Motherboard Review - ABIT IT5H
Chipset
Intel 82430HX chipset, Revision 03, consisting of
82439HX System Controller 82371SB PCI I/O IDE XceleratorCPU
Socket: Socket 7
Supported CPUs:
Intel Pentium Classic, P54C, 75 - 200 MHz Intel Pentium with MMX, P55C, 166 - 233 MHz Cyrix/IBM 6x86 P120+ - P200+ Cyrix/IBM 6x86L, the new split voltage 6x86 CPUs Cyrix/IBM M2, supports multiplier setting of 3.5 for M2 AMD K5 PR90 - PR166, according to the manual AMD K6 PR2 166 - PR2 233Automatic detection of CPU type, setup with CPU SoftMenuTM in BIOS setup.
Supported CPU Voltages:
single 3.60 V single STD 3.38 V single VRE 3.52 V dual 3.3 / 2.50 V dual 3.3 / 2.70 V dual 3.3 / 2.80 V dual 3.3 / 2.93 V dua; 3.3 / 3.2 V (from rev. 1.5)Automatic detection of single or split voltage, setup with CPU SoftMenuTM in BIOS setup.
Supported Multiplier Settings:
x1.5, x2, x2.5, x3 for Intel Pentium CPUs x2, x3 for Cyrix/IBM 6x86 CPUs x2, x2.5, x3, x3.5 for Cyrix/IBM M2 CPUs x2.5, x3, x3.5 for AMD K6 CPUsSetup with CPU SoftMenuTM in BIOS setup.
Supported Bus Speeds:
50 MHz 55 MHz 60 MHz 66 MHz 68 MHz ('turbo frequency' of 66 MHz) 75 MHz 83 MHz (from rev. 1.5)Setup with CPU SoftMenuTM in BIOS setup.
Second Level Cache
Pipelined Burst Static RAM Cache
512 kB onboard512 MB cacheable due to 2 onboard tag RAM chips (from rev. 1.2)
RAM
4 72 pin SIMM slotssupports ECC
RAM types supported:
FPM RAM with and without parity EDO RAM with and without parityRAM sizes supported:
4 MB SIMM 8 MB SIMM 16 MB SIMM 32 MB SIMM 64 MB SIMM2 168 pin DIMM slots
3.3 V unbuffered RAM
supports FPM and EDO RAM
RAM sizes supported:
8 MB DIMM 16 MB DIMM 32 MB DIMMPlease note, that DIMM does not say SDRAM!! You can get DIMMs with FPM and EDO as well, and only these types are supported by the 430HX chipset!
Maximum RAM supported 512 MB
PCI Bus
4 PCI slots, 3 full length
running at busclck/2
PCI specification 2.1
ISA Bus
4 ISA Slots, 2 full length, 2 2/3 length, one of the 2/3 length shared with PCI slot 4
Board Size
33 cm x 22 cm size AT. This means it's longer than the majority of the AT boards, which has the advantage that the CPU is quite far from the expansion slots. This enables you to use 2/3 length cards in each slot which isn't full length.
Super I/O
1 Floppy Port (up to 2.88MB, Japan 3 Mode Floppy Supported) 2 Serial Ports (16550 Fast UART Compatible) 1 Parallel Port (ECP, EPP Port) IrDA TX/RX Header (= infra red port support) PS/2 Mouse connector USB portIDE Controller
2 x PCI Bus Master IDE ports (up to 4 IDE devices)
Support:
PIO Mode 3 & 4 DMA Mode 2BIOS
Award Plug&Play BIOS, tested with latest and so far only revision, flashable
supports CPU SoftMenuTM which makes the board almost jumperless. All CPU settings are adjusted in the BIOS setup! Only one jumper for L2 cache size on board.
supports bootable CDROM and bootable SCSI HDD, additionally you can boot from the first partition of any EIDE HDD connected, which means you can boot up to 4 different OSs via the BIOS setup.
Coming With
2 serial port ribbon cables, attached to a mounting bracket 1 parallel ribbon cable and PS/2 mouse cable, attached to a mounting bracket 1 IDE ribbon cable 1 floppy ribbon cable floppy disk with Bus Master IDE Driver for Windows95, OS/2, WindowsNT BIOS Flash program SoftMenu as programManual
Best manual I've ever seen, very coprehensive, BUT it's missing one thing! It doesn't tell you how you can mix SIMMs and DIMMs.
Quality
solid metal lever for CPU ZIF socket good I/O sockets with ceiling good quality DIMM sockets with sturdy fixing clamps good quality SIMM sockets where you don't hurt fingers removing SIMMs many tantalum capacitors used passive voltage regulator, but big heat sinks that don't get too hotLatest Motherboards News
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