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Over the
years, we haven't seen too many "standards" completely
tossed aside. For example, analysts have been saying
for some time that the "end was near" for the good old
floppy drive, but most of us still have one in our system.
When USB was first introduced, serial and parallel ports
were immediately rendered obsolete, yet we still see these
"old" ports on the vast majority of motherboards currently
available. Even ISA slots, which are inferior to PCI
slots in every way, weren't done away with until very
recently. Basically, the point we're trying to get
across is that even though newer, superior options may be
available, most OEMs are reluctant to abandon the "old"
standards in an effort maintain compatibility with the
largest possible pool of hardware. On the other
hand, we have the ever fearless,
Abit
Computer, always thinking a bit "out of the box".
Today we'll be
shining the spotlight on two of Abit's latest
motherboards, the AT7 and IT7 MAX. The AT7 and IT7
are the first two models in Abit's new MAX line of "Legacy
Free" products. Abit still manufactures quite a few
products with legacy features on-board, but the MAX line
aims to please the hardcore enthusiast, who wants nothing
but cutting edge technology. With the MAX line of
motherboards, Abit eliminates the PS2, Serial and Parallel
ports, in favor of USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 and a host of other
features. The AT7 MAX is the Socket A variant based
on the VIA KT333 chipset, and the IT7 MAX is based on the
i845E, Intel's latest DDR enabled P4 chipset. What
do you say we install these bad-boys and see what they're
made of?
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Specifications / Features of the Abit AT7
(KT333) and IT7 (i845E) |
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AT7
CPU:
Chipset:
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VIA
KT333 / VIA VT8233A
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Supports
Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 IDE protocol
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Supports
Advanced Configuration and Power Management
Interface (ACPI)
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Accelerated Graphics Port connector supports AGP
2X(3.3V)and 4X(1.5V)mode (Sideband) device
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Supports
200/266/333 MHz (100/133/166MHz Double Data Rate)
Memory Bus Setting
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Ultra
DMA 133/ RAID
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High
Point HPT374 IDE Controller
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Ultra
DMA 133MB/sec data transfer rate
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RAID 0
(striping mode for boosting performance)
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RAID 1
(mirroring mode for data security)
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RAID 0 +
1(striping and mirroring)
Memory:
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Four
184-pin DIMM sockets support PC1600/PC2100/PC2700
DDR DRAM modules
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Supports
DDR333 unbuffered DRAMs up to 2GB and registered
DRAMs up to 3GB
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Supports
6 banks up to 3GB DRAMs for unbuffered DDR200/266
modules
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Supports
8 banks up to 3.5GB DRAMs for registered DDR200/266
modules
Audio:
Card Reader (Optional):
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Supports
Memory card (MS or SD) Interface
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Supports
SONY Memory Stick Interface/ SD Memory Card
Interface
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Supports
Compact Flash ROM Interface
System BIOS:
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SoftMenu?
III Technology to set CPU parameters
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Supports
Plug-and-Play (PNP)
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Supports
Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
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Supports
Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
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Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS
LAN:
Multi I/O Functions:
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2
Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 4
Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 devices
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4
Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 8
Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (RAID 0/1/1+0) devices
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4 USB
1.1 Connectors
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On board
VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 header for four extra USB
channels
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Three
1394a fully compliant cable ports at 100/200/400
megabits per second
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Audio
connector (Line-in, Center/Sub, Surround Spk , Front
Spk , Mic-in)
Miscellaneous:
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ATX form
factor
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1 AGP
1.5v slot, 3 PCI slots
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Hardware
monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, System
environment temperature
IT7
CPU:
Chipset:
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Intel
845E (ICH4) chipset
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Supports
AGP 4X 1.5V device only
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Supports
Hi-Speed Universal Series Bus (USB 2.0)
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Supports
Dual Ultra ATA/100,Ultra ATA/66,Ultra ATA/33
channels supporting 4 devices
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Ultra
DMA 133/ RAID
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High
Point HPT374 IDE Controller
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Ultra
DMA 133MB/sec data transfer rate
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RAID 0
(striping mode for boosting performance)
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RAID 1
(mirroring mode for data security)
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RAID 0 +
1(striping and mirroring)
Memory:
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Three
184-pin DIMM sockets support DDR SDRAM modules
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Supports
up to 2 GB MAX. (64, 128, 256, 512MB DDR SDRAM)
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Supports
unbuffered Non-ECC type DDR DIMMs
Audio:
Card
Reader:
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Supports
Memory card (MS or SD) Interface
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Supports
LPC bus
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Supports
SONY Memory Stick Interface/ SD Memory Card
Interface
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Supports
Compact Flash ROM Interface
System
BIOS:
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SoftMenu?
