Moving over to the lower left corner are the PCI slots. A single PCI-E x16 is at the top. The next one down is the PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. Also in this area are the IEEE header and controller chip, front panel audio header, and the audio CODEC chip.

    Moving on to the upper left corner, the PWM heatsink and there is a SPDIF and AUX fan header just below that.

 

Rear Panel I/O

  The last thing we have to go over is the rear panel I/O. Here we have the standard PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse, and next to them is the Optical out for the audio. Then, instead of having a DVI port, a HDMI port is included. The 19 pin HDMI connector carries both an audio and video signal to the high-definition display, and it also supports HDCP encryption. HDMI is capable of transferring data at resolutions of 720P, 1080i and 1080P (which the onboard GeForce 7050 all support). Next is the 15 pin analog VGA connector for analog video. Then it's on to the audio connection, four USB2 ports, one IEEE port, and the LAN connection.

BIOS:

    The onboard BIOS of choice is the Phoenix Award BIOS. This version of the BIOS has some overclocking features located in the SoftMenu section. We will test them out later; just keep in mind that this motherboard is meant for home entertainment and not serious gaming.

Main Screen	SoftMenu	CPU Clock	Multiplier
CPU Volts	RAM Volts	DRAM Config	CMOS Features
Advanced BIOS	Advanced Chipset	Integrated Periph	PC Health

Software:

Fans

Temperatures

Voltage

    Not much in the area of software is included with this package. One piece of software that is included is the abit EQ, which allows the user to change voltage settings, fan speeds, and monitor temperature.