ABIT is the king of motherboards and they have proven it again!
Written: Nov 13 '02 (Updated Nov 13 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tons of features, jumperless, and very stable.
Cons: None!
The Bottom Line: So many features like onboard RAID, nVidia chipset, USB 2.0, and a jumperless BIOS make this motherboard a must have for any user.
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| thechuunt's Full Review: Abit NV7-133R Motherboard |
Introduction
Motherboards, are the central nervous system of a computer. They essentially channel information from all areas; video card, sound card, harddrive, et cetera. The importance of having a good motherboard is crucial in making sure your peripherals work well and interact cohesively with your mainboard. Synergy is the goal in finding a motherboard. I am not a big fan about having integrated sound on a motherboard but when ABIT came out with their NV7 I had to take a look. See, this motherboard has the NVIDIA nForce 420 chipset and has a host of features that make this a very nice motherboard for a price conscious user without compromising performance. Let the review begin:
Features
The ABIT NV7-133R supports all current AMD Athlon XP, Athlon or Duron processors using either the 266 or 200 MHz system bus speeds. The main board boasts a 1 AGP/5 PCI slot design and has 2x/4x AGP capabilities. With Softmenu, (ABIT’s great jumperless BIOS) this is an overclockers dream. The ability to tweak your computer without touching any physical jumpers and DIP switches saves you an enormous amount of time.
Test System
ATX standard case / Aluminum
Windows XP with SP1 installed
256MB DDR ram
Onboard thermo
AMD Duron Processor
RAID 0 - 2 WD ATA100 20gig
The great thing about this motherboard is that all the integration is very well placed. It seems that ABIT went out of the way to make this board work well. With Windows XP this board runs perfectly and with DDR 2100 ram all programs like Adobe photoshop run fast and load quickly. The best thing about this board is how it brings the entire system together. Most consumers will find the specification below meaningless but believe me, this board is great and will make an enormous difference in loading programs, stability, and ease of use. If you have no other system, like a generic mainboard you cannot understand how great this system is. Below is more technical info:
Sound
This motherboard has onboard sound through integrated audio (MCP-D). I was really impressed by the clarity of this onboard sound card. Of course if you want something more you have 5 PCI slots to upgrade to.
USB
The NV7 supports USB 2.0 through VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 chip – basically this allows for maximum data throughput with maximum integrity.
LAN
The board also includes support for 10/100 LAN through a RealTek chip onboard. Onboard LANs don’t really matter since you won’t be using Ethernet so this will suffice any home user.
Layout
ATX fit from ABIT – absolutely the best. Everything is placed with enough room to work with. The main board will fit in any ATX case with no problems. The CPU will fit nicely and the fan will clamp on with no problem. If you don’t work with motherboards you cannot appreciate how nice it is to have a fan clamp on with no problem.
HTP372 IDE Onboard Raid support upto ATA133
If you want maximum IDE throughput then go RAID. Essentially the beauty of RAID is that you have two hard-drives working as one. Let me give you a little lesson in computer knowledge: Data is written on the fly with 0s and 1s, (remember y2k?). So your hard-drive, assuming you only have one right now, has to read data in 0s and 1s from the same disk. But with RAID one hard-drive is dedicated to 0s and the other to 1s and this pretty much gives you double the speed. You don’t have to go RAID with this board since it supports all the basic features of ATA but it’s nice to know you have it.
Memory
The NV7-133R uses either DDRam, with a maximum memory capacity of 1.5 GB (3x512-MB Non-ECC). All three memory slots can be used, however it is best to use the twin bank capabilities of the mainboard.
The Bios
Softmenu!!! The ultimate bread and butter for ABIT main boards. This BIOS is the easiest most configurable in the market. This motherboard is truly jumper less – the BIOS takes care of voltage, FSP settings, and many other settings that used to be controlled by DIP switches. This not only saves time but makes it easy for any user to tweak the computer with minimal invasiveness.
Specifications
CPU
• Supports AMD-K7 Athlon /Athlon XP Socket A 200/266MHz FSB Processors
• Supports AMD-K7 Duron Socket A 200/266MHz FSB Processors
Chipset
• nVIDIA chipset (nForce 415 & MCP-D)
• Integrated 128-bit memory controller (Dual independent 64-bit memory controllers)
• 4.2GB/sTotal Maximum Memory Bandwidth
• Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)
• Supports AGP 4X, 1.5V only
Memory
• Three 184-pin DIMM sockets support DDR SDRAM modules
• Supports up to 1.5 GB MAX (64, 128, 256, 512MB DDR SDRAM)
• Supports unbuffered Non-ECC type DDR DIMMs
Audio
• nVIDIA MCP-D built in Audio Processing Unit w/ 256 total voices
• Supports AC3 encoding
• Realtek ALC650 (AC-Link)
• Supports 6CH DAC for AC3 5.1 CH output
• Professional digital audio interface supporting 24-bit SPDIF OUT
BIOS
• SoftMenu II Technology to set CPU parameters
• Award Plug and Play BIOS
• Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
• Supports Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
Multi I/O
• 2 Channels Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33/66/100
• 2 Channels Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (RAID 0/1/1 0)
• PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Mouse Connectors
• 1 Floppy Port (up to 2.88MB)
• 1 Parallel Port (EPP/ECP)
• 2 Serial Ports
• 2 USB Connectors
• On board USB header for two extra USB channels
• 10/100Mb LAN port connector
• Audio connector (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in, and Game Port)
• On board VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 header for four extra USB 2.0 channels
Miscellaneous
• ATX form factor
• 1 AGP slot, 5 PCI slots
• Built-in IrDA TX/RX Header
• Built-in SM-Bus Header
• CD-Audio and AUX-Audio Connectors
• SPDIF Header
• Ultra DMA 133/RAID
• High Point HPT372 IDE Controller
• Ultra DMA 133MB/sec data transfer rate
Pros
ABIT is my favorite mother board brand. I have used them since the early P2s and have stuck with them throughout. The jumperless BIOS is by far the best feature but also the ergonomic structure of the motherboard. I was very impressed by the onboard features especially the nVidia chipset and the onboard RAID.
Cons
None that I could find. It may be difficult to find an ABIT main board with a flaw. This board is perfect for any consumer in the market for an AMD chip. I don’t see any cons.
Conclusion
This board is a must have for any tweaker and main board enthusiasts. I must warn you, once you go with ABIT chances are you will never go back. The stability, the quality, and the ease of use make up for the steeper prices. However with all the onboard features of this board, (i.e. RAID, nVidia chipset, LAN, et cetera) it is easily made up for. The two mainboards that I hold much respect for are ASUS and ABIT – and I must say that ABIT is in the lead with a slight margin especially after seeing this motherboard at work.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 89.99
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Epinions.com ID:
thechuunt
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Location: Long Beach, CA. US
Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Enjoy this minute because you will never have it again.
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