Abit MAX Motherboard Series Unveiled

AuraEdge · March 14th, 2002, 12:48 AM

To be used on Abit's IT7 (P4 DDR PC2100) and AT7 (AMD DDR PC2700)

Interesting Features

- 4 DIMMS - 4GB MAX for AT7 (3GB Max Unregistered)

- 4 Channel ATA/133 RAID Controller (With Standard dual channels = Max of 12 (!) IDE Devices)

- Integrated 6 Channel Audio with SPDIF In/Out, Digital Out, and Optical out.

- No Serial or PS/2 Ports (No more Legacy)

- Included "Media XP" mounted front panel with 2 USB ports, Headphones, Mic, and SPDIF In/Out.

- Onboard 10/100 LAN

- Onboard 3x Firewire ports

- Onboard 4x USB 2.0 (Max 4x USB2.0, 6x USB1.1 for AT7, Max 10x (!) USB 2.0 for IT7)

- Integrated Boot up diagnostic LED (Nothing new, but nice none the less)

For more info - http://www.abit.com.tw/abitweb/webjs...en_0203131.htm

My biggest question is "How much?"

they say tossing legacy will save them a bit of money, but enough to counteract all the other goodies?

A step in the right direction witht he technology though.

dopeykai · March 14th, 2002, 05:25 PM

So far the biggest concern that most people have is that it only has 3 pci slots.

If you don't use the onboard features like sound or ethernet and you want to use your SB Live or Aud and need a modem or such then it only leaves you with one pci slot to expand with.

But then again you shouldn't buy it if it doesn't suit your needs.

AuraEdge · March 14th, 2002, 05:32 PM

The onboard sound beats the heck out of a SBLive.
I dont know how it compares to an Audigy though.

And wheres your source for the 3 PCI slots? I havent read about that.

dopeykai · March 14th, 2002, 06:10 PM

There is a picture on the index page.

http://www.viahardware.com/index.shtml

AuraEdge · March 15th, 2002, 02:37 AM

Wow
All that space is filled with all the chipsets it needs to power all that "non-legacy" stuff.

Its not a problem of capability, because the southbridge will support 5-6 PCI slots, but its a real estate problem.

They just need a manufacturer whos also in for "technological advancement" to integrate all or most of that stuff on a chip or two, leaving room for the PCI slots.

Just all the stuff they need to shove on that board makes it look like its going to be expensive.

I think I'll skip this offering, as the 6 PCI slots on my KT7A-RAID are already filled...

Its the beginning of new boards to come though.

FreakyOCR · March 15th, 2002, 02:55 AM

Dude.. no ps/2 ports????? That sucks...

AuraEdge · March 15th, 2002, 03:05 AM

I've been using USB keyboard, mouse and printer for over a year now.
I still got one serial device though (Remote for my TV Tuner).

FreakyOCR · March 15th, 2002, 03:14 AM

D'oh! THree PCI slots??? that's worse than an OEM BOARD!!! (okay it does hav all that stuff included... but still come on!

bhess · March 15th, 2002, 12:34 PM

I could probably deal with 3 slots since I could lose my NIC and SB live. But what would be the sense?
5 IDE slots? Even I don't have that many hard drives.

ocit · March 15th, 2002, 01:16 PM

striping across 4 drives wouldbe nice and fast though. currently i am only using one pci slot for my 56k but i agree in saying only three slots is a deterrent. are these the new pci slots or the old ones?