Abit AA8 (Intel 925X Alderwood)
Abit AA8 Board's Features
As compared to Socket478 motherboards, the design of LGA775 boards has turned simpler. Reduction in the number of PCI slots and their replacement with PCI Express x1 slots allowed the developers absolutely safely position components on the left-hand part of the board. Besides, one of the IDE connectors has been removed. However, engineers got more work to do with the right-hand part of the board. First, the design of the power supply module has been overly complicated; secondly, the number of pins in the processor socket has essentially gone up (i925X has over 1200 pins :)).
The design of Abit AA8 will not bring many issues to the system assembly operator: the main connector is positioned on the bottom end of the board, with the additional 4-pin one in the upper part of the board. It should be noted that the main connector offers 24 pins (versus 20 pins on old motherboards).
You don't have to worry about the compatibility with power supply units: Abit AA8 ran perfectly with a PowerMan 300W power supply unit.
More about the design: the distance from the latches of DIMM slots to the PCI Express x16 slot is small, but the memory slots will be blocked only if a too long video card is installed.
The only IDE connector is positioned in a very convenient way: on the board's edge. Besides, for plugging convenience it is orientated in parallel to the board's plane.
What may cause complaints from assembly operators is the positioning of FDD connector (behind the last PCI slot), but the probability of its use on the latest high-end systems is negligible.
Now look at the processor socket:
We have repeatedly mentioned that the pins are now fitted in the socket. Then, the socket does not have a plastic frame for fastening a cooler. So, a "boxed" cooler is now attached with 4-pin assembly holes.
The next novelty is the connector for plugging in a boxed cooler (CPUFAN1). It has 4 contacts. However, in using an alternative cooler it is possible to use this connector for plugging in a regular 3-pin connector.
While the "boxed" cooler has its own mechanism for varying the rotational speed versus the processor temperature, Abit AA8 offers the FanEQ technology which allows enabling the feature on practically any cooler (besides those independently powered).
The board also offers two connectors with support for the FanEQ. It is NBFAN1 to which a cooler on the north bridge is connected, and SYSFAN1 installed in the upper left-hand corner of the board. Besides, the board has a pair of connectors for plugging in fans: the AUXFAN1 positioned near the FDD connector, and the AUXFAN2 near the main power connector. Therefore, Abit AA8 offers 5 connectors altogether.
As regards the cooler on the chipset, it offers an unusual design, with a vertically positioned fan.
According to Abit, such design will allow additional cooling of the video card and the radiator on the south bridge. In my view, it will be a very tough task to cope with for a small (40 mm) fan.
Under the north bridge, there are four 240-pin DIMM slots for DDR2 memory modules. They are partitioned into two groups with two slots in each. The first two slots refer to the first controller channel, with the other two to the second controller.
That is, compared to the PCB design of i865PE/i875P boards, there are no fundamental differences. Even the maximum memory capacity remained 4 GB as before. Once voltage is applied to the motherboard, the 00 code lights up on the POST indicator.
There is a PCI Express x16 slot with a latch installed onboard. It will be used mostly for video cards, but other expansion cards may be installed.
Besides it, on the Abit AA8 board there are three PCI Express x1 slots and a pair of regular PCI slots.
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