III Technology to set CPU parameters
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Supports
Plug-and-Play (PNP)
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Supports
Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
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Supports
Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
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Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS
LAN:
Multi I/O
Functions:
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2
channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 4
Ultra DMA 33/66/100 devices
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4
channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 8
Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (RAID 0/1/1+0) devices
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6 USB
2.0 Connectors
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On board
VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 header for four extra USB
channels
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Three
P1394a fully compliant cable ports at 100/200/400
megabits per second
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Audio
connector (Line-in, Center/Sub, Surround Spk, Front
Spk ,Mic-in)
Miscellaneous:
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ATX form
factor
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1 AGP
1.5v slot, 4 PCI slots
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Hardware
monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, System
environment temperature
THE
BUNDLES:
There were
quite a few goodies included with the AT7 MAX.
Abit knows that this is the type of product that
requires multiple "extras" to take full advantage of
the board, so they decided to provide their customers
with a very complete bundle.
With the
AT7 MAX, we found three 80-Wire ATA/133 IDE cables and
a standard floppy cable. There was a very good
user's manual in the package, as well as a BIOS
optimization guide, a small package of wire ties and
adhesive cable hold-downs, a driver CD and a 3.5"
floppy disk with drivers for the on-board HPT374 RAID
controller. A custom plate was included to
accommodate the non-standard external connector layout
on the backplane and a dual-USB connector was also
present. We were definitely pleased with the
AT7's bundle. Only the Soyo K7-DRAGON boards
come close to providing as many accessories as Abit
has with the AT7. The IT7 MAX we tested wasn't
quite ready for retail, so we did not receive any
packaging or accessories with that board.
However, Abit has informed us that the retail IT7 MAX
packages will be the same as the AT7 MAX.
An
optional component that works with either of the MAX
branded motherboards, is Abit's new Media XP adapter.
The Media XP adapter gets installed in a 5.25" drive
bay and gives users access to front mounted USB 2.0
and IEEE 1394 ports. There are also headphone,
microphone and S/PDIF jacks on the Media XP, as well
as Sony Memory Stick, Secure Digital and Compact Flash
I & II slots. Rounding out the package is a
wireless infra-red remote the gives users the ability
to control WinDVD, WinRip and Microsoft PowerPoint
Presentations. The remote works like a
standalone DVD player remote, but controls WinDVD's
functions. Once the Media XP is installed, users will
have three new removable drives listed under "My
Computer", one for each of the media readers. We
briefly tested the Compact Flash reader, and it worked
great. The only thing we didn't like about the
Media XP was the extra wiring it introduced into our
case. Having three separate cables for the USB,
audio and IEEE-1394 connectors is a bit cumbersome.
We would have preferred seeing a single ribbon cable
in their place.
INSTALLATIONS:
Thankfully, we did not have any problems when
installing either of these motherboards. The are
only two "special" considerations to make when
installing either the AT7 or IT7 MAX. One
obviously, is to have a USB keyboard and mouse handy
because there are no PS2 connectors on either board.
The other additional step would be installing the
custom I/O backplane cover onto your case. The
MAX series of "Legacy Free" motherboards have a
totally different external connector layout, so Abit
includes a cover that should fit most cases.
Configuring the OS was painless as well. The
included CD-ROM contains all of the drivers necessary
to get the entire gamut of on-board peripherals
working within Windows.
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BIOSes, Layouts and Quality
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