Abit AB9-Pro

[Phrantic]

Ok so it kind of looks like my Asus P5B-E died on me and I'm going to go through the RMA process but my retailer will probably allow me to pick another board.

I wasn't fully satisfied with the P5B-E mainly for memory compatibility and other stupid quirks. The board overclocks well but then again there are other boards that are meant to reach the same speeds. Such as the Abit AB9-Pro.

My friend, who's had years of experience in IT, recommends me Abit as they're known for their quality. And I feel it would be interesting to just try an other board than the always mentioned P5B boards or the Gigabyte DS3.

Some reviews say that they've got this board up to 450Mhz, which would be high enough for me. And it's meant to be fast, too. A common con is the board layout with difficult FDD (which I don't use) and IDE placement. The IDE slot on this motherboard is just under the PCI slots, on the southeast of the board.

Does anyone on this forum have experience with this motherboard, or with Abit motherboards in general? Are they stable, are they good quality, that sort of thing. Cheers.

 

[bobojuice]

I was actually taking a look at this same board for when i plan on going the c2d route. HOWEVER, i saw the layout and i was pretty much stumped as to why abit would put the IDE and floppy connectors where they did. I've worked on Abits and though they might be really nice, they always **** up when it comes to their layout. For this reason, i'll probably wind up with a DS3.

 

[Phrantic]

I don't have a floppy drive currently, but I heard that in order to install Windows XP you need to install SATA and other drivers with floppy on the AB9... O_O

The IDE connector I could live with, I assume they'd supply a longer IDE cable with their motherboard. But it would be blocking some ways I think. Hard to tell from just looking at pictures, though.

 

[Phrantic]

Bump.

 

[bobojuice]

I don't have a floppy drive currently, but I heard that in order to install Windows XP you need to install SATA and other drivers with floppy on the AB9... O_O

The IDE connector I could live with, I assume they'd supply a longer IDE cable with their motherboard. But it would be blocking some ways I think. Hard to tell from just looking at pictures, though.

Well, my whole deal is that im really into cable management. I hate having cables covering the motherboard. Even in a closed case. So, looking at that mobo, i know theres NO WAY ill be able to get a nice job done.

 

[Phrantic]

OK I was just taking a look at my late Asus P5B-E and saw that two socket pins were possibly bent. They did not look bent, but they definitely had light reflecting differently than all the other pins. Knowing my retailer they will blame the bent pins on user abuse even if there are no bent pins, the board ran a C2D fine for two weeks or so and the processor is still breathing, the board is going RMA for other reasons than the suspicious looking pins but I bet they'll do anything to find an excuse and put the blame on me.

That means there's about a 90% possibility that they will not trade my motherboard for a new copy or give me a new one. I'm hearing more and more bad stories about the P5B series, mainly about the faulty BIOS and seeing as I'll probably have to go out and buy a new one all over again, I can basically pick whatever board I want.

For me, the Gigabyte 965P-DS3 would be $39 cheaper than another P5B-E so that looks kind of tempting. So right now I'm looking at:

Gigabyte 965P-DS3: €119

Asus P5B-E Plus: €152 *
Asus P5B Deluxe: €166 *
Asus P5W-DH Deluxe €201 *

Abit AB9: €139
Abit AB9 Pro: €159
Abit AW9D: €189
Abit IB9: €115

Although the Euro is worth more than the Dollar, hardware here is roughly so expensive that the price in Euros would be in USD for you guys.

What would be a good deal for me you think? I need a motherboard that can get to 400Mhz FSB. They've just put the Abit IB9 in stock, what is that board like?

* These prices are from a store where I get a €25 discount and free shipping so take that off the price. Click here for a full list of LGA775 motherboards they offer.