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Abit AT8: µGuru comes to the RD480

 by Gary Key on March 10, 2006 12:05 AM EST
42 Comments | Add A Comment
42 Comments
Basic Features: Abit AT8

Specification Abit AT8
CPU Interface 939-Pin Socket supporting AMD Athlon 64 / 64FX / 64X2
Chipset ATI CrossFire Xpress 200 (RD480) - North Bridge
ULi M1575 - South Bridge
HTT Speeds 200MHz ~ 400MHz in 1MHz increments
CPU Clock Multiplier Auto, 4x ~ 12x in 1x increments (4000+ CPU setting, maximum multiplier dependent upon processor utilized)
Memory Speeds Auto, 200MHz, 266MHz, 333MHz, 400MHz, 433MHz, 466MHz, 500MHz
PCI Bus Speeds Fixed at 33.33MHz
PCI Express Bus Speeds Auto, 90MHz ~ 140MHz in 1MHz increments
LDT Multipliers Auto, 200MHz, 400MHZ, 600MHz, 800MHz, 1GHz
LDT Link Speed Auto, 8-bit, 16-bit
Core Voltage Auto, 1.4000V ~ 1.8000V (AMD 64 4000+) (settings in 0.0250V increments, base +.4000V for max voltage), (base / max voltage dependent upon CPU)
DRAM Voltage Auto, 2.50V ~ 3.20V
NB 1.8V Setting 1.50V ~ 2.00V, in .05V or .10V increments
NB 1.2V Setting 1.00V ~ 1.80V, in .10V increments
HT Voltage 1.20V ~ 1.40V, in .05 increments
DDR Reference Default, +10mV ~ +60mV, -10mV ~ -60mV, in .10mV increments
Memory Slots (4) x DIMM, max. 4GB, DDR 400/333/200, non-ECC, un-buffered memory, Dual Channel Operation supported.
Expansion Slots (2) x PCI-E x16 (each slot operates in 1x8 mode for CrossFire operation)
(2) x PCI-E x1
(2) x PCI 2.3
Onboard SATA ULi M1575: (4) x SATA II (3.0Gb/s, NCQ, Hot Plug)
Onboard IDE ULi M1575: (2) x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
SATA/IDE RAID ULi M1575:
(4) x SATA II 3Gb/s - RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5
Onboard USB 2.0 (8) USB2.0 ports (four ports, two headers for four more ports)
Onboard LAN Realtek RTL8110SB PCI 10/100/1000Mb/s LAN - LOM Controller
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC-882D - 7.1 channel capable HD Audio Codec, Dolby Digital Live capable
Onboard Firewire TI TSB43AB22 IEEE 1394 chipset - 1394A capable
Power Connectors 24-pin ATX
4-pin ATX 12V
4-pin 12V
Back Panel I/O Ports 1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x S/PDIF Optical Out
1 x S/PDIF Optical In
1 x Audio I/O Panel
1 x RJ45 LAN
4 x USB 2.0
1 x IEEE 1394
Other Features Silent OTES Technology
µGuru Technology
- Abit EQ - hardware monitoring system
- OC Guru - overclocking utility
- Fan EQ - fan monitoring utility
Flash Menu - windows based flash utility
BlackBox - windows based diagnostic utility
BIOS Award 1.1 (2/15/06, in final testing for public release)

The Abit AT8 is a value-based performance board targeted towards the enthusiast user. The board ships with an extensive accessory package that includes the standard assortment of IDE/SATA cables, power connectors, and USB header cables. Abit also includes an extensive driver CD along with their desktop µGuru utilities.

This is the BIOS setup utility screen and it displays the change configuration categories available on the board. The BIOS features the ability to save and load individual profiles, which can be a time saver based upon whether you want to quickly overclock the system at various settings or operate at stock settings. This feature worked superbly during our overclocking tests.

The OC Guru Configuration section allows the user to manually set the CPU multiplier, HTT speeds, PCI-E clock speed, and multiple voltage selections.

The Advanced Chipset Features section allows the user to manually set individual parameters for LDT multipliers, Video configuration, and DRAM frequency settings.

The DRAM Configuration section allows the user to control memory timing adjustments and dividers. The BIOS allows for an Auto setting that will determine the best timing attributes based upon memory type, divider, and bus speeds. The SPD setting will adjust the memory automatically to the manufacturer's setting or you can adjust the multitude of memory timings manually. We found in our testing that the system would typically adjust the memory clock settings incorrectly when utilizing the Auto setting and would leave the system in a non-post state or unstable state due to the 1.0 BIOS incompatibility issues with several types of memory modules.

