Abit AW9D-MAX

Author: Richard Swinburne
Published: 10th November 2006
Comments (50) Stumble

Rear I/O Panel:

The rear I/O panel is unique in that it contains very little of what you're used to. The MAX series continues to kill off the legacy connectors of old - so if you require going back to the 90's and using serial or parallel ports, you're out of luck.

Considering the majority of people won't use anything but the four USB 2.0 and at least one of the two LAN sockets, even the need for PS2 ports is of questionable use in this day and age. You could argue that surely having 6 USB on the rear would be better? Of course, then you'd only be left with two to route elsewhere, and not everyone wants a universal peripheral plug at the back of their case.

Rounding out the back panel is a single eSATA port and a huuuuge gap to expel the air from the MAX heatsink, but we still think Abit should have gone for a second eSATA over an awkwardly placed internal SATA. There's more than enough room!

Audio is on the AudioMAX daughterboard, so don't fret about its absence at the top. It's now down at the very bottom of your case, where it arguably is better placed to have several 3.5mm cables routed out to your surround sound speakers across the floor.

Abit AW9D-MAX Back I/O & BIOS

BIOS

Abit uses a modified Phoenix AwardBIOS on the AW9D-MAX mobo. The version we have used for all of our testing is BIOS ID: 12 dated 15/9/2006 - this is the latest-available BIOS on Abit's website.
  • CPU Clock: 133 to 600MHz in 1MHz increments;
  • N/B Strap: 533/800/1066;
  • DRAM Spec: 533/667/800;
  • CPU Voltage from 1.325 to 1.725 in 0.0250V increments;
  • Memory Voltage from 1.75V to 2.10V in 0.05V increments, 2.20V, 2.25V, 2.30V, 2.35V, 2.45V, 2.55V, 2.65V;
  • MCH and PCIe voltage from 1.5V to 2.0V in 0.01V increments;
  • Memory Timings: CAS (tCL), RAS to CAS (tRCD), RAS Precharge (tRP), Precharge Delay (tRAS).

Abit AW9D-MAX Back I/O & BIOS Abit AW9D-MAX Back I/O & BIOS
Abit AW9D-MAX Back I/O & BIOS Abit AW9D-MAX Back I/O & BIOS
Again, the black theme continues here. Not that it takes much more than just changing a hex value from blue to black for a BIOS writer, but I have to admit it's easier on the eye and it's a small level effort that makes for a lot of uniqueness. Memory timings are disappointingly limited to the basic four options, and they don't appear to have changed since we first looked at the board in September. We have seen some BETA BIOS revisions floating around unlocking another one or two memory timings, but that's nowhere near the level of tweakability we'd expect from a board built for enthusiasts.

Voltage and frequency adjustments are liberal to say the least. You get enough power to cook your electronic equipment in any fashion you require, providing of course that you clock it to some über high bus speed beforehand.

Abit offer the usual uGuru monitoring features for voltages and temperatures as well as overclocking. Its FanEQ is one of the most advanced in the industry where it monitors temperature and system load to adjust fan speeds to compensate, so your system neither overheats nor sounds excessively loud.

Adjustments are about normal for an Abit board, nothing over the top that allows exceptionally minute, detailed tweaking, but enough to keep the average enthusiast and overclocker happy. It's a bit of a let-down considering the hype that this board carries with it, but it still contains the essential items.

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