ABIT BG7E i845GE Based Mainboard

i845GE chipset

It's quite unusual to see an ABIT's board without dizzy features or rich accessory pack, but this is the case.

Accessories:

Package of the standard design;
Documentation: user manual in 6 languages;
Cables: FDD, ATA66/100/133;
Bracket with 2 USB ports;
Bracket for the rear computer panel;
CD containing:

drivers;
electronic user guides;
DirectX 8.1;
system monitoring utility;
BuzzSoft programs;
Adobe Acrobat Reader;
3Deep E-Color;
Norton Antivirus 2002;
InterVideo WinDVD.

The layout has standard downsides: IDE and FDD connectors are behind the PCI slots and audio-ins are right in front of them, it may prevent installation of expansion cards, especially long, into these slots, and an inserted video card will lock IDE connectors. It can be difficult to reach the only jumper when the board is already installed. Its functions are shown on the textolite.

The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 6 capacitors of 3300 uF and 3 of 1200 uF.

The following controllers are integrated:

audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1 audio systems and having a connector for front audio inputs/outputs;
network controller based on the Realtek RTL8100B chip supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX.

The board has reset and power switches.

Non-unsoldered connectors: none.

The system monitoring is supported by the Winbond W83627HF-AW chip. What is controlled:

processor, AGP bus, memory voltages, VTT, +3.3, +5 and +12 V, VBAT and +5 V Standby;
speed of 3 fans;
temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor), the board (a built-in sensor) and an external sensor connected to the board.

There are 2 connectors for adjustable and 1 for unadjustable connection of fans.

Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 5 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0; dimensions - 305x225 mm.

Settings:

with jumpers and switches	Jumper to clear up the CMOS
BIOS based on the AwardBIOS 6.00PG version from Phoenix	Setup of memory timings	+	CAS Latency, Precharge Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, Burst Length
	Setup of memory frequency	+	Auto, CPU:DRAM=1:1, 3:4, 4:5
	Setup of AGP bus	-
	Setup of PCI bus	-
	Changeable scaler of AGP and PCI buses	+	PCI(AGP/2) = FSB/3, FSB/4, 44, 37, 33 MHz
	Manual assignment of interrupts	+
	Changeable FSB frequency	+	100-250 MHz in 1MHz steps
	Changeable CPU multiplier	+	x8-x32
	Changeable core voltage	+	1.1-1.85 V in 0.025V steps
	Changeable memory voltage	+	2.5-2.8 V in 0.1V steps
	Changeable chipset voltage	-
	Changeable AGP bus voltage	-

We used the BIOS D5 as the latest available version.

The board performs fairly well in the tests, works stably and will be a good choice for entry-level computers or those who like ABIT's traditionally good overclocking potential.

Test results:

6 Intel 845GE Based Mainboards

Dmitry Mayorov (destrax@ixbt.com)

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