Abit IS7 (Springdale) Motherboard Review

One of the very few gripes I have about the IS7 would be the location of the power connectors. The main ATX plug is located near the memory slots while the 4pin 12v connector is clear on the other side by the ATX connector. It would have been nice to have both connectors close together but considering the size of this power supply I doubt there would have been any room.

According to this photo the IS7 appears to be running a 4-phase power supply, I would have expected a few more capacitors on this board considering the design.

The chipset cooler appears to provide more looks than function. Granted, it does add some style to the layout and I commend Abit on using an active Northbridge cooler, though the heatsink is rather small. You might look into getting an alternative cooler if you are wishing to do some hardcore overclocking.

Abit IS7 Northbridge cooler is using a Thermal pad to handle the heat transfer and is of the chewing gum persuasion.

It should also be noted that once the thermal pad was removed and replaced with Artic silver the springs on the cooler got really loose though a quick twist of the springs solved the problem.

The Abit IS7 comes with all you see here.
1x ATA and floppy cable
2x Serial ATA and Serial ATA power cables
1x ATX back plate
Firewire and USB ports
Manuals, and driver disks
There is very little you will have to buy to get a basic system up and running.