ABIT KT7-RAID Socket-A KT133 ATX

The Bad

We had minimal complaints about the KT7-RAID, the biggest being that the cost of the board can be a very distracting factor. There have been reports of sightings at over $200 USD which is very expensive considering that if you're going to be using it with a Duron CPU, the motherboard would end up costing more than the CPU. Luckily there is the bare, non-RAID version, the K7T, which should be cheaper. Hopefully the price of the board will come down as time progresses, but for now it is quite high which is very uncharacteristic of ABIT motherboards.

We did have one complaint about the board's layout: the positioning of the Socket-A interface so close to the edge of the motherboard may cause some problems if you're removing your heatsink/fan while the motherboard is still inside your case.

As mentioned previously, we're not sure whether the incompatibility issues that the older HPT366 faced have been fixed in the new HPT370, but it's definitely something to watch out for. We did not encounter any problems in the AnandTech lab, but this is a very limited sub-sample of the components available on the market, although ABIT's manual clearly states that the HPT370 is intended only for high-speed devices and suggests leaving the CD-ROM, Zip drive, etc. on the Ultra ATA/66 controller.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

• USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes

Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: 1 x 128MB Corsair PC133 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin PC133 SDRAM

SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Corsair PC133 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin PC133 SDRAM

Manufacturer: Corsair
Purchase Website: http://www.corsairmicro.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Website: http://www.mushkin.com