FIRST LOOK: Abit Fatal1ty AA8XE
by Wesley Fink on November 9, 2004 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
We compared the performance of the Abit Fatal1ty AA8XE with the 1066 FSB 3.46EE to performance results with the Intel 925X motherboard. We tested the 925X with the fastest 800FSB processor available, which is the 560 at 3.6GHz. Since the fastest gaming performance we have tested is with the Athlon 64 processor, results were included for the fastest current A64 processors - the FX55 and the 4000+ on the nForce 4 PCI Express Reference board. To remove the video card as a performance factor, all benchmarks were run with the PCI Express nVidia 6800 Ultra.The configuration was kept as close as possible between the 3 motherboards, but we are forced to compare apples to oranges in some cases. This means using DDR400 memory at 2-2-2-10 on the AMD systems and DDR2-533 at 3-3-3-10 on the Intel systems, but as we saw in the DDR vs. DDR2 review, the performance of fast DDR400 and DDR533 is very close.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | Intel 3.46EE (1066FSB) Socket 775 Intel 560 (3.6GHz) Socket 775 AMD FX55 (2.6Ghz) Socket 939 AMD 4000+ (2.4GHz) Socket 939 |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB Crucial DDR2-533 2 x 512MB OCZ 3200 Platinum Rev. 2 DDR |
| Hard Drive(s): | Maxtor 250GB MaXLine III (16MB buffer) |
| Video Card(s): | nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra PCIe |
| Video Drivers: | nVidia 61.77 Graphics Drivers |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP1 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520 (520W) |
| Motherboards: | Abit Fatal1ty AA8XE (Intel 925XE) Intel 925XCV (Intel 925X) Socket 775 Intel 915GUX (Intel 915G) Socket 775 |
At stock settings, Fatal1ty is overclocked to 271 FSB. For a fairer comparison, the FSB was set to 267. Since most will want to see gaming benchmarks with this gaming board, the Game Accelerator was left to the default "Enabled" mode. Unfortunately, the only 1066 processor currently available is the $1000 3.46EE that we used for benchmarking.
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LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
Only two IDE devices? What were they thinking? I'd have to buy new SATA hard disks and spend more cash yet. This board is a real niche design, and I think while Abit's quality is there, there are few people who will buy into this one. I can get an Athlon 64 much more reasonably than a P4, and wipe the floor with the P4 system. I can build a quieter, better cooling setup with a good case so I don't need the fans of the OTES system, and can get a board that still has one serial port like I need and also doesn't take up as many slots with additions. With the money I save not going to this board, I can optimize my system even further with better components. Unless you're a die-hard Intel fan with deep pockets looking to build a system from scratch, I can't see you buying this board.TimTheEnchanter25 - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
Whoops, I read the firewire part wrong. I see one port in the picture now.TimTheEnchanter25 - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
The AN8-Fatal1ty will be based on the Nforce4 Ultra. I think it will be released in the next 2 weeks.Until I read this, I was planning on the AN8-Fatal1ty. I would rather be able to cool my CPU better than the transistors and capcitors... I would also rather have firewire than 2 ethernet ports.
Maybe the AN8-Max will be a better choice.
smn198 - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
#4 AgreedDid some Excel math but unfortunately different ATI and nVidia graphics cards make the results from the 924XE article earlier useless to compare. For example, there is hardly any difference on this review between the FX55 and 4000+ cards with nVidia on Halo but with an ATI there is a pretty big gap!
OK its a first look but without the same chipset and CPU to compare against I am still not really much wiser.
Check:
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/abit%20fatal1ty... and http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/intel%20pentium...
OzMowerman - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
Gee, is the world so full of pubescent tools?. well, after reading the above posts, it seems so.mrdudesir - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
wow, aside from the fact that it is a poor choice of platform, the board looks like a simply poor design. As it was pointed out in the article you can't use a good air cooler. Plus with 3 40mm fans already on that thing its probably gonna be louder than a jet. not to mention losing a pci slot to the audio daughter card. Not to mention with all these "improvements" they left off some of the best little things, like on-board power and reset switches. Big thumbs down to abit and their sellout spokesman.j@cko - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
I don't get it... Why didn't you include another 925XE board for comparison?FinalFantasy - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
Read #16.........
uhh...
that's all...
ksherman - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
if this is boad that 'Fatal1ty' uses, he's gonna start lagging behind everyone else with their AMD64's.... ;)knitecrow - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - link
Something is wrong with the following.... a P4 extreme gamming moboOnly if you are a stupid gamer will you spend a premium to get a p4 Extreme Edition system.
Go figure...
buy a FX-55 system... people envy you
buy a p4-EE system and people call you a retart