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- Date:
- Monday , September 12, 2005
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ABIT AN8 Ultra
The AN8 Ultra is ABIT’s newest Athlon64 motherboard that uses heat pipe technology to cool its nForce4 Ultra chipset. Read on to find out if this new feature has any effect on the board’s performance…
Introduction
ABIT is a world renowned computer component manufacturer, known best for their high performance yet stable product lines. ABIT strives to push the technological limits through both proprietary BIOS enhancements, as well as integrated technologies like their uGuru dynamic overclocking chipset. This latest edition to their nForce4 lineup keeps in this tradition well.
The AN8 Ultra is ABIT’s newest offering for their Athlon64 socket 939 based motherboard product line. The board incorporates the NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra chipset, sporting support for the entire Athlon64 socket 939 processor line, DDR type SDRAM modules operating in Dual Channel mode up to speeds of 400MHz officially, as well as PCI Express x16-based video cards operating in single card mode. As is commonplace, the AN8 Ultra is a feature complete solution, with few components needed for an operational system: an Athlon64 socket 939 based CPU, DDR memory, a PCI Express video card, drives, and PSU. The following integrated components come standard with the AN8 Ultra: 2 IDE ATA-133 ports and 4 SATA II ports (RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 capable) on the NVIDIA RAID controller; 10 USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each); 2 IEEE 1394 capable ports (1 in rear panel, 1 onboard header supporting 1 port each); 1 NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet port in rear panel with integrated hardware Firewall support; Realtek 8-channel audio codec featuring S/PDIF optical input / output ports; 2-digit LED diagnostic display; and PS/2 port support.
Main Specifications Overview:
CPU | AMD Athlon64 socket 939 based processors |
Chipset | NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra MCP |
FSB | 200MHz |
BIOS | Phoenix AwardBIOS |
Memory | 4 184-pin DDR DIMMS, up to 4GB |
Expansion slots | 1 x PCI-Express x16 slot, 2 x PCI-Express x1 slot, 3 x PCI slots, 1 x audio riser card slot |
Onboard IDE | 2 x ATA 133 ports; 4 x SATA II ports |
USB 2.0 | 4 rear panel / 3 headers supporting 2 ports each (10 ports total) |
IEEE 1394 | 1 rear panel / 1 header supporting 1 port each (2 ports total) |
Audio | 8-Channel Realtek codec with S/PDIF optical based input / output ports |
NIC | NVIDIA Gigabit Ethernet controller |
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
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Packaging
The AN8 Ultra motherboard comes in the standard ABIT nForce4 line packaging, with a large sticker on the lower left corner of the box designating the model and supported features. The following components are packaged in with the AN8 Ultra board: ATA 133 and floppy ribbon cables, SATA 150 cables, dual ended SATA power cables, the rear shield, the normal complement of driver CDs and manuals, an audio riser card, and a rear bracket housing additional USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 ports.
Board Layout
Overall, ABIT did an excellent job with the AN8 Ultra’s design, with no components overly crowded or lacking for space. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of integrated heat pipe-based cooling for the nForce4 chipset. Not only did ABIT locate all the CPU power circuitry in the upper right corner of the board, but the heat from the nForce4 chipset is also routed to the rear panel OTES cooler via a copper heat pipe. The board serial number and revision code are located on a white sticker just above the secondary PCI-Express x1 slot. According to the revision sticker, the board tested was a version 1.0 model. For the power circuitry, ABIT chose to use capacitors from the noted Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rubycon.
The CPU socket area is clear enough of obstructions to allow for use of large HSF or water block units. The use of the single chipset nForce4 solution, as well as the regrouping of the board power circuitry, really allowed ABIT to open up this normally tight area. ABIT chose to use the standard Athlon64 2 hole design for a CPU HSF retention mechanism. Directly above the CPU socket is the OTES cooling solution, which is comprised of 2 large aluminum heat sinks covering the board’s MOSFETS and a large copper heat sink integrated into the rear panel for the chipset heat pipe heat dissipation. The one drawback in ABIT’s OTES implementation is the fact that the heat sinks are all passively cooled. These heat sinks were found to get overly hot during normal operation. The addition of even a small amount of airflow over the heat sinks cooled the area well, however. The PS2-PWR1, USB-PWR1, and USB-PWR2 jumpers are located directly to the left of the OTES housing. These jumpers control system activation if activity is detected on the rear panel PS/2 and USB 2.0 ports. The ATX12V power connector and CPUFAN1 header are located to the right of the CPU socket, along the edge of the board.
