abit IL9 Pro Motherboard Review :: abit IL9 Pro Layout

abit's IL9 Pro has an excellent layout in most respects. The positioning of the 4-pin power connector is above the CPU Socket, but is positioned in an area where the cables don't interfere with the airflow or CPU cooler. The 24-pin ATX power connector is on the bottom right area of the board, where it should be and therefore no problem.

4-pin power

24-pin power

The memory slots are in a position right next to the video card slot. One thing about the positioning is that you can remove the memory without removing the video card, you just have to be very careful, as pushing too hard will break the memory lock or possibly damage the video card. The Northbridge and Southbridge are covered by heatsinks with no exotic cooling; the chipset may get warm during operation without a better cooling implementation.

Northbridge

USB headers

Sysfan2

Front Panel

Molex connector

abit added two USB 2.0 headers to the board, allowing for up to 8 USB devices to be attached with brackets when the four on the back panel are counted. No IEEE-1394 ports are available; you'll need to buy a Firewire card to install them. The Front Panel connections are labeled to the side instead of under the connections. so you don't get your connections mixed up without looking at a manual.