*ABIT BH7 Reviews (AnandTech Review Up)*

[smahoney]

There is a single USB header on the mobo. it is located between PCI1, PCI2 and the Southbridge Chip.

Page 27 of the User Manual - Section 2-7

A single USB 2.0 compliant header to connect to two USB ports. Connected fine to the two front ports on my Lian-Li PC-82 case.

 

[cockeyed]

Thanks for the info. I've been trying to DL the manual, but for some reason, the DL from Abit won't work for me. This would answer my questions if I could get the manual.

Another question I have if someone would answer, is: The connector layout on the BH7 is different from my standard ATX case layout; how do the BH7 connectors interface with the case? Is there a different plate insert supplied with the motherboard?

I know that this is pretty basic, but I've not seen another motherboard layed out like this. The ones I've seen always have been the same as the standard case configuration. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Technonut]

Is there a different plate insert supplied with the motherboard?

Yes...

 

[cockeyed]

Thanks for the info. I finally was able to DL the manual from Abit. Based on everything I read about this mobo, I think I might be about ready to order one. Thanks again!

 

[Mangler]

Still forgot to link up the review at Legit Reviews!

http://www.legitreviews.com/Reviews/i845pe_1.shtml

 

[kponds]

have they gotten the temps right in the bios. I bought one of these and the CPU temps were about 12 degrees C higher than my albatron board using the same CPU and cooler. When overclocked (2G at 3Ghz), it set off the alarm with a Alpha 8942 cooler. Iknow the CPU wasn't nearly as hot as the bios indicated (and MBM for that matter).

Any feedback would be appreciated - other than that, the board was great ....

 

[JCat]

BH7 -- 2.4b -- 2x 512 (2700) Crucials
365W Enermax - ATI 8500DV -- XP-Pro

this is my 2nd build. (MS 420 Nvidea was 1st)

I RMA'd this board (it was probably good!) after I could never diagnose the NO BOOT problem.
It ran for about 4 hrs and never booted again. The fans would barely turn and then shut down.

The 2nd BH7 did the same thing.

Tried: 3 different PS's, different RAM, different ribbon cable (someone suggested it) AND it finally booted
when I TOOK IT OUT OF THE CASE. I got a GLUE STICK and some rubber washers and stuck them to
both sides of the BH7. It has yet to even hiccup since. Stable @ 'optimum' BIOS settings. I am both
happy and MAD. ABIT engineers should have prevented this.

At first boot, it even recognized my 2700 memory type.

Question #1: When my Microstar system is turned OFF it is OFF completely. When this BH7 board is OFF,
the LED (green) is ON and the MS Optical mouse is ON, too. When I turn the power supply OFF, it is then
the mouse light and BH7 board LED light goes OFF.

Question #2: IDE 1, I have a MASTER 40g WD HDD (OS) and SLAVED Toshiba DVD-R. IDE 2, I have a MASTER
Sony DVD-ROM and SLAVE 80G WD HDD. Half the time, when it boots I have to go to the CONTROL PANEL
and make it recognize IDE2. It will recognize the 80G HDD but has never recognized the SONY DVD-ROM.

Any ideas. I appreciate your time. JCat, tampa

 

[Ketchup]

#1 The light is just telling you the board is getting power. When the power supply is switched on, it is giving power to the motherboard, however the power supply won't really be presented with a load until you switch on your system. Your board will always receive power from the power supply unless you turn if off in the back, or you remove the power source (unplug it or turn off your surge protector.)

#2. You should have your two optical drives on one connector (preferably the secondary) and your two hard drive on the other connector (primary is good.) Also make sure you have the jumpers set to master/slave respectively.

 

[Technonut]

OCAddiction review up....

Finally, I'd like to give a few comments regarding the ABIT BH7. Does it live up to the high bar that the original BH6 set? In most respects, I would easily say it has. The BH7 by far has the most options out there to get every last drop of performance out of your Intel based system. And also like the original BH6, you won't get a lot of frills packed in with this board.

 

[Technonut]

And yet another from Digital-Daily...

 

[Tates]

Looks like the BH7 is everyone's favorite overclocking PE board.

 

[JCat]

<<<<#2. You should have your two optical drives on one connector (preferably the secondary) and your two hard drive on the other connector (primary is good.) Also make sure you have the jumpers set to master/slave respectively. >>>>

Sr. Ketchup79,

On my list of 'things to do' was to send you a THANKS for your reply to my post.
My BH7 has never run better since I configured the drives as you suggested.

Firewire and LED diagnosis lights would be motherboard improvements (cheap too) but it runs all day and is STABLE.

GOOD JOB.

JCat, tampa

 

[Technonut]

Club Overclocker review up...

My overclocking experience with the BH7 was fantastic. My previous high overclock was 168MHz. I was very happy with that overclock considering the B0 stepping of the P4 is known to max out around the 166MHz range. My B0 is acting like a C1 stepping. I was able to boot into windows at 175MHz which is 3150MHz from a 2400MHz. I'm very impressed with the overclocking ability of the BH7.

EDIT: Has there been a bad review on this mobo yet? :beer: