uGuru

On the uGuru page you can change all overclocking related settings. FSB for example, can be set from 133 Mhz to 400 MHz. Finally a board that allows underclocking.


The PCI-Express bus frequency can be changed from 100 MHz to 150 MHz. This will be a very important setting for overclockers using this board, as we will show in our overclocking tests later.


This is another important setting on the AL8. It allows you to define what the chipset thinks the CPU is: 533 MHz, 800 Mhz or 1066 MHz part.


To optimize memory speed when overclocking, you can select different ratios for the memory clock here. The available options change depending on what you selected in N/B strap CPU as.


Increasing CPU Core Voltage is a common means to improve CPU stability. There is a wide range of settings from 1.4V to 1.75V, fine for most users.


MCH voltage lets you increase the voltage the memory controller runs at. Here the options go from 1.5V default up to 2.0V.


Most memory is more stable when run at a higher voltage. The options range from 1.75V up to 2.30V. More than enough for all memories.


On the Power Cycle Statistics page you can see how long you have been running the board and how often it has been switched on and off. An option to reset these values to zero would be useful.

ABIT EQ

ABIT EQ is the fan control and hardware monitoring part of uGuru. It is accessible by pressing the left/right keys on the uGuru overclocking screen.

Monitoring

The board monitors three temperatures: CPU temperature, System temperature and PWM temperature.


The voltage monitoring part is more than complete. It monitors about every voltage that is existant on the motherboard.


All four fan connectors of the motherboard are monitored.

Fan Control

ABIT's fan control is among the best in the industry. There are two groups of fan settings, the first offering more complete options than the second one.


Group one allows you to control the three fans CPU, Chipset and System. With the available options it is very easy to define how fast a fan runs at a certain temperature.


In the second group you find options to define how the AUX fan responds to changes in temperature.

Profiles

A great feature which I miss a lot in cheaper boards is that you can save all BIOS settings to the flash rom and load them at a later time. This is especially useful when doing overclocking tests, where the CMOS sometimes gets corrupted. The saved options are not lost if you remove your battery or clear the CMOS.