Roundup tests of motherboards aimed at Intel Core 2 Duo processors
abit AW9D-MAX
This motherboard is another high-end product of the MAX series. Originally, the MAX concept implied giving up all outdated standards, but the first products were not accepted by users. A couple of years afterwards, the lack of LPT and COM ports on the rear panel is no longer a shock to the buyers.
In general, AW9D-MAX is a typical high-end motherboard based on the i975X chipset. In particular, it supports the Crossfire (two PCI Express x16 slots), has two PCI Express x1 slots onboard, and one "regular" PCI.
It should be noted that the audio subsystem of the board is implemented as a separate smaller board which is inserted into a dedicated slot.
To plug in hard disks, there is one Parallel ATA connector and 8 Serial ATA II connectors (one of which is external). To support additional SATA channels, there are two RAID controllers Silicon Image Sil3132 onboard. Besides, there are two Gigabit LAN controllers Realtek RTL8111B, as well as a Firewire controller - TSB43AB22A - made by Texas Instruments (both ports being external). The motherboard also supports 8 USB 2.0 ports.
On the board's rear panel, there are 4 USB 2.0 ports, a couple of RJ-45 network connectors, and one Serial ATA II port. The remaining ports are plugged in with brackets. The empty space and the "bare" radiator suggest the thought that something was forgotten during installation. In our view, over here there will be one or two fans, but this modification of the OTES technology will relate to the Fatal1ty series.
The board's package bundle looks vague: we received an almost "bare" engineering sample, and the information from the official web site does not disclose any details. Anyway, all the standard components can be made available at any retail store and we are much more interested in the functional capabilities of the motherboards. Here we have to point to some shortcomings. First, the motherboard does not operate with Core 2 Quad processors based on the Kentsfield core. Secondly, the board does not support the reducing DDRII-400 memory multiplier for processors of 266 MHz FSB speed (QPB 1066 MHz). Because it just offers the major advantage of i975X over P965.
The memory settings section itself is not abundant with the number of timings - there are only the most generic:
On the other hand, the system monitoring section is the most powerful among all the motherboards with support for Core 2 Duo processors:
The motherboard monitors the temperature of the CPU, system and that from the four(!) sensors of the power supply module. Besides, the board allows detecting the rotational speed of all the eight(!) fans which can be plugged in to the system. Moreover, you can assign signals of deceleration or stoppage to every fan, as well as enable the function of system power-off in case the fan has stopped. At the same time, the rotational speed of all the eight fans can be made dependent on various temperatures using the FanEQ utility (there is a respective Windows utility).
Now on to the overclocking tools. The respective BIOS menu item is called "OC Guru" (formerly named "SoftMenu").
Therefore, abit AW9D-MAX allows the user to adjust the FSB speed within 200 to 600 MHz, raising voltages on the CPU - up to 1.65 V, on the memory - up to 2.65 V, and on the chipset - up to 2.0 V . As regards the practical overclocking, the motherboard showed high results - 450 MHz (with a CPU E6400).
Among the additional features, we should mention a 7-stage POST indicator, OTES - a cooler for the power supply module, and a few additional LEDs on the reverse side of the board:
And of course we note an additional mGuru chip. Owing to that, the board acquired advanced capabilities like maintaining profiles of BIOS settings, monitoring the rotational speeds of the fans, and a very powerful section to do with system monitoring.
An interim conclusion - the motherboard abit AW9D-MAX is a good product based on i975X, but far not the best. Chasing for additional features and increase of expansion capabilities have not left any time for polishing overclocking features. The shortcomings are about the lack of a reducing multiplier of the memory frequency, as well as some issues of compatibility to memory modules. It's just for the powerful overclocking that abit motherboards have been popular among enthusiasts.
However, if engineers at Abit succeed in overcoming the overclocking issues and release a new BIOS with better results at that, the board will rightfully take its place of dignity among the best motherboards for PC enthusiasts. But for now we can ascertain that abit AW9D-MAX is strong "middling" in the good sense, and the traits like support for 5" mGuru Panel, mGuru chip and additional OTES cooling system cannot change this conclusion.
Among the advantages of the board, we should note the superb exterior (owing to a lot of additional LEDs), a very powerful section of system monitoring. Among the shortcomings to note, there are flaws in the software.
Pros:
- High stability and good performance level;
- Support for SerialATA II/RAID (8 links; ICH7R + 2x Sil3132);
- Support for one P-ATA channel (ICH7R);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and two LAN (Gigabit Ethernet) controllers;
- Support for USB2.0 (8 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
- Support for the ATI Crossfire;
- A wide selection of Abit's proprietary technologies (SoftMenu, FlashMenu, BlackBox etc.);
- Additional uGuru chip (FanEQ, BIOS profiles, OC Guru, etc.);
- Passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- The most advanced system monitoring and support for the uGuru Panel;
- 7-stage POST indicator = Power/Reset buttons;
- Eye-catching exterior (6 additional LEDs);
- 8x connectors to plug in fans.
Cons:
- Flaws in the software part.
