Abit AA8 (Intel 925X Alderwood)
Abit AA8 Specifications
| Abit AA8 |
| Processor |
- Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott) with the bus speed 800 MHz;
- Socket LGA775;
- Support for HyperThreading processors |
| Chipset |
- North Bridge Intel® 925X Memory Controller Hub (MCH);
- South Bridge Intel® Intel 82801FB Enhanced I/O Controller Hub (ICH6R);
- Interbridge link: DMI |
| System memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 4GB
- Support for memory types DDR2 400/533
- Dual-channel memory access |
| Graphics |
- PCI Express x16 slot; |
| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots;
- Three PCI Express x1 slots;
- Eight USB 2.0 ports (4 integrated + 4 additional);
- Three IEEE1394 (Firewire) ports
- Integrated audio High Definition Audio 7.1;
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller; |
| Overclocking options |
- FSB adjustable within 100 to 300 MHz in 1 MHz increments;
- Adjustable voltages on the processor, memory and chipset.
- Abit OC Guru (support for mGuru) |
| Disk subsystem |
- 1 channel UltraDMA100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (with support for up to 2 ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA (4 channels - ICH6R, with support for RAID)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS |
- 4MBit Flash ROM
- Award Phoenix BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features and Trend Chip Away Virus
- Abit FlashMenu |
| Miscellaneous |
- One FDD port, one serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- 7-stage POST-indicator
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF In\ Out
- Additional mGuru chip |
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer and USB
- Main 24-pin power connector ATX
- Additional 4-pin power connector |
| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the processor temperatures, voltages, rotational speeds of the three fans
- Abit FanEQ (extended version - support for mGuru)
- Abit EQ monitoring utility (support for mGuru) |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 245mm x 305mm (9.63" x 12") |
Package
The board is packaged in a box of the customary gloomy design:
Package bundle
- Motherboards
- 1x software & drivers CD
- One ATA-100 cable, one FDD cable
- 4x SerialATA cables
- User's Guide + Quick Setup Manual in English
- mGuru User's Manual
- A header for 2 additional Firewire ports and 2 additional USB 2.0 ports
- 1x cap for the rear panel
- A sticker with the jumpers layout diagram
- A drivers floppy for the ICH6R SerialATA\RAID controller.
Despite the quite high price of the product, the package bundle is rich in components. In particular, missing are power adapters for SerialATA devices, as well as a header with a pair of USB2.0 ports.
But a special focus is given to the documentation: the master user's guide gives a comprehensive description of the processor setup procedure, location and purpose of the connectors, and BIOS settings. The brief user's guide gives information on the system assembly in 20 major languages (the brochure volume is 20 sheets :). As regards the booklet on mGuru features, it is very brief, which in fact doesn't spoil its self-descriptiveness (the features are very simple to use :). But the printing quality has gone down: instead of thick glossy paper with color illustrations (as it used to be, e.g. Abit AI7), the brochure on mGuru is of the same quality like the other documentation (regular paper with black-n-white illustrations).
The bundled CD has a complete set of drivers, as well as a set of utilities to control the mGuru features. These are the system monitoring utility Abit EQ, the utility for overclocking from within Windows - OC Guru, the program for controlling the audio functions - Audio EQ, the program for controlling the fans - FanEQ, and finally the program for getting technical support - BlackBox.
This program is meant to facilitate access to Abit's technical support service. The idea behind the program is to automatically collect the system information (software and hardware). Then - the user enters the problem description into a special window, and BlackBox generates an email letter with the collected information enclosed as an attachment.
Conclusion: the board's package bundle deserves a "below 4/5" mark.
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