When it comes to overclocking an Intel based system, no
processor has shown more potential than the Pentium 4-C.
More specifically, Intel's Pentium 4-C at 2.4GHz has proven
to have a ton of headroom, with many user's hitting 3.2GHz
with stock cooling and the right motherboard. With
increased bus speeds and advanced overclocking features in
today's performance motherboards, access to a processor's
multiplier is proving to no longer be a major factor.
Today, we are going to take
a look at an affordable Intel based motherboard that offers
a good selection of features at a great price point.
The Abit AI7 is an 865PE based motherboard with great
features, high-end performance and a lot of overclocking
options to tweak the board to its limit. With a well
equipped BIOS and ABIT's "µGuru"
processor, the AI7 shows a lot of promise and should be a
great match for our Pentium 4-C. Let's get started and
see what ABIT has in store for us this time around.
Features
of the
ABIT
AI7 865PE Motherboard
Features and Functionality
Processor - Supports Intel Pentium 4 /Celeron CPU
(Northwood)
- Supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
- New power design for Prescott CPU
- Front Side Bus: 800/533/400MHz
Internal I/O Connectors
- 1 x AGP, 5 x PCI slots
- 1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88MB
- 2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Connectors
- 2 x SATA 150 Connectors
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers
- 2 x IEEE 1394 headers
- 1 x CD-IN, 1 x AUX-IN
- Front Panel Audio Connector
- CPU/Classis/Power/FAN1/FAN2 FAN Connector
- 20-pin ATX Power Connector
- 4-pin ATX Power Connector
Back Panel I/O
- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 mouse
- 1 x Printer Port, 1 x COM port
- 1 x S/PDIF In connector, 1 x S/PDIF Out
connector
- 1 x Audio connector (For Front Speaker, Line-in,
Mic-in)
- 1 x Audio connector (For Center/Sub, Surround
Speaker)
- 2 x USB 2.0, 1X IEEE 1394 Connector
- 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector
Miscellaneous
- ATX form factor (305 x 245 mm)
- Hardware Monitoring ? Including Fan speed,
Voltages, CPU and System temperature
The Bundle:
The ABIT AI7 is
complimented by a solid bundle with a complete collection of
hardware, software and documentation. The system comes
with three guides, a Quick Guide, User's Manual and Quick
Installation Guide. The Quick Installation Guide is a
brief document that covers installing the board, CPU and
identifying each of the board's components. The User's
Manual is a more thorough guide that covers the board's
functions, features and setup. The Quick Guide focuses
on the ABIT µGuru
software that integrates with the processor of the same name
that syncs up with the BIOS for access to monitoring and
overclocking options from within Windows. The Driver
CD included all of the necessary drivers for the board
including Chipset, LAN and Audio.
Click to Enlarge
The board also included a
number of items to help ensure an easy, quick installation.
The board came with a single floppy and 80-pin IDE cable as
well as a single SATA cable and Y Molex to SATA power
adapter. The package also included an I/O shield and
USB bracket to attach to the additional USB headers on the
board.
One of the main
selling points of the AI7 is the ABIT
µGuru software, which
allows for a number of key functions to be accessed from
within the Windows interface. The software is
comprised of several separate components, all of which are
easily accessible from the taskbar. The first module
is the ABIT EQ which is a monitoring tool for observing the
system's key voltages, fan speeds, and temperatures.
The software can be configured to sound an alarm if any of
the components reach a specific threshold. This is
useful when overclocking, monitoring each critical component
and possibly uncovering an item that would cause instability
due to temperature or voltage fluctuations. The next
component is the ABIT OC Guru which allows for the
adjustment of the FSB on the fly from within Windows.
This module has two sections based on how aggressive the
system memory is set. In Turbo mode, the system FSB
can be set using a slider and then simply clicking apply.
In F1 mode, the most aggressive setting, the interface
provides the same FSB slider and also offers access to the
CPU, AGP and DDR voltages.
ABIT
µGuru
software
The next module
is the ABIT FlashMenu, which allows for easy BIOS updating
from within Windows. With a single click the software
can locate the latest BIOS available, download it and update
the CMOS. This was a nice little application that
worked great. The ABIT Audio EQ works with the
on-board audio to allow easy adjustment of the audio output
and advanced settings. The ABIT FanEQ allows for the
adjusting of the system fan to throttle as needed,
minimizing power consumption and system noise. Lastly,
the ABIT Blackbox feature is a hardware cataloguing package
that can auto detect the system hardware and record
important information after a crash which can then be
submitted to ABIT for analysis.
The ABIT
FlashMenu was the most useful as it made locating and
updating the BIOS as easy as can be. From a monitoring
standpoint, the ABIT EQ was useful in fine tuning the
overclocking of the system and letting us know if anything
was running too hot or if voltages were not within proper
tolerances. We found the ABIT OC menu a little flakey
and it didn't work at all, until we flashed the BIOS with
the latest update. The ABIT Blackbox never auto
detected any of the board's components as it was supposed
to, requiring us to manually enter the system information.
If an error occurred, it's great to know that you can submit
certain information to ABIT for analysis, but the real
kicker is Abit's response time getting back to you with
assistance, which is ultimately what the user needs if they
are sending the information in the first place. We
can't pass judgment here but we're hopeful that this would
only improve Abit's ability to resolve issues with their
product.
