Kudos to Abit on their NF7-S design

[Jeff7]

The socket has 4 holes around it for heatsink mounting. One tiny little problem - when the hex socket things (don't know their actual name) are installed, they're too close to the socket. The CPU release arm can't be raised, because it can't move away from the socket to unlatch itself. Smart design.

Guess I'll have to file away the little latch, or something like that.

Rant complete.

 

[LesPaul]

I have another layout complaint..

Why didn't they put a fan header in the corner of the mobo closest to the bottom intake of the case? Its all the way on the upper half on the other side = my fan wire doesn't reach. Not that big of a deal i guess.. i'll just have to buy a new fan with a 4 pin molex on it or one that comes with an adapter, and not be able to monitor RPM's anymore..

Someone please tell me I just overlooked another fan header in the bottom area of the mobo?

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: LesPaul
I have another layout complaint..

Why didn't they put a fan header in the corner of the mobo closest to the bottom intake of the case? Its all the way on the upper half on the other side = my fan wire doesn't reach. Not that big of a deal i guess.. i'll just have to buy a new fan with a 4 pin molex on it or one that comes with an adapter, and not be able to monitor RPM's anymore..

Someone please tell me I just overlooked another fan header in the bottom area of the mobo?

I noticed that too when trying to hook up my fan.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: LesPaul
I have another layout complaint..

Why didn't they put a fan header in the corner of the mobo closest to the bottom intake of the case? Its all the way on the upper half on the other side = my fan wire doesn't reach. Not that big of a deal i guess.. i'll just have to buy a new fan with a 4 pin molex on it or one that comes with an adapter, and not be able to monitor RPM's anymore..

Someone please tell me I just overlooked another fan header in the bottom area of the mobo?

If it's a 3-pin connector, get this.

I personally hadn't noticed this - I was already using fans on the "perimeter" of the case (front bottom, rear exhaust, top exhaust) with 4-wire connectors. But just checking the mobo layout, I also see just 3 fan headers - 2 right next to the ATX power connector, and one near the socket.
Seems there were a few things they did overlook or just not consider on this.

I got the lever to go - I clipped a bit of the tiny latch off, so the arm goes down easily now, though it isn't held down too securely by the latch. Not a problem though - the 8045 covers everything there, so it'll stay down.

Another minor thing: the rear, and center/subwoofer connectors are color coded. Backwards. Rear should be black, center/sub orange. It's reversed on this board. Color coding for those who aren't PC savvy, and they're manufactured backwards. That's helpful.