The LDT and PCI Bus Control section allows the user to adjust the upstream and downstream LDT bus width bit rate along with the LDT bus frequency. Although the description describes the ability to control the PCI bus, it is actually not available, although the frequency is fixed at 33.33MHz.

The Abit EQ configuration section allows the user to monitor and set parameters for temperature, voltage, fan speed, and fan control (up to six fans). This feature set is extensive and allows monitoring and control of several board features either from the BIOS or the windows based EQ monitoring system.

Abit includes their excellent µGuru windows utility that allows the user to overclock the HTT speed, change certain voltages, and monitor hardware settings in real time without the need for rebooting. The OC Guru worked very well during our overclock testing.

Index Abit AT8: Features
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  • Duplex - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - link

    I really liked it you did a test with BH5 at 1T 2225 timings,
    BUT,
    I would be so much happier if you also could test at how high clocks you
    can run at 1T 2225-timings. That is at least how I define overclocking memory.
    You still have the board, so pleeeaaaaaaaaaaase give it a try!

    You overclocked with 1T 2.5-5-5-7 timings, but as I´m sure you know it´s not the same thing as overclocking the memory with 1T-2-2-2-5 timings, which BH5/UTT owners mainly gain performance from.

    This is something I miss with most of your reviews, and I think Many Many readers would appreciate if you both tryed overclocking with tight resp. lose timings in the future.
    It´s often tight timings that makes the boards stand out from the rest.
    CPU stability and overclocking seldom differs more than 10% while the RAM clocks at 1T-2-2-2-5 often is either 200MHz or something like 280MHz (40%). Many boards still can´t run 1T-2-2-2-5 at all.

    Memory Performance is about 1. tight timings and 2. high clocks
    Maybe my facts isn´t totally correct, but I hope you see what I´m aiming at :-)

  • Gary Key - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link

    quote:
    This is something I miss with most of your reviews, and I think Many Many readers....


    Hi,

    We are currently testing another RD480 board so I will provide the highest stable overclock at 2-2-2-5(7)-1T for the Abit and Asus RD480 boards along with the new one.

    Gary

  • Duplex - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link

    Great! Splendido! Magnifico! eeeeh, Excellent! Much appreciated!

  • Duplex - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link

    How are things going with the revised 1.1 bios, is the 256HTT limit gone?
    Has there been any time to look into it? ;-)

    I read the ECS-review. Nice to see the
    "The ECS KA1 MVP was very stable with 2 DDR modules in Dual-Channel mode at the settings of 2-2-2-5 at 2.7v. We were able to operate the memory at this configuration up to a 226HTT x12 setting." !!
    Whats happening with the tests you mentioned above with the Asus and Abit board?
    Estimated publishing date?

  • FireTech - Friday, March 17, 2006 - link

    Agreed, love the look of this MB for it's passive cooling and fan control options. I'll have to wait for the AT8 32X though as the AT8 is now discontinued here.
    Any news on the BIOS #1.1 results?

  • Gary Key - Monday, March 20, 2006 - link

    quote:
    Any news on the BIOS #1.1 results?


    So far so good. We are waiting on a particular GSkill module to arrive to complete testing.

  • SpHeRe31459 - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link

    Dolby Digital Live is an option that a vendor must persue with Dolby and get their motherboard certified. Abit has not shown interest in this before, nothing I can find at the Abit site says this is Dolby Digital Live enabled. You guys sure about the AT8 having DDL?

  • Gary Key - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link

    http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherb...">AT8 Specs


    The audio specifications are listed on the global site. The US site has the AL8 specs on the webpage and Abit has been notified of this. Abit is now including the ALC-882D with the DDL option on their higher end boards. We did not see it as being offered originally on the AT8-32x (complained about it) but have been told it will be included now. In fact, their Global website has been updated and shows it on the board. The board I tested had the ALC-882D codec and DDL (5.1, optical out to supporting receiver) was enabled in the drivers I used.

  • cornfedone - Friday, March 10, 2006 - link

    Looks like Abit, even though late to market, didn't bother testing their ATI chipset mobo before shipping it either. They must have figured if Asus could sell the completely junk A8R-MVP garbage, then there were plenty of fools who would rush out and buy the Abit version of garbage. You got to believe that judgment day isn't too far off for the Asian mobo companies if they keep shipping this kind of junk.

    It's pretty obvious Asus needs to switch product lines from PC hardware to rice cakes or chop suey so their skill set matches their products.

  • rjm55 - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link

    Looks like the paid nVidia forum posters are at it again. They must really be afraid of ATI chipsets to go to these extremes. Wonder why?

    It's a shame this decent review got hijacked by a few crazies whose only goal was to disrupt and discredit.
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