Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. August 5th, 2003- In the August
issue of Maximum PC, ABIT is one of the winners of the Mobo Showdown where
6 "hardcore motherboards" are "reviewed,
rated, and ripped asunder!"
Maximum PC is known as the publication where they don''t pull
any punches and they like to get down to the nitty gritty. "If
you bought a motherboard five years ago, you counted your blessings if
it came with a floppy cable, I/O shield, and manual that wasn''t a fifth-generation
Xerox copy.
But this just ain''t the case today. Motherboards have grown up-they
now offer more accessories, more features, and more attention to the overall
consumer experience. Today, the minimum you''ll get is thorough documentation,
an I/0 shield, and a full set of cables. And on the long end of the stick,
you get the kitchen sink and plumbing, too. Today''s mobos come with remote
controls, media readers, carrying cases, case stickers, and a flourish
of colors."
Built for Overclockers, By Overclockers
"ABIT motherboards are synonymous with overclocking, and
the IC7-G Intel board lives up to expectations with a galore of features
for practitioners of the dirty deeds...ABIT...doesn''t need garish colors
to attract attention. The company already has the credentials."
"Unlike the Asus board, the IC7-G includes a full complement
of audio I/0 jacks that will let you run onboard six-channel audio in
analog mode, as well as connect line in and mic-in devices, all simultaneously.
ABIT also includes a pair of optical I/0 ports."
"...we did find the inclusion of a PATA-to-SATA data converter
to be a value-add. By inserting the converter into an older parallel ATA
optical or hard drive, you can run the device off one of the SATA ports
on the mobo…In testing the impact of onboard audio processing on gaming
frame rates, ABIT''s RealTek solution turned in the highest scores in Unreal
Tournament 2003 when audio was set to 3D hardware support."
"What ABIT mostly brings to the table is overclocking features. While
all four P4 boards here are capable overclockers-letting you perform FSB
and voltage tweaks-the IC7-G had the most options for AGP-to-PCI ratios,
CPU-to-RAM ratios, and manual settings of AGP/PCI speeds. Overclocking
headroom on the mobo level wasn''t a criteria for our tests (because individual
CPUs greatly impact overclocking), but the IC7G will clearly give OCers
more flexibility in massaging CPU speeds."
ABIT IC7-G : "Our pick for best overclocker"
See the full review in the August issue of Maximum PC in stores now.
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