The board's specific features:
- On the rear panel, there is a SerialATA II port; missing are LPT and COM ports;
- Additional 8-pin power connector;
- The audio subsystem is implemented as a separate board.
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abit AB9 Pro
Another motherboard by abit, this time based on the P965 chipset. Note that the expansion options are well over the chipset's specifications. In particular, engineers of the company have expanded the functionality through installation of additional Serial ATA/RAID controllers, one of which supports one Parallel ATA controller.
The PCB design is convenient enough from the viewpoint of the assembly operator, except the inconvenient positioning of the Parallel ATA connector.
Let's list the expansion options: one PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and two regular PCI slots. Besides, the board has two Gigabit LAN controllers, integrated 8-channel audio based on the ALC882D codec, 10 (!) SerialATA II channels, and 10 USB2.0 ports. Besides, the board uses the Firewire controller.
The rear panel is of nonstandard configuration: missing are COM ports, as well as an LPT port.
The board offers a couple of traits. First, it supports connection of a special 5" mGuru panel.
There is also an additional mGuru chip with which the feature of BIOS settings profile is implemented, and control over the fans' rotational speed, as well as very powerful system monitoring section.
Finally, the board uses a 7-stage POST indicator.
As regards the overclocking tools, they are powerful enough: the board allows adjusting the FSB speed within 133 to 600 MHz, raising voltage on the CPU up to 1.65 V, and up to 2.3 V on the memory, up to 1.45 V on the chipset, and up to 1.7 V on the south bridge.
As regards the actual overclocking, we note that with one of the first BIOS versions the board was able to attain 346 MHz (for a CPU E6700 based on the Conroe core, this can't be called a good result). With the latest BIOS version (1.5 of 19 Oct 2006), the overclocking was not possible at all (the board was hardly running at the nominal frequencies). Having rolled back to BIOS version 1.4, we reinstated the stable operation and attained the maximum FSB = 406 MHz. However, we can't praise programmers at abit: it is not possible to adjust the CPU multiplier, the voltage on the CPU is adjustable in a too large increment (which is unacceptable for overclocking Core 2 Duo). And if we set the memory voltage (Vmem) above 2.0 V, the board itself resets the value back to 2.0 V. I wonder how I should use Corsair Dominator modules (or similar) which require 2.4 V??
Within this roundup, we updated the BIOS to version 1.8 dated 18/05/2007 and unfortunately found no improvements. The board still runs stably at 400-410 MHz, and if the frequency goes beyond that the frequencies automatically reset the FSB speed to 410 MHz. The ranges of voltage adjustment and the increment have not changed.
Setting the random access memory on abit AB9 Pro has been implemented at the level of a middling motherboard for the average common user.
On the other hand, the system monitoring section is impressive for the abundance of features, and at that this motherboard is among the best.
Interim conclusion: abit AB9 Pro is a regular motherboard based on the P965 chipset, whose major advantage is the powerful expansion options and advanced system monitoring tools. But the overclocking let us down - the board can be hardly recommended to PC enthusiasts.
Pros:
- High stability and excellent performance level;
- Support for SerialATA II/RAID ( 10 links; ICH8R + Sil3132 + JMB363);
- Support for one P-ATA link (JMB363);
- Integrated 8-channel audio and two LAN (Gigabit Ethernet) controllers;
- Support for USB2.0 (10 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
- A wide selection of Abit's proprietary technologies (SoftMenu, FlashMenu, BlackBox etc.);
- Additional uGuru chip (FanEQ, BIOS profiles, OC Guru, etc.);
- Passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- The most advanced system monitoring and support for the uGuru Panel;
- 7-stage POST indicator.
Cons:
The board's specific features:
- Middling overclocking capability (with BIOS version 1.5 - the overclocking is impossible);
- On the rear panel, there is a SerialATA II port; missing are LPT and COM ports.
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Content: |
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Page 1 - Chipsets
Page 2 - Roundup table of motherboards
Page 3 - abit AW9D-MAX, abit AB9 Pro
Page 4 - ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe, ASUS P5W64-WS Pro
Page 5 - ASUS Commando, ASUS P5B Premium Vista Edition
Page - ASUS P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi, ASUS P5B-E
Page 7 - P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe, Striker, P5N32-E SLI, and P5N32-E SLI PLUS
Page 8 - ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium, ASUS P5N-E SLI
Page 9 - Gigabyte 965P-DQ6, Gigabyte 965P-DS4
Page 10 - Gigabyte 965P-DS3, Gigabyte 965G-DS3
Page 11 - Foxconn 975X7AB, Foxconn P9657AA-8EKRS2H
Page 12 - MSI P6N SLI Platinum, MSI P965 Platinum
Page 13 - MSI P965 Neo, MSI P965 Neo2
Page 14 - Intel D975XBX2 (i975X), Intel DG965RYCK
Page 15 - ECS NF650SLIT-A, ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A
Page 16 - ECS PN2 SLI2+, ECS P965T-A
Page 17 - Performance, conclusions
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