Foxconn 975X7AA-8EKRS2H Motherboard Review

The name of the game in the enthusiast world is multi GPU video processing, namely either the nVidia SLI or ATI CrossFire. nVidia only offers their SLI solution on nVidia owned hardware such as the nForce4 SLI and ULI series chipsets. This enables nVidia to "tune" their drivers for the chipset and really offer a great value to the consumer. Of course the downside is that you have to have nVidia everything to make it work. ATI on the other hand has expanded their reach and offered their multiple GPU "Crossfire" option to run on Intel hardware as well as on their own native chipsets. Even though we are not huge ATI supporters here at Ninjalane we find this option to be very appealing.

For this review we have the latest Intel based motherboard from Foxconn the 975X7AA. This is a 975X Express based motherboard featuring support for all current Socket T (775) processors and dual graphics support and ATI Crossfire when using Crossfire enabled video cards.

The overall layout is very good; You can remove and insert memory modules without the need to remove a video card. Both the CPU and Northbridge are spaced well away from the other components to facilitate good cooling and to allow for larger and more efficient cooling options, such as watercooling, to be installed. Power and device cables are placed near the outer edges of the motherboard in an organized fashion, heck even the floppy connector is in a logical place.

The motherboard is also very colorful, between the Sexy red PCB, multi colored expansion slots, color centric device headers, and memory slots you will find very little that seems out of place and/or is hard to find.

Active chipset cooling has always been something that we look for in a motherboard and if properly implemented will help enhance overclockability and basic system stability. The Foxconn 975X7AA features 2 basic heatsinks. The first is found on the Northbridge and features an active cooling solution that is also removable. The second heatsink is found on the Southbridge, while this heatsink is not actively cooled it is removable. The nice thing about having removable heatsinks is that if the heatsink ever fails it can be replaced or more importantly if you ever want to swap it out for something better you can.