ABIT BE7-RAID Review @ [H]ardOCP

ToshiroOC · Feb 19, 2003, 08:46 AM

Since its Inception, ABIT has been a favorite of enthusiasts everywhere. Their dedication to cutting edge features and top notch performance is almost legendary. Their latest motherboard masterpieces are centered on the Intel i845PE chipset, offering it as part of their MAX line of motherboards as well as their standard line.

The BE7-RAID is part of ABIT’s standard line of boards, with fewer add on features than its big brother the IT7-MAX2, but it is certainly not disappointing with its rich mix of features at an attractive price point. The Intel i845PE chipset offers support for the latest Intel processors with HyperThreading technology as well as full support for DDR Ram up to speeds of 333 MHz. The built in features are are still many, starting with on board 10/100 NIC, 2 USB 2.0 compatible ports and a total of 4 IDE ports. IDE ports 3 and 4 support the following modes of operation for hard drives: standalone, RAID-0, RAID-1, and RAID-0+1 (only available when using 4 hard drives).

This board was nothing if not surprising. After playing with its big brother, the IT7-MAX2, I was at first a bit leery. The BE7-RAID had no Firewire, no SATA connections, no onboard diagnostic LED, and less tweaking options in the BIOS. However, for what it didn’t offer in extras, this board made up for in raw speed. Even at stock speeds, it edged out most other boards in the benchmarks. I cannot complain about stability issues either, this board is solid as a rock.

I did encounter some problems with the board. Initially, I attempted to use an Intel P4 2.8 GHz chip in the board and could not get the system to boot no matter what I tried. I popped that chip out, and put in my trusty old 2.6 GHz chip and the system worked fine. The board layout around the CPU socket is another bone of contention. The smaller footprint of the board when compared to the monstrous full sized dimensions of the IT7-MAX2, there is simply not a whole lot of space on the PCB. This problem becomes very apparent directly above the CPU socket area with tightly packed capacitors around the socket itself. They are in very close proximity to the ATX-12V connector. The other funny thing about the layout was the placement of the floppy connector. It would have been much better if placed below the DIMM slots, so as to not get in the way of the RAID IDE headers. The floppy connector location also can cause the need for an extra long floppy cable depending on your case size and configuration but does allow you to run it under the board removing it from view.

As for the BIOS, I ran into one annoying but easily worked around problem. Intermittently, the system would not boot after a soft reset via the reset switch or after hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL. An easy work around is as follows: Leave it unplugged for about 20 seconds to give the board’s capacitors enough time to discharge. Plug the cord back in and the system should boot up fine. Hopefully, ABIT will be addressing this with a BIOS fix…

--By Morry Teitelman, source: Hardocp

Article can be read here.

Feb 19, 2003, 08:46 AM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	ABIT BE7-RAID Review @ [H]ardOCP Since its Inception, ABIT has been a favorite of enthusiasts everywhere. Their dedication to cutting edge features and top notch performance is almost legendary. Their latest motherboard masterpieces are centered on the Intel i845PE chipset, offering it as part of their MAX line of motherboards as well as their standard line. The BE7-RAID is part of ABIT’s standard line of boards, with fewer add on features than its big brother the IT7-MAX2, but it is certainly not disappointing with its rich mix of features at an attractive price point. The Intel i845PE chipset offers support for the latest Intel processors with HyperThreading technology as well as full support for DDR Ram up to speeds of 333 MHz. The built in features are are still many, starting with on board 10/100 NIC, 2 USB 2.0 compatible ports and a total of 4 IDE ports. IDE ports 3 and 4 support the following modes of operation for hard drives: standalone, RAID-0, RAID-1, and RAID-0+1 (only available when using 4 hard drives). This board was nothing if not surprising. After playing with its big brother, the IT7-MAX2, I was at first a bit leery. The BE7-RAID had no Firewire, no SATA connections, no onboard diagnostic LED, and less tweaking options in the BIOS. However, for what it didn’t offer in extras, this board made up for in raw speed. Even at stock speeds, it edged out most other boards in the benchmarks. I cannot complain about stability issues either, this board is solid as a rock. I did encounter some problems with the board. Initially, I attempted to use an Intel P4 2.8 GHz chip in the board and could not get the system to boot no matter what I tried. I popped that chip out, and put in my trusty old 2.6 GHz chip and the system worked fine. The board layout around the CPU socket is another bone of contention. The smaller footprint of the board when compared to the monstrous full sized dimensions of the IT7-MAX2, there is simply not a whole lot of space on the PCB. This problem becomes very apparent directly above the CPU socket area with tightly packed capacitors around the socket itself. They are in very close proximity to the ATX-12V connector. The other funny thing about the layout was the placement of the floppy connector. It would have been much better if placed below the DIMM slots, so as to not get in the way of the RAID IDE headers. The floppy connector location also can cause the need for an extra long floppy cable depending on your case size and configuration but does allow you to run it under the board removing it from view. As for the BIOS, I ran into one annoying but easily worked around problem. Intermittently, the system would not boot after a soft reset via the reset switch or after hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL. An easy work around is as follows: Leave it unplugged for about 20 seconds to give the board’s capacitors enough time to discharge. Plug the cord back in and the system should boot up fine. Hopefully, ABIT will be addressing this with a BIOS fix… --By Morry Teitelman, source: Hardocp Article can be read here.