Bundle and presentation
We were pleased with ABIT's IC7-G bundle. All too often manufacturers make great noises about just how well featured their board are, and then forget to provide you the necessary extras to make use of all these features.
ABIT go back to their traditional style of packaging with this particular motherboard. Of course, you'll know that the S in IS7 refers to its Springdale heritage. There's more than just one Springdale, and a handy little table on the back of the box illustrates what's available from the ABIT stable:
4 different Springdale boards who place emphasis on different criteria. Either our review sample is unique or the labelling is incorrect. We seem to have Gigabit LAN on a standard IS7. We'll explain exactly what we mean on the following page.
We're fans of decent bundles. After all, if you're spending over £100 on a motherboard you should expect to make immediate use of all its features. 2 decent manuals delineate the installation and maintenance of your motherboard, all in simple, error-free English. S-ATA is all the rage now, so the IS7 is supplied with 2 grey S-ATA cables and the associated power cables. There's no Serillel adapter here. We're also provided with the boring, grey ATA and floppy cables this time. The Multi-bracket, though, is a decent inclusion.
This'll provide 2 USB2.0 ports and 2 FireWire (6-pin variety) ports for expanded high-speed connectivity. Factor in the compatible ABIT MediaXP front module and you have a connectivity monster.
