|
Since we're dealing with the Intel ICH8R southbridge, SATA RAID 0/1/5/10/JBOD is standard. Of course there's more to the AB9 Pro than just Serial ATA, this Socket 775 Intel P965 Express based motherboard has a lot going for it.
80% Rating:
|
|
Home >
Reviews >
Motherboards >
ABIT AB9 Pro |
|
|
The Intel 965P Express chipset
The Intel P965 Express
chipset is Intel's mainstream-performance core logic, it supports all Socket 775
processors running on a 533/800/1066MHz Front Side Bus. The P965 Express is
married to the ICH8-series Southbridge which replaces the ICH7.
The
southbridge used with the ABIT AB9
Pro motherboard is the ICH8R model, it supports RAID via Intels Matrix storage
technology.
Intel has
increased its DDR2 memory support to 800 MHz with the P965 Express chipset,
putting Intel's latest and greatest at par with AMD's Socket AM2 Athlon64's.
Intel calls the new memory controller FMA or 'Fast Memory Access' and gives the
system a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 12.8GB/s. Below is breakdown on the
full feature set of the Intel 975 / 965 Express series chipsets, including the
P965 Express which is used on the ABIT AB9 Pro motherboard.
Intel 975 / 965 / 955 Series Chipset Feature
Breakdown |
|
Intel 975X Express |
Intel
P965 Express |
Intel Q965 Express |
Intel G965 Express |
Intel Q963 Express |
Intel 955X Express |
CPU |
LGA775 Core 2 Duo |
LGA775 Core 2 Duo |
LGA775 Core 2 Duo |
LGA775 Core 2 Duo |
LGA775 Core 2 Duo |
LGA775 Pentium D |
Front Side Bus
(FSB) |
1066/800 MHz |
1066/800/533 MHz |
1066/800/533 MHz 2 threads |
1066/800/533 MHz |
1066/800/533 MHz |
1066/800MHz |
Intel Flex Memory
Technology |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Dual Channel Memory
Support |
DDR2 800/667/533 |
DDR2 800/667/533 |
DDR2 667/533 |
DDR2 667 |
DDR2 667 |
DDR2 667/533 |
Maximum Memory
Capacity |
8GB |
8GB |
8GB |
8GB |
8GB |
8GB |
Integrated
Graphics |
- |
- |
GMA 3000 |
GMA 3000 |
GMA 3000 |
- |
|
PCI Express x16 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
PCI Express x1 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Intel Matrix Storage
Technology |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SATA/IDE HDD |
4/1 |
6/0 |
6/0 |
6/0 |
6/0 |
4/1 |
|
SATA Speed |
3Gb/s |
3Gb/s |
3Gb/s |
3Gb/s |
3Gb/s |
3Gb/s |
|
RAID |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH7R) |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH8R) |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH8R) |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH8R) |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH8R) |
0, 1, 5, 10 (with ICH7R) |
|
Hard Drive NCQ |
- |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
- |
USB 2.0 Ports |
8 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
PCI Masters |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
Audio |
High Definition Audio
(Azalia) |
High Definition Audio
(Azalia) |
High Definition Audio (Azalia)
|
High Definition Audio (Azalia)
|
High Definition Audio (Azalia)
|
High Definition Audio (Azalia)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Initially Intel's P965 Express chipset only
supported a single PCI Express x16 videocard, however most current motherboards
feature two physical PCI Express x16 slots. Given that the ICH8R southbridge has
six PCI Express lanes, these are often utilized to support the second PCI
Express x16 slot with 4 PCI Express lanes. It's not totally
ideal as both videocards receiving the full 16 PCI Express lanes each, but it works
well enough with conventional videocards and some Crossfire configurations.
The ABIT AB9 Pro motherboard has just one
PCI Express x16 slot, so it's not possible to run two videocards in tandem, in
a SLI or Crossfire type situation, with this motherboard.
A
dedicated 2GB/s I/O bus connects the Intel P965 Express Northbridge and ICH8R
Southbridge together, which might be a little tight if you have many high
bandwidth devices installed but should be just fine for the average user.
The ABIT
AB9 Pro motherboard comes installed with the ICH8R Southbridge which includes a
ton of goodies.
There are
six 3GB/s Serial ATA II channels (which support RAID modes 0, 1, 5 and 10) as
well a 7.1 channel Intel Azalia high definition audio, 10 USB 2.0 ports in total
(split between headers and the I/O slot), six PCI Express x1 lanes, and an
integrated Intel GigABIT MAC that runs through the PCI Express bus specific to
this chipset.
Noticeably lacking from the chipset itself is parallel IDE
support. In this case, ABIT resorts to a stand alone IDE controller to provide
IDE support on the AB9 pro motherboard. A block chart of the Intel P965 Express
chipset's major features is illustrated below.
Luckily
parallel IDE technology isn't overly expensive to add to a motherboard. Next up,
PCSTATS overclocks the ABIT AB9 Pro motherboard!
|