abit AB9 Pro
Specification
| abit AB9 Pro Specification | |
|---|---|
| Item | Specification |
| Processor Support | All Intel LGA775 processors, including Core 2 Duo |
| Northbridge | Intel P965 |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH8R |
| Memory Support | 4 DIMMs, DDR2, 533/667/800, 8GiB max |
| Graphics | 1 x PCI Express Graphics 16X |
| PCI Express | 2 x PCIe 1x; P965 |
| PCI Conventional | 2 slots, PCI2.2 |
| ATA | 1 port, JMicron JMB363 PCIe on ICH8R |
| SATA | 6 ports SATA2 AHCI, ICH8R 2 ports SATA2 AHCI, JMicron JMB363, PCIe on ICH8R 2 ports SATA2 AHCI (1 eSATA), Silicon Image Sil3132, PCIe on P965 |
| RAID | 0/1/5/10, ICH8R, Intel Matrix Storage 0/1, Sil3132 0/1/0+1, JMicron JMB363 |
| LAN | 2 x 10/100/1000, Realtek RTL8111B, PCIe on ICH8R |
| Audio | HD Audio, 8-channel, Realtek ALC882D, ICH8R |
| Floppy | 1 port, Winbond W83627EHG |
| FireWire | Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A, FireWire 400, 2 ports |
| USB | 10 ports, USB2.0, ICH7R |
Discussion
PCI Express expansion slot count aside, the AB9 Pro is actually better specified than the AW9D Max, hard as that might be to believe given the price points. There's more SATA2 ports, more PCIc, the same FireWire 400, GigE and audio ICs (and with TOS-Link input, something the AW9D Max does without) and more usable USB2.0 ports. Add to that one more PCIc slot, the same DDR2-800 memory support, the ability to run every CPU the AW9D Max can and, well, you get the picture.The specification differences after that lie solely at the feet of the PCIe slot layout. The AB9 Pro provides just one PCIe x16 slot to the AW9D Max's 2, but for many that won't matter one iota. Therefore if the slot count and specification pleases thee, you get the same spiffy AW9D Max spec for a mid-range price.
Early promise, then? We think so. Let's now see if it suffers some of the layout quirks of the board we've been happy to compare it to thus far.