Abit AN-M2HD mATX Motherboard
Introduction
Published: 20th January 2008 | Source: Abit | Price: £52.01 |
Introduction
With the huge focus on Intel's Core 2 line of CPUs, AMD have been left somewhat behind in the world of technology. But with the huge price drops that AMD have enforced over recent months AM2 has become a more than attractive option for the less raw power-hungry users out there. Today I'll be looking over a mATX offering from Abit, the AN-M2HD. This board has been developed with the Hi-def Home Theatre PC in mind. Lets see how this board fairs in the OC3D Labs.
Packaging
The AN-M2HD is presented to us in a light green box, depicting what I can only describe as a cell-shaded lady demoing the board in a theatre set-up. There's the usual logos from AMD, Nvidia and the board manufacture to draw attention to what the product boasts.
With the huge focus on Intel's Core 2 line of CPUs, AMD have been left somewhat behind in the world of technology. But with the huge price drops that AMD have enforced over recent months AM2 has become a more than attractive option for the less raw power-hungry users out there. Today I'll be looking over a mATX offering from Abit, the AN-M2HD. This board has been developed with the Hi-def Home Theatre PC in mind. Lets see how this board fairs in the OC3D Labs.
Packaging
The AN-M2HD is presented to us in a light green box, depicting what I can only describe as a cell-shaded lady demoing the board in a theatre set-up. There's the usual logos from AMD, Nvidia and the board manufacture to draw attention to what the product boasts.
The rear of the box lays down a lot of detailed information about the product inside and the accessories, that both accompany, and are available separately for it.
The motherboard and accessories are all kept separate in Abit's familiar method. Abit use of clever inserts create compartments for each item.
Underneath we see the board is held in place and protected by the cardboard insert.
Package
The accessories that accompany the board are quite generous and include:
- User manual
- Driver CD
- I/O backplate
- Flat IDE cable
- Flat Floppy cable
- 4x SATA cables
- USB & Fierwire module
- DVI to HDMI cable
I must say that its nice to see Abit including the DVI to HDMI cable to save the end user buying one separately.
Specification
Taken directly from Abit's site:
# CPU Designed for AMD® Socket AM2 Processors with 2000M T/s system bus using Hyper Transport Technology
# AMD® Cool 'n' Quiet Technology
# Chipset NVIDIA® GeForce®7050PV/nForce 630a
# Dual Head Display Controller
Full NVIDIA nView multi-display technology capability, with independent display controllers for one digital HDTV and one analog monitor
# Memory 4 X 240-pin DIMM sockets support max. memory capacity 8GB
# Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800 un-buffered ECC / Non-ECC memory
# Graphics Integrated GeForce7 Series Shader model 3.0 DirectX9 graphics
# Programmable PureVideo HD Video Processor
# HDMI Integrated TMDS interface with HDCP key
# LAN Gigabit Ethernet
# Audio On board 7.1 CH HD Audio CODEC
# Auto Jack Sensing and optical S/P DIF Out
# Expansion Slots 1 x PCI-E X16, 1 x PCI-E X1, 2 x PCI
# Internal I/O 1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88M B
# 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33 IDE Connector
# 4 x USB 2.0 header (support 8 ports)
# 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connector
# 1 x IEEE1394 header
# 1 x S/P DIF Out header
# Back Panel I/O 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse
# 7.1 CH HD Audio connector (Front, Line-in, MIC-in, Center/Subwoofer, Surround, Rear Surround)
# 4 x USB2.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector, 1 x 1394
# 1 x HDMI, 1 x D-Sub, 1 x S/P DIF Out
# Serial ATA 4 x SATA (RAID) 3 Gb/s
# Supports SATA RAID 0/1/0+1/5 and JBOD
# Form Factor mATX form factor 244 x 244 mm
# PCB Color: Blue
# RoHS 100% lead-free process and RoHS compliant
# Windows Vista Microsoft Vista Premium visual interface support
# AMD® Cool 'n' Quiet Technology
# Chipset NVIDIA® GeForce®7050PV/nForce 630a
# Dual Head Display Controller
Full NVIDIA nView multi-display technology capability, with independent display controllers for one digital HDTV and one analog monitor
# Memory 4 X 240-pin DIMM sockets support max. memory capacity 8GB
# Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800 un-buffered ECC / Non-ECC memory
# Graphics Integrated GeForce7 Series Shader model 3.0 DirectX9 graphics
# Programmable PureVideo HD Video Processor
# HDMI Integrated TMDS interface with HDCP key
# LAN Gigabit Ethernet
# Audio On board 7.1 CH HD Audio CODEC
# Auto Jack Sensing and optical S/P DIF Out
# Expansion Slots 1 x PCI-E X16, 1 x PCI-E X1, 2 x PCI
# Internal I/O 1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88M B
# 1 x Ultra DMA 133/100/66/33 IDE Connector
# 4 x USB 2.0 header (support 8 ports)
# 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connector
# 1 x IEEE1394 header
# 1 x S/P DIF Out header
# Back Panel I/O 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse
# 7.1 CH HD Audio connector (Front, Line-in, MIC-in, Center/Subwoofer, Surround, Rear Surround)
# 4 x USB2.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector, 1 x 1394
# 1 x HDMI, 1 x D-Sub, 1 x S/P DIF Out
# Serial ATA 4 x SATA (RAID) 3 Gb/s
# Supports SATA RAID 0/1/0+1/5 and JBOD
# Form Factor mATX form factor 244 x 244 mm
# PCB Color: Blue
# RoHS 100% lead-free process and RoHS compliant
# Windows Vista Microsoft Vista Premium visual interface support
On the next page we'll take a look at the boards layout...
Most Recent Comments
Good review there, Ham 
I might build a second system on a board like that, processor for £40ish and any old ram, bargaintastic!
I might build a second system on a board like that, processor for £40ish and any old ram, bargaintastic!
Ye the board is great VFM, even though AM2 get's shown up a little
nice review hambo nice mobo for a budget build..
nice mobo for a budget build..
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See how it fairs here