Part One: Introduction

'Wait just one second! Didn't we just read Abit's KT333 review?'

Indeed we did but Abit have two boards using the same chipset for a very good reason indeed; one of them is a newly introduced 'MAX' board. These boards seem to be made in the typical quality Abit fashion yet there is something missing... legacy ports. The Max series (The Intel based IT7 and the AMD based AT7) bear no PS2 or parallel ports at all. A brave move indeed but they are called MAX for a reason, not content with simply removing legacy devices, Abit have also added some current and future interfaces with the room they had left. This board comes equipped with not only a huge number of USB ports but also USB II and Firewire! Lets not forget the inclusion of a 5.1 sound card and an on board ethernet adapter to round the package off. It's easy to see why these boards are causing such a stir around the world right now.

Another triumph for Abit or a little too much too soon? We shall find out as 3DVelocity investigate Abit's AT7 MAX...

Part Two: The MAX Factor: Specifications

Some information in this section is quoted from Abit's website, visit them here.

CPU
Supports AMD-K7 Athlon /Athlon XP Socket A 200/266MHz FSB Processors
Supports AMD-K7 Duron Socket A 200 MHz FSB Processors
Chipset
VIA KT333 / VIA VT8233A
Supports Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 IDE protocol
Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)
Accelerated Graphics Port connector supports AGP 2X(3.3V)and 4X(1.5V)mode (Sideband) device
Supports 200/266/333 MHz (100/133/166MHz Double Data Rate) Memory Bus Setting
Ultra DMA 133/ RAID
High Point HPT374 IDE Controller
Ultra DMA 133MB/sec data transfer rate
RAID 0 (striping mode for boosting performance)
RAID 1 (mirroring mode for data security)
RAID 0 + 1(striping and mirroring)
Memory
Four 184-pin DIMM sockets support PC1600/PC2100/PC2700 DDR DRAM modules
Supports DDR333 unbuffered DRAMs up to 2GB and registered DRAMs up to 3GB
Supports 6 banks up to 3GB DRAMs for unbuffered DDR200/266 modules
Supports 8 banks up to 3.5GB DRAMs for registered DDR200/266 modules
Audio
Realtek ALC650 (AC-Link)
Supports 6CH DAC for AC3 5.1 CH purpose
Professional digital audio interface supporting 24-bit SPDIF OUT
Card Reader (Optional)
Supports Memory card (MS or SD) Interface
Supports SONY Memory Stick Interface/ SD Memory Card Interface
Supports Compact Flash ROM Interface
System BIOS
SoftMenu™ III Technology to set CPU parameters
Supports Plug-and-Play (PNP)
Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
Supports Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS
LAN
On board Realtek 8100B single chip Ethernet controller interface
10/100Mb Operation
User friendly driver included
Multi I/O Functions
2 Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 4 Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 devices
4 Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to 8 Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (RAID 0/1/1+0) devices
4 USB 1.1 Connectors
On board VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 header for four extra USB channels
Three 1394a fully compliant cable ports at 100/200/400 megabits per second
Audio connector (Line-in, Center/Sub, Surround Spk , Front Spk , Mic-in)
Miscellaneous
ATX form factor
1 AGP 1.5v slot, 3 PCI slots
Hardware monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, System environment temperature

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