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Abit IS7 (Springdale) Motherboard Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Monday, May 26, 2003
Board Layout and Features
For this review we have a general run of the mill Abit IS7 Springdale (i865PE) motherboard.
The IS7 has a wide range of onboard features. Some are chipset supported while others are additions based on the motherboard revision letter. Since this is the standard motherboard you'll get all of the Springdale features without a ton of extra fluff.
The IS7 has a wide range of onboard features. Some are chipset supported while others are additions based on the motherboard revision letter. Since this is the standard motherboard you'll get all of the Springdale features without a ton of extra fluff.
IS7 Board features include:
Intel i865PE Chipset
Dual Channel DDR 400 (if using an 800Mhz processor)
Pentium 4 478pin 400/533/800Mhz FSB processor support
4 DIMM sockets (2 banks) supporting 4GB ram max
Ultra ATA100/66/33
2x Serial ATA supporting RAID 0
Realtek 6-Channel Audio
USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 (Firewire)
10/100 Ethernet
1x AGP 8x slot
5x PCI slots
Dual Channel DDR 400 (if using an 800Mhz processor)
Pentium 4 478pin 400/533/800Mhz FSB processor support
4 DIMM sockets (2 banks) supporting 4GB ram max
Ultra ATA100/66/33
2x Serial ATA supporting RAID 0
Realtek 6-Channel Audio
USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 (Firewire)
10/100 Ethernet
1x AGP 8x slot
5x PCI slots
As you can see the layout is pretty standard, Processor on top, Northbridge under and memory banks to the right. 
Unlike some of the other boards reviewed here at Ninjalane the IS7 has the Ultra ATA connections parallel with the PCB and positioned right at the edge of the board. This is actually a nice change since you no longer need to support the PCB when installing IDE cables, plus this tends to position the cables out of the way for better airflow.
The next photo shows the two Serial ATA connectors, the IS7 only supports 2 serial connections unlike the 4 channels on the IS7-G.
The next photo shows the two Serial ATA connectors, the IS7 only supports 2 serial connections unlike the 4 channels on the IS7-G.