The AN8 Ultra comes with a set of 4 DDR DIMM slots in a 4-by-1 configuration. The slots are color coded into two groups, with Dual Channel memory mode active with modules placed in like colored slots. The 24-pin ATX power connector, as well as the SYSFAN1 header, is located directly below the DIMM slots.
The nForce4 Ultra chipset is located to the right of the PCI-Express x16 slot. Notice that the chipset is cooled using a low profile copper-based heat pipe, whose path leads to the massive copper cooler on the board’s rear panel. The heat pipe cooler is held to the chipset using 2 screws attached to an under the board bracket. The onboard SATA II ports are located to the lower left of the chipset, with the ATA-133 ports located below them along the board’s edge. Note that the ATA-133 ports have been placed on the board so that the IDE cable sits parallel to the plane of the board when engaged. Directly to the left of the SATA II ports are the 3 USB 2.0 headers and their associated standby power jumpers. These jumpers are used to control system activation based port activity from ports connected to the USB 2.0 headers. The onboard diagnostic LED, as well as the onboard IEEE 1394 header, is to the left of the USB 2.0 headers. The GURU1 header, used for integrating with an aftermarket uGuru Panel device, and the front panel header are located in the lower left corner of the board. Above the front panel header are the CMOS reset jumper and battery, as well as the onboard floppy port.
The AN8 Ultra comes standard with 1 PCI-express x16 slots, 2 PCI-Express x1 slots, 3 PCI slots, and an audio riser card slot. The audio riser card slot is located to the right of the rear panel assembly. The AUXFAN1 header is located just above the two PCI-Express x1 slots, while the NBFAN1 header is located directly below them.
The AN8 Ultra’s rear panel contains the following ports: a passively cooled OTES heat exhaust port; PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; 4 USB 2.0 ports; 1 IEEE 1394 port; and 1 NVIDIA Gigabit LAN Ethernet port. The audio riser card adds 6 analog audio ports and 1 S/PDIF optical output port. The audio riser card itself contains a front panel audio header as well as a CD_IN port. Note that pins 5-6 and 9-10 must be jumpered on the front panel audio header for the rear panel ports to function correctly.
uGuru
ABIT’s uGuru chipset technology allows for real time monitoring and tweaking of various motherboard parameters from within the Windows environment. The suite of applications work in tandem with the onboard uGuru chipset to receive data concerning hardware health, as well as to implement changes in current hardware settings such as FSB and voltage. The uGuru suite is divided into a series of five applets: ABIT EQ, OC Guru, FlashMenu, BlackBox, and GuruClock. The GuruClock applet only functions with an uGuru device attached to the board. Note that uGuru version 2.3.0.7 is shown below.
The ABIT EQ applet allows for real time monitoring of all BIOS monitored fans, system voltages, and temperatures. The applet allows for full customization through the Settings window, accessed by clicking on the Setup button from the main applet window. The Settings window allows for system response configuration, as well as threshold setting for temperature-based responses. The threshold settings window can be reached by selecting the Limit button next to the desired monitored item. From the main applet window, all system voltages can be displayed by selecting either of the Voltage (V) buttons. The monitored fan headers can also be configured from the main applet window using the FAN (RPM) button.
The OC Guru applet allows for real time modification of all the board’s FSB and voltage settings, as well as configuration of board shutdown and fan control based on the temperatures of specific monitored devices. The applet itself has a variety of pre-set options, as well as the ability for an automatic overclocking configuration. The Power Cycle Control window, accessed by selecting the Power Cycle Control button from within the main applet window, allows for configuration of a timed shutdown, as well as real time statistics on system boot time. Selecting the SoftMenu button from the main applet window opens the SoftMenu window. From this window, the user can configure all board FSB and voltage options, as well as system event triggering based on specific BIOS monitored fan headers. The Configure AutoDrive window displays upon clicking on the Configure AutoDrive button. From this window, you can tie individual programs to a preset overclocking configuration. Notice that a Windows-like Start menu displays upon clicking the Add Program button. The Configure Preset button opens the SoftMenu window with the ability to customize up to 6 preset configurations.
The FlashMenu applet allows for archiving of the currently loaded system BIOS as well as updating the system with a new BIOS from within Windows. Selecting the Setting button from the main applet window opens the Advance Settings window. From this window, the user can custom configure the exact actions taken when the BIOS is updated.
The BlackBox applet is an error-reporting tool, with which you can record system specifications and submit the generated report directly to ABIT’s Support department. Essentially, the BlackBox feature simplifies the technical support process in that it collects all the critical hardware and software information needed from your system to help diagnose an issue. This way, all you have to focus on is telling support about the issue you are having instead of listing 3 pages of system specs. If you are not comfortable with its automated mode of data collection, the BlackBox utility also supports full manual entry of system data.