|  If you are looking for a stable, high-powered motherboard to run XP or Linux, Abit's IC7-MAX3 is for you. Although it is custom made for those in need of a stable mobo for overclocking, the IC7-MAX3 has turned out to be a wonderful, high-end stable board. Abit keeps the new technology coming with this revolutionary board. Abit integrates their uGuru chip for overclocking and DDR, AGP, Processor, and Mobo Voltage changes that don't require clearing CMOS or rebooting. Abit offers a program called Abit EQ, which allows a user to monitor voltages, along with the fan speeds for the CPU Fan, System Fan, and Northbridge Fan. But the greatest atribute about EQ is the ability to monitor the temperature of the CPU, System, and PWM Mosfets in real time. | The most innovative technology that Abit uses on IC7-MAX3 is OTES (Outside Thermal Exhaust System), which encases the Power Mosfets and Capacitors that control the power that is transfered to the HDDs and the CPU. Cooling this part of the motherboard down allows for the use of more power in the system. The results are immediately visable. Abit uses a small 40mm fan to suck cool air in from the rear of the case and passes it along the mosfets. The only disadvantage of OTES is that it makes the area around the Processor socket very cramped and some Heatsinks might not fit on the board. I use this board in my multimedia PC and the OTES fan doesn't add any sound to the operating noise, it is incredable. IC7-MAX3 is completely ready for the next generation of Hard Disk Drives and Optical Drives. |
| The chipset supports 2 SATA Channels that can be configured into RAID 0 or 1. To up the configureability, Abit slapped on a Sillicon Chip that controls another 4 SATA Channels, all RAID configurable in RAID 0, 1, and 0+1. A total of 6 SATA channels allows for two system drives, two Storage Drives, and two Next Generation SATA connectable Optical drives, such as the Plextor PX-712SA 12x DVD+-RW Drive, which will be available to the public late this year. This board is packed with I/O: 8 USB 2.0 Ports (4 on the rear/ 4 ports by on-board header)
3 Firewire 400 (1 rear/ 2 by header)
2 S/PDIF Optical Audio In and Out Channels
2 P/S2 Ports
Parallel and Serial Ports for those of the older faith
5.1 Realtek AC 97 On-board Audio Codec
Intel Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000Mbit) Dual-Channel DDR
4 x 184-pin slots that support up to 4GB of Non-ECC or ECC DDR-SDRAM (433/400/333/266Mhz) If you are a top-end Graphics user and use a Workstation AGP card, this is your board. IC7-MAX3 has a AGP slot that is compatiable with AGP 4X, AGP 8X, and AGP Pro50 Cards. The 5 PCI Slots is more than enough to support High-End Sound Cards, Video Capture Cards, and I/O Cards. The PCI cards are Version 2.2, but can also be configured for Version 2.3 through BIOS. For the newer age, Abit has added Prescott support for the Socket 478 on IC7-MAX3. The Intel i875 Chipset is the top-of-the-line Chipset for Desktops and Entry-Level Workstations. The I/O Speeds are incredible. Intel PAT and ACPI functions are fully functional. The board has 2 Ultra DMA compatible slots that support ATA 33/66/100 drives. Overall, from the RAM, to the cooling, to the Chipset, this is one kick ass MOBO. Abit.com support for motherboards is second to none. All motherboard updates are easily accessable. Abit does BIOS, Utility, and Driver updates and patches straight from their motherboard section so it is easy to find. |
