Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. January 21st, 2003-
ABIT was the first mainboard company to release a Legacy Free mainboard, the
AT7. The AT7 MAX combined the latest cutting-edge technologies onto one platform
for the ultimate high-performance desktop solution with: 6 USB 2.0 ports, and
an on-board USB header for 4 extra USB 2.0 channels, 3 IEEE 1394a ports,
6-channel digital audio, S/PDIF Out, 10/100 LAN, and Support for the ABIT Media
XP Front Panel Device.
Recently GamersDepot received a board, and declared it the best out of three top
contenders.
"ABIT's AT7-MAX2 has garnered a lot of good press lately as it's one of the
most feature-laden solutions available based on the KT400. Just the packaging
alone speaks of the care and attention to detail that ABIT places when coming up
with a complete package. Out of the three boards tested in this article it
offers the most features, and the best stability.
"Features include on-board Serial ATA and ABIT's exclusive "Serillel"
technology which allows you to connect a standard IDE drive to the SATA
connectors' - this adds further flexibility for those looking to use additional
drives. The Highpoint RAID controller accepts up to 4 drives and supports RAID
0/1/0+1.
"The AT7-MAX2 also has I/O more ports than any of the boards in this roundup;
with quite a few USB 2.0 and Firewire ports - there's also an on-board 10/100
Ethernet Controller. Finally, it is also the only motherboard in this round-up
to be legacy port free; you'll find none of those "old-school" parallel or
serial ports here - it's nice to see ABIT taking a leadership role in this
regard as we know it'll be a bit longer before other manufactures get a clue and
start removing their legacy ports. No matter how you look at it, this board is
stacked to the hilt with goodies.
"Finally, the 6-Channel Audio system does a great job handling the sound
chores and should do well - the included drivers give you more than adequate
control over things. Audio purists or just those wanting to use an external
decoder will find the included SPDIF output handy as well.
"The all-important area of overclocking is really where this board shines;
it's really without equal. We were able to take an Athlon 2700+ and raise the
overall bus-speed to 185, which yielded an ultra-stable 2.4GHz."
"Throughout our benchmarking the ABIT AT7-Max 2 held a slight lead over the
others, making it the best overall performer - one can't deny that ABIT has
built the best board in this round-up after looking at the performance - numbers
don't lie.
If the performance doesn't impress you, than perhaps you're more concerned
with features and stability. ... Once again, ABIT leads the way here as well.
Unless you really need legacy serial and parallel ports, the AT7-MAX2 should be
the one for you to get... our top pick... is the AT7-MAX2."
For the Full Article please go here:
http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/motherboards/via/kt400_shootout/001.htm
For more on ABIT please go here:
http://www.abit.com.tw
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