So what do you think of this new AT7 then? – 4049 days old

[floppybootstomp]

What do you make of it? No PS2, paralell or serial ports? And only 3 PCI slots?

Is this a sign of how things will be in the near future?

I think this may be slow to take off as lots of peeps' peripherals would need replacing. The USB function on my HP printer packed up so I was forced to use the paralell connection, I'd have been stuffed if I'd had this board.

I like it myself and it seems reasonably priced, especially considering the onboard 5.1 sound.

Interestingly at the same supplier's site I took the pic below from, they were selling off KT7A V1.3 boards for £67.09 and the RAID version, V1.3, for £82.25. That's a third off their original prices. Nice price if you want a second workstation that doesn't have to have the latest stuff on it.

[muckshifter]

Try this one ... £97.98

Had the pleasure of putting this together yesterday, has all the extra cables you need and more.

http://prices.cclcomputers.co.uk/pri...ealerframe.htm

[floppybootstomp]

Mucks: Eh? I couldn't see any Abit boards listed there. So I looked and looked and I see that for £97.98 (plus VAT) you can get an MSI KT3 Ultra ARU. Is that what you meant?

[muckshifter]

Ok ... I goofed, yep its an MSI.

[catcorpse]

Ithink that this is a good thing. I don't use most of that stuff anyways, so why have it around. USB board, well I can switch no problem. I think that Abit for once "gasp" is ahead of the game. 3 pci, I don't have more than 3 pci cards in any of my machines, Nic, Adaptec SCSI card, soundcard. Now why you need more is up to you, but I feel that this is a step in the right direction.

[floppybootstomp]

Actually, only PCI card I got in my main rig is the sound card, I got five spare slots.

Most PCI cards I have is in my daughter's MSI board setup (has onboard AC97 sound) - a Modem & a TV Tuner card. The Abit AT7 onboard sound looks quite respectable so that would elimnate the need for one PCI slot.

[ImaginAsian]

At first I saw 3 PCI slots and said forget it...but then if you think about it two PCI slots you would have used for a NIC and Sound Card is integrated so that leaves you with 3 PCI slots free anyway! I like this board the more I look at it...that 4-channel RAID sure sounds schaweet. And firewire and USB 2.0...yum yum. I would have to buy USB adatpors for my parallel port and my PS/2 ports though. I'm keeping my eye out for more reviews...the first one shows the board to be slower then most KT333's...no probs since its early in the life cycle.

[Darksword]

The board is kinda growing on me too. I just wish they had put the AGP slot one space inwards, so that you wouldn't have to remove your video card to switch out your RAM.

[Techvillage]

Yep - 3 would satisfy most peeps these days considering on board sound on here. I wouldn't be able to use this mobo for my Videoditing box, as 3 pci slots is not enuf for all the cards I have in it, but all my other boxes, no problem. It's reached it course, USB has matured enuf now, it's time to gracefully put serial, parralell, pst, and ISA slots to bed.

Macs put that lot to bed a few years back, progress strutting it's stuff that's all

[catcorpse]

$175 thru newegg, and 168 thru pricewatchers, this board is just ot expensive. I do like it but when I priced it out I almost fell over. To bad that there ahead of the time, they just don't need to charge that much IMHO. Sorry I am not getting this board for that money

[AmStoned]

I'm w/ Cats on this one. For starters, the AT7's layout is shitty. Everything's put in as an after thought. These Abit homes need to take some design lessions from the people at MSI. I'm saving up for the MSI Ultra thank you very much.

[frombadtraverse]

What would I do with my KVM switch? And USB keyboards on the Mac s**k, if you put them through a hub, you can't shutdown the computer without pulling the plug. Does IBM make a USB keyboard also, IBM keyboards rule. USB keyboard, mouse will get there, just not yet. Logitech does have a decent USB mouse out now though, even works on the Mac.

[Techvillage]

Hi FBT - can understand you concerns, but yeah most people make USB keyboard and mice now - I have been using both for well over a year now on most of my boxes.

KVMS wuth USB support are out there - not in large numbers yet - but they are other there.

[ImaginAsian]

Man this AT7 is getting tastier everyday. Tech-Report has the best article writeup I've seen yet about it. This board is at the Top of my list. Its has all the features I want and the price is starting to come down now...around $150 atm.

I believe Rando is going to get this board sometime next week

[ImaginAsian]

Definately kudos to ABIT to paving the way for more acceptance of this type of board. It looks like their sales success will translate into move manufacturers to offering something similar like you say Skamp.