Abit AT7 Max2 (VIA KT400) Motherboard Review
Author:
Date: 02.12.2002
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Abit AT7 Max2
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| Chipset |
VIA KT400 |
| Processor |
AMD Socket-A (Athlon/Duron) |
| Memory |
PC1600/PC2100/PC2700/PC3200
Max 2-3,5 GB |
| HDD |
UltraDMA/133 IDE
IDE Raid controller |
| Price: |
~175$ (Price.ru) |
Abit MAX motherboards were first mentioned early in March 2002. That time, sales of KT333-based motherboards were on the up: manufacturers tried various ways to attract the customer. Abit solved that task in one go and presented an entirely new concept of the motherboard. The concept was dubbed as MAX and meant the MAximum functionality eXpansion due to very high integration. That looked like this: they presented the AT7 MAX motherboard featuring USB 2.0 and Firewire controllers, 4-channel RAID controller (4 additional IDE connectors), LAN controller and 6.1 audio. The MAX concept also implies installation of maximum possible number of DIMM slots - there were four of them on the AT7 (KT333) board. But the number of PCI slots has been educed - only 3 left on the AT7 (KT333) board.
The latter arose users' discontent. But the most dissatisfying was that the MAX concept meant giving up PS/2, COM and LPT ports completely. As a result, those who had devices with the aforementioned interfaces had to turn to the KX7-333 model made in the more traditional design.
Eight months have passed since the AT7(KT333) was released ( a really long term for the computer industry) and it's now time to wrap it all up. With the advent of the AT7 board, high integration is now a must-have for any up-to-date motherboard. Since then, all Abit rivals have somehow inherited the idea of maximum board functionality expansion. Let's take a look at the following KT400-based motherboards: Asus A7V8X, Gigabyte 8VAXP, DFI AD77.
Each of them offers a RAID controller (albeit 2-channel), a LAN controller and 6.1 integrated audio. There is also support for the Firewire (additional controller) and USB 2.0 buses (integrated into the south bridge VT8235). What is more, functionality expansion has not in the least affected the number of PCI slots (there are 6 of them on the Asus board, with 5 on both the Gigabyte and DFI each), with the support for PS/2, COM and LPT ports remained intact. Moreover, the latest boards now feature support for Gigabit Ethernet and SerialATA.
Interestingly, this has been there since the initiation of the SoftMenu technology. Abit was the first to implement the functionality for selecting FSB and operating voltages (Vcore,Vmem, etc.) from within the BIOS. In a short while, competition offered motherboards featuring similar functionality.
Now back to the MAX boards. Abit released a new model - AT7 MAX2 built on the KT400 chipset, and we'll be looking into it in this review. Running ahead, reminding you that PS/2 have been reverted, with more PCI slots added. Along with these, the board has somehow lost in its revolutionary tint the AT7 (KT333) used to have.
Abit AT7 Max2 Specifications
| Abit AT7 Max2 |
| Processor |
- Supports Socket-A AMD processors (Athlon/Duron)
- Supports FSB 200/266MHz (333MHz *) |
| VIA KT400 Chipset |
- Northbridge VT8377
- Southbridge VT8235
- Interbridge bus - V-Link 2.0 (533MB/s) |
| System memory |
- Four 184-pin slots for DDR SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 2-3.5GB DDR SDRAM
- Supports memory PC1600/PC2100/PC2700/PC3200 |
| Graphics |
- AGP slot, supporting the 4x/8x modes |
| Overclocking Options |
- Five 32-bit PCI 2.2 slots
- 10 USB 2.0 ports (6 built-in and 4 external)
- 3 ports IEEE1394 (Firewire)
- Integrated audio AC'97 v2.2
- LAN controller VT6103 |
| Overclocking options |
- Processor/memory voltage, multiplier adjustable;
- FSB adjustable in 1MHz increment between 100 and 200 MHz
- SoftMenu III Technology |
| On-board functionality |
- Integrated audio ADI AD1980
- LAN controller Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet
- VIA6307 controller with support for IEEE-1394 bus |
| Disk subsystem |
- Integrated UltraDMA/133 IDE controller (2 channels UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE with support for up to 4 ATAPI-devices)
- Additional IDE Raid controller (HightPoint HPT374, 4 channels IDE, 2 channels SerialATA with support for ATA33/66/100/133 & RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 supporting up to 4 ATAPI-devices and 2 SerialATA-devices)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS |
- 2MBit Flash ROM
- Award BIOS v6.00PG with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features and Trend Chip Away Virus |
| Miscellaneous |
- One FDD port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard |
| Monitoring |
- Processor & chipset temperatures monitoring, voltage and fan rotation speed controlled |
| Power management |
- ACPI/APM
- Wake-up from modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer and USB |
| Power |
- Standard 20-pin ATX power socket (ATX-PW);
- Additional 4-pin power connector; |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 305mm x 245mm (12" x 9.63") |
* As far as support for the 333 MHz bus is concerned, the info is missing in the specs. Meanwhile, Abit used to issue a press release listing the motherboards with support for the processors, with the AT7 MAX2 mentioned as well. Besides, in the description to the latest BIOS (v. B7) the support for 333 MHz bus is also mentioned (Support AMD new coming 333 CPU).
Retail box
Package bundle
The board is shipped in a marvelous package: there is a transparent window in the package wall through which you can see part of the board. The box is also furnished with a handle for carrying it around.
We found the following contents in the retail box:
- 1x Motherboard;
- 1x software & drivers CD;
- 1x bracket with 2 USB ports;
- 3x ATA-100 cables, 1x FDD cable;
- One SerialATA cable + one Abit Serillel adapter;
- User's Manual in English;
- A set of adhesive clips;
- A floppy disk with RAID drivers;
- Rear panel cap.
The rich package bundle makes the board stand out among the competition. Let's start off with the most essential - most boards with support for Serial ATA normally come with only one cable. The cable itself is useless - currently, there are no devices with support for SerialATA easily available. But the Parallel ATA -> SerialATA adapter offers definite advantages vividly seen to the naked eye: improved air circulation and better access to the system components, which facilitates the PC assembly.
It's just this adapter the MAX boards come with.
The board comes with regular IDE cables as well, which are not plain but proprietary :). They are all of thick dark color and each has an Abit logo on (the company fanciers will be really excited). Revealing you a secret - they function in absolutely the same way as regular IDE cables do.
On every connector there is a paper tail to aid the removal. There is a reminder "Master/Slave" on for the beginners.
And the last but not least, the user's manual. The User's manual is quite weighty and detailed, in the Abit way. In the beginning of the manual there is a brief guide in 6 languages.
Then the manual gives a detailed account of connectors, the jumper for clearing the BIOS settings and a procedure of driver installation, RAID administration and setup (I'd prefer a standalone detailed RAID manual).
By the way, the drivers. The bundled CD is complete with all the drivers including those for USB2.0, Firewire, RAID and LAN controllers, and the VIA 4 in1 set (version 4.41). There are also drivers and software for the integrated audio. The bundled CD also contains third-party software: a set of utilities developed by BUZZSOFT (SoftBulkEmail, SoftCardManager, SoftCopier and SoftPostCard), Intervideo WinDVD 2000 v2.1 (to be installed from the CD only), and Norton Antivirus 2002.
Finishing with the package bundle, it's worth noting that both the board and bonus items are all packaged in a transparent envelope.
It's a great pity the proprietary Abit Media XP panel having two USB 2.0, one Firewire ports, audio outs, IR-port and three integrated smart/flash card readers was missing in the bundle.
Next
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Content: |
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- Specifications
- Layout
- Overclocking and stability
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Performance and conclusions
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