Monday, November 25, 2002

Introduction

Abit has confirmed its position as an elite manufacturer once again with the release of the AT7 Max2 motherboard.

The AT7 Max2 is an AMD-platform based on the KT400 chipset, and continues in the tradition of the Max series, while extending on its versatility.

Thanks to the VIA KT400 chipset, for instance, the AT7 Max2 includes support for 8X AGP, Serial ATA150, and DDR400 memory.

Like the original AT7 Max, the new board also includes an HPT374 Highpoint RAID controller, though this time it comes with a different set of channels: two ATA133, and two Serial ATA150.

Also, one technology that is making a comeback with the Max2 that was sorely absent from the original is PS/2 ports for connecting mice and keyboards.

That's not all though. The Max2 also includes a Firewire controller, a 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller, and a six-channel sound-card.

So, if all that sounds tempting, let's say we head in to the analysis, and see how it all stacks up.

Audio

The Abit AT7 Max 2's audio circuitry is based around a Realtek ALC650 sound-chip. The ALC650 supports AC3, and 5.1 Surround Sound, and allows users to hook-in up to six audio channels, including a center base channel.

From a fidelity standpoint, the Realtek AL650 is quite good at what it does, and should satisfy most users.

Configuration

The AT7 Max 2's design is Jumperless, which means users will not need to set jumpers or Dip switches to get their system up and running.

Thus, all configuration issues are handled from within the BIOS, specifically the SoftMenu III system.

Once there, users will be able to set the FSB frequency to between 100Mhz and 250Mhz in 1Mhz increments.

The clock multiplier value can also be set to between 5X and 18X.

Next, we have the Vcore, DDR, and Vio voltages, which can be set as indicated by the table above.

The FSB/AGP/PCI ratio is also adjustable, and can be set to: 3:2:1, 4:2:1 or 5:2:1.

Finally, as expected, a number of memory timing settings can also be tweaked from within the "Dram Clock/Drive Control" sub-menu, under the "Advanced Chipset Features" option. These include the ability to set the operating frequency of the memory bus to 100MHz, 133MHz, 166MHz, 200MHz, or SPD ("Serial Presence Detect"), which allows a appropriate frequency to be determined automatically by the system.

Next: Technical details.

AT7-max2 Max2