X-bit labs

ABIT Coming Back? - ABIT AN8 32X Mainboard Review

Category: Mainboards

by Doors4ever

[ 05/09/2006 | 05:15 PM ]

Today we have a great opportunity to take a closer look at one of the first mainboards released by the new ABIT Company, compare it against the competitor’s solutions and the solutions of the "old" ABIT. Let's find out if ABIT is back!

Table of contents:

• Specification and Accessories
  
• Closer Look at PCB Layout
  
• BIOS Peculiarities
  
• Overclocking and Operation Issues
  
• Conclusion
  

I believe it doesn’t make much sense again to talk about the problems ABIT Company had in the past, recall diverse stories that emerged when the company was sold and share our joy when they got back to mainboard production. Of course, I have to be honest with you: we shed no tears and didn’t jump for joy. We pulled ourselves together and controlled our emotions, but the truth is that we were really upset about the possibility of ABIT’s leaving the mainboard arena and were sincerely happy for the company when our suppositions didn’t prove true.

Today we have a great opportunity to take a closer look at one of the first mainboards released by the new ABIT Company, compare it against the competitor’s solutions and the solutions of the “old” ABIT.

We are going to introduce to you ABIT AN8 32X mainboard designed for AMD Socket 939 processors and based on NVIDIA nForce4 SLI x16 chipset.

Specification and Accessories

The package of the new ABIT AN8 32X mainboard is bright and appealing but doesn’t strike us with any peculiar design twists. It is remarkable however that there is some useful information on the reverse side of the box about the mainboard features that is not listed in the user’s manual. For example, it is on the reverse side of the box that I read about the copper contact surfaces for the MOSFET transistors that should ensure better heat dissipation.

Another thing that caught my eye was the promises of “jaw-dropping graphics” ABIT made all over the box if you build a platform with two graphics cards working in SLI x16 mode. :)