Layout
The packaging of the ABIT Fatal1ty AN9
32X is no different from all Fatal1ty boards before
it. It comes in a black box with the Fatal1ty logo emblazoned in
the center. Opening the fliptop box cover, you will find the “BUILT TO KILL”
trademark and windowed cutouts showcasing some of the unique features of the
board. The motherboard itself is encased in a shockproof, antistatic, clear
plastic container for further protection from accidental damage on the box
during transit.
The motherboard also follows the same red and black color scheme used on previous Fatal1ty boards.
The NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP/SPP 190 chipset uses AMD's latest socket AM2 platform. There are no large capacitors around the socket area therefore no problems using whatever cooling solution you prefer, be it large aftermarket HSFs or waterblocks.
The ATX power supply header is located on the bottom right of the PCB directly below the DIMM slots. Note that it also uses the new ATX 2.0 standard, thus, the 24 pin configuration. It also has a +12v connector situated near the northbridge and a 4-pin molex connector for SLI power.
The ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X has 4 x 240-pin DIMM sockets up to 8Gb maximum. It supports Dual channel DDR2 800/667/533 Un-buffered ECC/ Non-ECC memory. The DIMM slots are also color coded for easy Dual Channel configuration. Gone though is the OTES RAMFlow which was present in previous Fatal1ty boards we have tested. This would have been great in actively cooling the memory modules and their heatspreaders from the above.
There are 2 x PCI-E X16 for SLI, 2 x PCI-E X1, and 1 x PCI slot . There is also the presence of an Audio Riser port for the included audio riser card. An SLI connect card is also supplied.
The board supports 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33 IDE Connector. It also has 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors, 1 floppy port, 3 x USB headers and 2 x IEEE1394 header . NV SATA 3G RAID is also supported. RAID 0/1/0+1/5 JBOD.
Dual IEEE1394 with up to 400MB/s transfer rates
is provided by the Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A chip. Included in the package is a USB/Firewire bracket.
Dual Gigabit LAN is provided by the nforce 590 SLI MCP built-in dual GBe MAC with external Marvell 88E1116-NNC1 PHY. It enables blazingly fast network performance and allows for easy setup of private game servers as well as facilitating connections between your home network and the internet.
The
Fatal1ty AN9 32X board of course features ABIT’s uGURU technology. µGuru
integrates a hardware microchip which interacts with Windows-based software
applications to maximize PC performance and stability, while allowing for zero
CPU usage. µGuru features ABIT AutoDrive™ overclocking, advanced audio
features, auto FAN speed control, self-diagnostic H/W monitoring, one click BIOS
updating, and 24 hours e-service. µGuru combines ABIT EQ, OC Guru, FlashMenu
and BlackBox applications with a user-friendly interface, providing users
perfect environment for performance and stability. For a full understanding of
the uGURU technology, go
here.
The board
provides 7.1 channel audio performance backed
by ABIT's AudioMAX technology. It is powered by a Realtek 8820 chip. With the use of a separate daughter card for audio
connectors, ABIT Engineers have greatly reduced the amount of noise caused by
high frequencies generated from the motherboard.
This board also features blinking ultra-bright red LEDs integrated underneath the PCB that lights up the board’s surroundings. LEDs are also located around the inners of the OTES cooling system. Great light effect for those with windowed cases. However some users might find the blinking LEDs too much. I myself preferred the steady LEDs. But then again this is a personal thing.
You will also find a 2 digit LED display attached to the board. It
is a diagnostic tool aimed at providing vital information on what’s happening
to your board. It is located at the bottom left of the PCB just beside the SATA
connectors. Enthusiasts
will find this tool very helpful when subjecting the board to extreme overclocking. The LED displays a corresponding number, hex code, for every
task and error that will occur on the board. There is a list of the
meanings of each number on the user's manual as reference.
Next: Fatal1ty Cooling, Chipset & Features