First Look: Abit AW9D-MAX

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...w9d_max/1.html

[DougEdey]

Looks like you can't wait for a review sample Tim.

[perplekks45]

I like the color scheme... and the performance of course. I'd really like to switch to Conroe but I ain't got the money right now.
Any advices which board to buy then? I'd love to keep my gfx card to save some money... and yea it's AGP.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by DougEdey

Looks like you can't wait for a review sample Tim.

You're right, I can't

[specofdust]

Well, I'm seriously considering my current(junk) setup, and this thing looks encouraging. Can't wait for a review, here's hoping it's stable and clocky. If so, I just found my next mobo

[Mankz]

i wish abit learned to put more PCI slots in instead of express x 1 slots...

on that board, you cant have a dual GPU set-up and then an X-FI and a TV tuner.....

silly.

[specofdust]

No! We need a move to PCI-E, PCI is crappy and incredibly limited, the sooner we get rid of it the better.

[Paradigm Shifter]

Well, until some soundcard manufacturers start trying to make PCI-E soundcards, rather than saying, "It's too hard", a single PCI slot that is lost if you go dual graphics seems like a pretty bad oversight - at least in slot positioning.

All-in-all, though, that looks quite a nice board - if it's already outperforming Bad Axe in its pre-prod state, when the final BIOS is released, it might have tightened up some more.

I guess I'm a bit torn about this - potential for being an overclockers dream, lots of space round the CPU, passively cooled... just the PCI slot and the odd emptiness of the back panel (more USB ports would have been nice - possibly even a 4-pin or 6-pin firewire port...)

[specofdust]

The thing does look like it has a couple of USB headers below the southbridge, and a firewire port to the left of, and behind the two PCI-E 1x slots, but that may be something else.

I'm really excited about this board, if it's everything Tim seems to think it's going to be, it looks perfect for a reliable conroe setup.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by Mankz_91

i wish abit learned to put more PCI slots in instead of express x 1 slots...

on that board, you cant have a dual GPU set-up and then an X-FI and a TV tuner.....

silly.

It's an overclocker's board - the MAX series always has been about overclocking. Also, there are already TV tuners on PCI-Express and I can see Creative moving that way in the future too...

[kenco_uk]

IMO, the layout of the PCI/PCI-e slots is crap. If this board is aimed at overclockers, surely they must realise that you're going to have an sli setup and with most of them taking up two slots, you're left (only just) with one PCI-e x 1 slot. Wowee. They could easily have stuck another PCI or PCI-e slot on at the bottom to accomodate an existing sound card. I know I wouldn't put up with onboard sound, knowing that it's still inferior to 'proper' sound cards.

Apart from that niggle, it's looking good.

[specofdust]

Actually, this is something that's starting to bug me tim, why are all PCI/PCI-E layouts utter s***e? Manu's always make slots that obscure each other if filled, or obscure USB or some other connectors. I know space is limited, but couldn't they just give us fewer usable slots(say 4 usable slots) instead of trying to give us 6 that are so crammed together that 2-3 is the best we can ever use? It used to be that with a good mobo you could get your graphics card in there, and then basicly everyone had more PCI slots then they'd ever need, but it seems like these days that every type of slot is some hyper-rare commodity, and even in the most expensive mobo's we're starving for lack of the things once we stick a couple of cards in there.

Why must this be the case?

[Mankz]

Originally Posted by Tim S

It's an overclocker's board - the MAX series always has been about overclocking. Also, there are already TV tuners on PCI-Express and I can see Creative moving that way in the future too...

I take your point, but At the moment most people use X-FIs and PCI TV tuners...

most top end PCs use at least 1 PCI slot, and also, why bother putting it next to the PCI-E x16, when dual slot coolers on the big GPU's are now the norm. you cant get anything in to the PCI slot if your using X18/19 crossfire...

[Bindibadgi]

Originally Posted by specofdust

Actually, this is something that's starting to bug me tim, why are all PCI/PCI-E layouts utter s***e? Manu's always make slots that obscure each other if filled, or obscure USB or some other connectors. I know space is limited, but couldn't they just give us fewer usable slots(say 4 usable slots) instead of trying to give us 6 that are so crammed together that 2-3 is the best we can ever use? It used to be that with a good mobo you could get your graphics card in there, and then basicly everyone had more PCI slots then they'd ever need, but it seems like these days that every type of slot is some hyper-rare commodity, and even in the most expensive mobo's we're starving for lack of the things once we stick a couple of cards in there.

Why must this be the case?

I don't see how this could possibly happen since space is so limited in the ATX format and you still need to put in a northbridge somewhere (usually). Thankfully only the highest end graphics have dual slot coolers so you can usually use the one underneath, but mobo manuf.s have to be seen to be using PCIe slots in order to advertise the fact they are still ahead technologically etc.

Also, PCIe slots take far smaller and fewer traces to wire unlike PCI and PCI slots all generally have to be routed together because they all sit on the same bus. Since they originate from the southbridge this is often in the bottom-most part of a mobo and there needs to be a minimum 2 slot gap for SLI/CF so you're already 3 slots down out of a potential 5 or 6.

Epox was one of the only mobo manufacturers to implement 6 PCI slots back in AGP/PCI days, most others included 5 and space for other connectors which is still the case so you're left NOW with just space for 2 at most considering everyone has to offer firewire, HD sound, 10 million USB ports, extra SATA etc

I hope that reads ok, Ive been looking at a PC too long today already to have the energy to re-read it right now.

[kenco_uk]

Or a 7900GTX

Bindi, the trouble is that, looking at the board, abit could easily have fitted another pci or pci-e slot under the existing pci slot. It's a choice of either sli or pci sound card. I know there's single slot gpu's, but to reiterate that abit are aiming for overclockers, no self-respecting mhz-whore is going to have anything less than double slot gpus in sli.

[Bindibadgi]

Well it also comes down to mobo noise as well, if you pack too much in you get more noise and less stability.

[Tim S]

Mankz, if we lived in the years of legacy, technology would never move forwards. For example, if we were still using socket 478, we wouldn't have something like Core 2 Duo - the same is true about Socket A. Don't get me wrong, I understand your point of view and Abit is marketing the AW9D-MAX as an overclocker's board. If you want a combination of overclockability and expansion, DFI's boards are probably a safer bet.

There would be a second PCI slot if Abit had chosen not to include AudioMAX along with the second SATA controller. However, Abit wanted to go that way with its sound solution, as the company believes it is slightly higher quality than an embedded solution. I agree with that sentiment during my time using Abit products - there tends to be less interference, but it is not completely gone. It's horses for courses in that respect.

IMO, anyone who is really serious about having a fast system would be watercooling the two video cards they've installed.

[Sinner666]

At least its nice and sexy black as opposed to bright neon colors.

[kenco_uk]

Agreed, for a mobo, it's teh sex!

[Tulatin]

Nevermind what it can do, what i'm interested in is if this board will be worth something like the Abit of Past, or if it'll just come out with 10,000 forum issues...