6BA+IV Layout/Design

6BA+IV Layout

The 6BA+III and 6BA+IV are identical in size and similar in layout. Besides adding the HighPoint controller chip, the 6BA+IV also adds two ATA-66 connectors necessary for ATA-66 operation.

Unfortunately, Soyo chose to use the same black-colored IDE connectors for the ATA-66 compliant connectors as the conventional ATA-33 connectors. (Abit uses white to denote the ATA-66 connectors) We had to refer to the included Quick Start Guide to learn that the bottom two connectors are ATA-66 compliant.

The ATA-66 compliant connectors on bottom are difficult to distinguish from the traditional IDE connectors.

Did you notice we had to refer to the Quick Start Guide, rather than the mainboard manual for locating the ATA-66 connector? That's because Soyo decided to include the manual on the accompanying CD, rather than bundle one in print. While it's an excellent manual, we would have preferred Soyo included a printed manual rather than one on a CD. For new computer users unfamiliar with motherboard installations it is a lot more comforting to have a manual in hand rather than on CD, not to mention the physical presence of the troubleshooting section present in the Soyo manual. (It is after all, difficult to troubleshoot a motherboard when the instructions are on a CD.)

Experienced users should find the 24-page Quick Start Guide plenty to get the system running their OS of choice where they can then access the motherboard manual.

More Design Notes

One of the cool features present on the 6BA+IV (and the 6BA+III for that matter) is the green power LED located at the top of the motherboard. This LED provides a quick and easy way to diagnose a dead motherboard, if the light doesn't light up when the ATX power supply is connected to the power connector on the motherboard you instantly know your motherboard is dead. This is a nice touch we'd like to see present on motherboards from all manufacturers.

The LED is off, indicating no power to the motherboard

Motherboard powered up!

Like many of the newer BX boards, the 6BA+IV leaves little room between the Slot 1 interface and the first DIMM slot. Those of you with massive Alpha and Swiftech cooling units may need to leave DIMM 1 vacant to fit your cooling setup safely. Since the 6BA+IV comes with 4 DIMM sockets this isn't as large an issue as it is with most Abit motherboards, which only feature 3 sockets.

Like most motherboards available on the market, the 6BA+IV contains 3 fan headers - 2 located at the top of the motherboard and a third located at the bottom. For legacy users, 2 ISA slots are also included.