Conclusion
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The ABIT BD7II-RAID is exactly as I expected it to be. It's fast, stable and generally tweakable. It's more featured than the original i845D BD7. We have decent on-board sound and ethernet, excellent RAID and USB2.0 as standard. The manual is good and the overall package feels reassuringly solid. Although this sounds pedantic, I would have liked another USB2.0 bracket to ensure that we can use all 6 USB2.0 ports concurrently. The very fact that I could run at 175FSB, with a fixed PCI divider, was a bonus. I would expect nothing else from a quality motherboard manufacturer. I also like the fact that you can run the system memory at 178MHz when the CPU is kept at 133FSB. For all those who denounce the i845E chipset for not supporting PC2700 memory, this motherboard bucks the trend emphatically. We've demonstrated just what a gain you can get from running memory at a faster speed than specification caters for. The BD7II-RAID will appeal to a great many people as it does everything well. Everything is solid if not spectacular. I would have personally preferred voltage adjustment via the older method of 0.025v increments. The percentage system employed is probably more suited to novice users. If you value your PS/2 ports, and don't want to stretch to the motherboard that I consider to be marginally better, the ABIT IT7 MAX, the BD7II-RAID will make a decent platform to base your P4 system on. The competition is currently very strong in the Intel DDR market. The SiS645DX, VIA P4X333 and Intel's own i845E / i845G, all warrant serious consideration. After a few days' use, I like the BD7II-RAID. If your budget extends to around £100 - £110, this one should be seriously considered. Not quite worthy of an editor's choice award but recommended nonetheless. You can also obtain the BD7II (sans RAID) for around £90. Highs
Lows
Overall rating - 8/10.
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