Board Layout

One of the first things you'll notice about the KA7 is how clean the design is. The ATX power connector is conveniently located just above the last DIMM socket, out of the way of any large heatsinks yet still in any easy location to reach.

The ATX power connector is located out of the way of the CPU heatsink.

Just below the power connector is the 6-chip Texas Instruments data buffer set. This addition allows the KA7 to easily support up to 2GB of PC133 SDRAM via 4 DIMM sockets. According to Abit, the data buffer will offer added stability in 2GB configurations with 133MHz memory.

The northern end of the KA7 motherboard.

Another immediately recognizable feature are the 6 PCI slots. Besides the Tyan Trinity K7, the KA7 is the only KX133 motherboard we're aware of with more than 5 PCI slots.

The KA7 has four fan headers, two located at the top of the motherboard near the ATX power connector for CPU fan(s), one in the bottom right corner for a case fan, and the fourth header is located near the AGP slot and can be used to power an additional CPU fan. For monitoring temperature a thermistor is also included.

Abit also realized their core customers don't care for the AMR slot, and instead populated the bottom of the motherboard with an ISA slot for compatibility with legacy devices. Those of you with older ISA modems and sound cards will definitely appreciate this.

6 PCI Slots!!

Future versions of the KA7 will offer support for the upcoming ATA-100 specification via a HighPoint controller chip in the same fashion the BE6 and BE6-II offered ATA-66 compatibility. (Remember, the BX chipset doesn't natively support this feature.)

While the motherboard is jumperless, as an added backup, DIP switches can be used to adjust CPU settings. DIP switches are conveniently located in the bottom right corner of the motherboard.

Future expansion for ATA-100

KA7 DIP switches as well as the future location of the Highpoint ATA-100 controller chip. (just above the battery)

For those of you using Alpha or Swiftech units, the KA7 should work fine. In our case, an Alpha P7125 was easily installed on the motherboard with ease. Thanks to Outside Loop Computers for providing the heatsink!

The KA7 has plenty of room for our Alpha heatsink

For diagnostic purposes, the KA7 also has an attachment near the 5th and 6th PCI slots for the optional D-LED board. With the D-LED module, you can quickly identify the source of the problem.

The D-LED board