Warning: main(php/nav/nav2.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 46
Warning: main(php/nav/nav2.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 46
Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'php/nav/nav2.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 46
Review Date: May 18th, 2003
Reviewed By: Dwayne Sessom
Edited by: John LeVan
Sponsored By: ABIT
ABIT IT7 MAX2 v2
Introduction
ABIT has recently had lots of good press on its MAX line of motherboards, and rightfully so. The MAX series is targeted toward the performance enthusiast and packs just about all the features you can ask for. I think ABIT is most well known for its Softmenu III that enables the overclocker to tweak everything from CPU speed to Northbridge voltages.
The original IT7 Max was a bit before its time and had no legacy ports at all. This included the absence of PS2 ports which apparently didn't set well with the public, so ABIT has reincluded PS2 ports with the IT7 MAX2 v2. There are a number of other changes from the original IT7 as well. The MAX2 has Serial ATA 150, is based on the I845PE chipset, and is made with beautiful black PCB!
Motherboard Specs
| Feature |
| Intel 845PE Based Pentium 4 ATX Mainboard |
| DDR 333, Serial ATA, ATA133 RAID |
| 6 Channel Audio, IEEE 1394 |
| SoftMenu™ Technology |
| Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology |
| Supports 3 DIMM DDR 200/266/333 or 3 DIMM DDR 200/266(Max. 2GB) |
| On board 2-Channel Serial ATA interface of 1.5G bps |
| On board High Point HPT374 IDE RAID controller |
| Audio, USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 front panel |
| 6-Channel AC 97 CODEC on board |
| Supports 10 Ports USB 2.0 at 480 Mb/sec transfer rate |
| Supports 3 Ports IEEE 1394 at 100/200/400 Mb/s transfer rate |
| On board RTL8100B 10/100M PCI Fast Ethernet Controller |
| ATX form factor |
| Hardware monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, CPU and System environment temperature |
| Supports STR (Suspend to RAM) |
0000
0000
What you get...
The MAX line of motherboards are certainly what I would consider "premium" boards, and ABIT does a superb job on everything from the packaging, to the board itself, and they include everything you need you get up and running - and then some.Like the original IT7 we reviewed, the IT7 MAX2 came in a suitcase style box with a clear window in front for viewing the goodies inside and there are TONS of goodies inside to see! Along with the black motherboard itself, you also get a manual, driver CD and floppy, black IDE and floppy cables, USB 2.0 bracket, back panel designed epecially for this board, Serial ATA adapter so you can use your regular IDE drives on the serial ATA port, and a SATA cable as well! ABIT also includes cable organizers which is a nice touch.
0000
The board
ABIT always seems to pack a hell of a lot into a rather confined space and they managed to pull it off once again with the IT7 MAX2 v2. In my opinion, everything was placed in as good of position as possible. Once in a while, we see motherboards with the power connectors in really bad or tight spots to work with, or capacitors too close to the CPU socket to use aftermarket coolers. This is not the case with this board. It is apparent that the engineers at ABIT put a lot of thought into the layout and this makes life much easier for us, the consumers. In fact, the MAX2 is very much a product of consumer opinion. This is apparent from the addition of PS2 ports which the first IT7 did not have.
Drives galore
This board has every drive option with the exception of SCSI, which doesn't break my heart because I personally hate SCSI. IDE and now SATA drives perform as well as most SCSI drives and are far less expensive. At any rate, this board has 2 regular IDE ports, 2 IDE RAID ports, as well as 2 SATA 150 ports making it possible to run up to 10 drives total. Talk about possibilities! You could now have a few terabytes of storage if your wallet was fat enough!
0000
Layout
As I mentioned, ABIT did a good job population the real estate on this board without causing any clutter problems. I'm not going to go into a lot of depth here, but I will touch on a few important things, and the differences from the original IT7.The power connector is located in the same exact spot that is on the IT7, and although some have complained that it is too close the the PCU socket, I have had no problems at all with this location, and you have about 1/2" between the power harness and the edge of the heatsink. No problem. There are 5 capacitors that are in close proximity the the CPU socket, but again, I have had zero problems here on either board. The Northbridge comes with a hefty aluminum heatsink riding on top of it, and even though there is no fan, I don't think you will have any overheating problems here. For some reason, ABIT decided to change the way the battery is mounted. The original IT7 had vertical mounting which I thought was pretty slick, and made pulling the batter much easier, however the MAX2 has horizontal mounting. Not a problem, but I liked vertical better. The IT7 MAX2 has 4 PCI and 1 AGP slot - again the same as the original IT7.
0000
0000
0000
SATA Adapter
OK. Here is something new! This motherboard comes with Serial ATA, but what if you don't have an SATA drive? No worries, ABIT has you covered! They included a Serial ATA adapter so you can use your existing IDE drive on the serial ATA port.
0000
BIOS - Softmenu III
This is what first attracted me to ABIT boards. Back when everyone else was still using jumpers to set the CPU speed, ABIT was using Softmenu making overclocking much easier than ever before. Nowdays, most all of the other major manufacturers have copied Softmenu technology, but ABIT still manages to keep ahead of them all by expanding the many tweaks possible on any given board. Notice the CPU speed pre-sets up to 3.2Ghz, and a FSB of up to 250Mhz! One of the most welcome things in the BIOS I found was a CPU vcore adjust ment up to 1.85 volts. Can I get an Amen, brother?
0000
0000
0000
000000
0
Warning: main(php/nav/footer.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 198
Warning: main(php/nav/footer.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 198
Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'php/nav/footer.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/pcx4010/public_html/it7max2.php on line 198