ABIT IC7-MAX3 is OCPrices' Elite Choice
Achieves highest FSB ever recorded at OCPrices

December 16, 2003 - For those looking for a motherboard that overclocks without compromise, they would be hard pressed to find a platform as tweak-friendly as ABIT's IC7-MAX3. OCPrices took the IC7-MAX3 for spin, and after some rigorous testing, found it to be an overclocking champ, reaching a new FSB record, and awarding it their Elite Choice Award.

OCPrices delves into the benefits of OTES™, ABIT's exclusive cooling technology: "The first thing you will be thinking if you are not already familiar with the IC7-MAX3 is "what is that massive blue thing on the top". This is what ABIT calls their OTES cooling. Originally seen on their graphics cards, the IC7-MAX3 is the first motherboard with this kind of cooling system. OTES stands for 'Outside Thermal Exhaust System' and is there to help keep the PWM power regulation mosfets and capacitors cool. These components are some of the hottest on the board as standard, and should they overheat you will surely compromise stability on a heavily overclocked system."

If overclocking is on the agenda, the IC7-MAX3 is your board: "The ABIT IC7-MAX3 is clearly designed from the ground up to be an overclockers board. With its hefty northbridge cooler, OTES cooling system for the mosfets and other capacitors, on paper there is not a better enthusiasts board out there. To test the overclockability of this board we used our superb hand picked 2.4GHz P4 and a Prometia Mach II system currently on loan from Chillblast. It is a superb super cooler and even more effective than the Vapochill we reviewed some time ago. With the system memory set to 3:4, the highest overclock we managed on the IC7-MAX3 was 302MHz. At this speed the CPU was running at a whopping 3624MHz, at a thoroughly un-toasty -17 degrees. Whether the board or the chip was the limitation here or the board I have no idea, as this is a new record FSB here at OcPrices."

The verdict? "A very fast and very stable feature packed platform whether you are a casual or extreme overclocker. If you want every last MHz out of your CPU, this is definitely the board to get."

For the full review, go to:
http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=190&page=1&action=reviews

For more information on the IC7-MAX3, go here:
ABIT IC7-MAX3

For more information on ABIT and ABIT Engineered products, go here:
http://www.abit.com.tw

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