakeup based on activity on the rear panel PS/2 connections, is located just below the rear panel along the right edge of the board. The BIOS monitored CPUFAN1 fan header is located between the CPU socket and the upper most DIMM slot.
The AN7 comes standard with a total of 3 DIMM slots, with support for PC3200 DRAM in 2 of the 3 slots. The slots themselves are grouped in two sets, an upper set of 2 and a lower set of 1. The sets themselves are color coded within the set, in order to ease any confusion with enabling Dual Channel memory mode. The slots themselves are positioned far enough away from the AGP slot that all but the biggest AGP will not interfere with DIMM insertion / removal. The floppy port is located directly below DIMM slot 3.
The NVIDIA MCP-T Southbridge chipset is located just below PCI slot 1. Below the Southbridge and along the board’s edge are the two IDE ATA 133 ports. Notice that the ports have been rotated 90 degrees, so that the connectors themselves are parallel to the plane of the board. Just above the left IDE port are the BIOS chip, the CMOS reset jumper, and the CMOS battery. The front panel connector is located just to the left of the CMOS battery, along the left edge of the board. Just above the CMOS battery is the uGuru processor, with the onboard USB header directly to its right. The uGuru chipset allows for hardware control and monitoring of the board via the Windows based uGuru application suite. The Silicon Image RAID controller is located between PCI slot 4 and the uGuru processor, with its associated SATA 150 ports to its left along the board’s edge.
The AN7 comes standard with a total of 1 AGP slot, and 5 PCI slots. Notice that extra room has been left between the AGP slot and PCI slot 1, to better accommodate dual slot video card cooling solutions. The BIOS monitored SYSFAN1 header, as well as the SMB1 System Management bus header, are located to the left of PCI slot 5. As is common on other boards supporting the uGuru processor, the AN7 comes standard with a 2 digit diagnostic LED display, located just above PCI slot 5. This location is a bit out of the way, and could make the display hard to see with any brackets or cards mounted in close proximity to the display. The BIOS monitored FAN5 header is located just above the LED display. The board’s CD_IN, AUX_IN, and front panel audio connectors are located above and between PCI slots 2 and 3. Note that the rear panel audio ports will not function unless pins 5/6 and 9/10 on the front panel audio header are jumpered. The onboard IEEE 1394 header is located to the right of PCI slot 1.
The AN7 comes standard with the following rear panel connections: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; 1 parallel port; 1 serial port; 1 IEEE 1394 port; 4 USB 2.0 ports; a 10/100 LAN Ethernet port; 5 audio ports; and S/PDIF optical input and output ports
uGuru
ABIT’s uGuru chipset technology allows for real time monitoring and tweaking of various motherboard parameters from within the Windows environment. The suite of applications work in tandem with the onboard uGuru chipset to receive data concerning hardware health, as well as to implement changes in current hardware settings such as FSB and voltage. The suite is broken in to a series of six applets: ABIT EQ, OCGuru, ABIT Audio EQ, FanEQ, FlashMenu, and ABIT BlackBox.
The OCGuru applet allows for real time modification to select board FSB and voltage settings. In Turbo mode, the user has access to modify the CPU FSB only via the Ext. Clock slider. Note that changing the CPU FSB affects the DRAM FSB only, but has no effect on the PCI or AGP FSBs. The CPU Info box within the Turbo section lists processor specific information. Within the F1 Mode section, the user is given control over the board FSB, as well as the CPU, AGP, and DDR voltages. For specifics concerning the allowed voltage and FSB settings, please see the BIOS section of the review. Note that settings are not applied until the Apply button is selected. One other feature offered is the ability to save selected settings under customized naming schemes.
The ABIT EQ applet allows for real time monitoring of all BIOS monitored fans, system voltages, and temperatures. The interface allows for full customization through the Monitor Settings and the Display Settings windows. In the Monitor Settings window, you can select upper and lower thresholds for all monitored items as well as the system response, such as system shutdown. The Display Settings window allows you to customize what monitors display in the main interface and how and where they display within the interface.
The FanEQ applet controls the behavior of the 2 BIOS monitored fan headers: CPUFAN1, and NBFAN1. For each fan header, you are able to set a reference temperature based on the BIOS monitored temperatures available and the fan operation mode. In addition, a graph shows how the fan’s performance will be affected by the selected temperature as it rises and falls.
The AudioEQ applet is ABIT’s replacement for the Realtek audio configuration application, offering the same options in a different interface. The FlashMenu applet allows for archiving of the currently loaded system BIOS as well as updating the system with a new BIOS from within Windows.
The BlackBox applet is an error reporting tool, with which you can record system specifications and submit the generated report directly to ABIT’s Support department. The BlackBox feature basically simplifies the technical support process in that it collects all critical hardware and software information needed from your system to help diagnose the issue. This way, all you have to focus on is telling support about the issue you are having instead of listing 3 pages of system specs. If you are not comfortable with its automated mode of data collection, the BlackBox utility also supports full manual entry of system data as well.