Abit AT7 question - no legacy - any advantage?

[rj2828]

The lack of the legacy ports on an Abit AT7 (no COM, PS/2, LPT) is definitely an advantage - no need to run all that crap if you're not going to use any of it. My question - is this any different than getting a regular motherboard with the legacy equipment, then disabling it all in the BIOS?

There's definitely a real-estate advantage (no wasted space for COM and LPT ports) - but is there any advantage over just killing off the ports in a regular mobo's BIOS?

I'm finally reaching my decision stage - and I think I'm going to opt for the NV7-133R over the Asus A7N266-C and the AT7. I just can't stomach the thought of a VIA chipset (despite some of the cool integrated stuff and lack of legacy ports), and despite the problems I hear about OC'ing nForce mobo's, I think I'm going to give it a shot.

TIA for any advice,
-rj

 

[ShinSa]

It frees up IRQs first of all. Having all those legacy connection removed lets you put in more usb stuff which are more in demand,

 

[rj2828]

ShinSa-

Thanks for the response - but that's pretty much my question - if you disable all the legacy ports (COM, LPT) in the BIOS of a regular motherboard, aren't you effectively freeing up all the IRQs used by those devices?

I don't use the ports - and I definitely see the advantage of getting rid of them. Question to me is - if that's the only advantage performance-wise (the other embedded stuff, 1394, USB 2.0 I already have) - then can't I use another motherboard with the legacy ports turned off to still get the IRQs back?

Decisions, decisions...