Abit AW9D-MAX - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 10th Nov 2006, 13:35

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

Pie_uk · 10th Nov 2006, 13:41

very good review, that board looks hot.

pitty about the pci slot.

i'll be sticking with an asus board i think

DougEdey · 10th Nov 2006, 13:41

Nothing about overclocking?

And can I just say that the advert on the first page is VERY annoying. It seems like BiT is trying to go into Hexus with far too many ads. The current 3 adverts on every page are fine and relevant (I frequently click on many of them), but the ad on the first page made it hard for me to concentrate on the first paragraph.

Mother-Goose · 10th Nov 2006, 13:47

Tim....do u sleep?

Another review after what can only be called a half dissertation? your mad.

Bindibadgi · 10th Nov 2006, 13:58

Oi, I wrote this :P

No Tim doesn't sleep, we keep him on a Caffiene drip.

Doug, there are only 5 adverts on the page and it's the same size as the Inq uses also and we're still less than Hex. It's a fair point, but noone wants to pay a subscription and everyone wants it for free

Mother-Goose · 10th Nov 2006, 13:59

lol just realised mate!

unlike Tim I have been caffine deprived today
and thats with a free starbucks in the office too DOH

Tim S · 10th Nov 2006, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

Nothing about overclocking?

Final page under my thoughts.

WilHarris · 10th Nov 2006, 14:03

The ad goes away after a couple of pages

mclean007 · 10th Nov 2006, 14:16

some of the graphs have the wrong legend underneath - some of the gaming ones which should say "fps" say "seconds - lower is faster". Aside from that, great review (as usual)!

RTT · 10th Nov 2006, 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

adverts

Couple of things - they are frequency capped; you'll only see those three times before they disappear completely. We also only place them on pages where it 'makes sense' to have them. If the page layout doesn't suit, there will be no ad. Lastly, we have to offer these ads to stay competitive - if people can't buy what they want here, they will take their entire business elsewhere (and stops us having to resort to irrelevant ads / text link ads / whatever). I think the first two points kinda 'prove' were not out to piss you all off.

Please keep this thread on topic. There is now a dedicated thread for discussion of advertising here

Highland3r · 10th Nov 2006, 14:23

Would be nice to see the 1333 strap option finally emerge on boards. However it'd need to be a use set option rather than an auto option above 400 FSB IMO. The performance hit from the increased chipset latencies takes a fair FSB increase to overcome (looking at 30 or so FSB) for most people running at or around 400 FSB the 1066 strap is more than sufficient. Those wanting more could make good use of the extra strap selectable in bios.

If the thermal crap on the max is anything like that used on the AB9 then applying new paste should allow you to clock higher still.
FWIW, managed ~ 480 FSB on a AB9 which also runs a 1066 strap (all be it i'd assume slightly looser timings being 965 chipset based) vMCH helped to a certain extent but above 1.8 or so the chipset seems to overheat due to shoddy cooling. Keep the chipset cooler and you should be able to hit a higher FSB

Tim S · 10th Nov 2006, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by mclean007

some of the graphs have the wrong legend underneath - some of the gaming ones which should say "fps" say "seconds - lower is faster". Aside from that, great review (as usual)!

Thanks, fixed - I don't know why that wasn't picked up on...

DougEdey · 10th Nov 2006, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim S

Thanks, fixed - I don't know why that wasn't picked up on...

Bindi did it!

Bindibadgi · 10th Nov 2006, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougEdey

Bindi did it!

I always mess up the graphs and they take ages to do

DougEdey · 10th Nov 2006, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

I always mess up the graphs and they take ages to do

Control panel -> Add/remove programs -> Microsoft office

M4RTIN · 10th Nov 2006, 14:43

something i meant find out on, i notice that this board is quad core compatible.. how do we know wether a board will work with kentsfield?, is it any 975X or just some 965's and 975X's

Grinch123456 · 10th Nov 2006, 14:49

This board has the worst, bar none, layout I've ever seen. It's absolutely atrocious! I would rather have that audio-max thing sitting in an x1 slot or a PCI slot and remove that proprietary connection but add a hardware limitation so it can only be used on abit boards. And the SATA ports! Sweet jesus this is downright atrocious on so many levels! abit is still not worthy of the ABIT name.

Tim S · 10th Nov 2006, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by M4RTIN

something i meant find out on, i notice that this board is quad core compatible.. how do we know wether a board will work with kentsfield?, is it any 975X or just some 965's and 975X's

It supports Kentsfield (or will when the next official BIOS is released) - I have no ETA on that, but will find out. I had an AW9D-MAX running a Kentsfield while I was out in Taiwan at the start of October.

BUFF · 10th Nov 2006, 16:03

Are the mch voltages that you mention the BIOS values or did you meter them?
The guys on XS reckon that there is significant droop (& they have a vmod) where 2.0V in BIOS for mch may only be ~1.8V.

& I'm with Highland3r on the 1333 strap , it's effects & therefore how much (if any) of an improvement it may actually yield.

Still seems to be 1 of the top 975X boards but I think that I'm going to wait on the IN9 32X-MAX & also how RD600 does.

Tim S · 10th Nov 2006, 16:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by BUFF

Are the mch voltages that you mention the BIOS values or did you meter them?
The guys on XS reckon that there is significant droop (& they have a vmod) where 2.0V in BIOS for mch may only be ~1.8V.

They're actual BIOS values - metered is roughly 0.02 to 0.05V less when I was doing some testing in Taiwan.

10th Nov 2006, 13:35	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Abit AW9D-MAX http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...w9d_max/1.html __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

10th Nov 2006, 13:41	#2
Pie_uk here... take a slice of my pie Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Oxford Posts: 2,238	very good review, that board looks hot. pitty about the pci slot. i'll be sticking with an asus board i think __________________ Im a MAC

10th Nov 2006, 13:41	#3
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	Nothing about overclocking? And can I just say that the advert on the first page is VERY annoying. It seems like BiT is trying to go into Hexus with far too many ads. The current 3 adverts on every page are fine and relevant (I frequently click on many of them), but the ad on the first page made it hard for me to concentrate on the first paragraph. __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter

10th Nov 2006, 13:47	#4
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	Tim....do u sleep? Another review after what can only be called a half dissertation? your mad. __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

10th Nov 2006, 13:58	#5
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,259	Oi, I wrote this :P No Tim doesn't sleep, we keep him on a Caffiene drip. Doug, there are only 5 adverts on the page and it's the same size as the Inq uses also and we're still less than Hex. It's a fair point, but noone wants to pay a subscription and everyone wants it for free __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

10th Nov 2006, 13:59	#6
Mother-Goose Tories ftw! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: England - Surrey Posts: 3,750	lol just realised mate! unlike Tim I have been caffine deprived today and thats with a free starbucks in the office too DOH __________________ Goose Q6600, Striker Extreme, 4GB 6400C4 Dominator DHX, Raptor X, 2x400GB spinpoints, BFG 8800GTX OC, Stacker 830 Evo, HX620, Nova T 500, Freezer 7 Pro

10th Nov 2006, 14:03	#8
WilHarris Just another nobody Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Oxford Posts: 2,671	The ad goes away after a couple of pages

10th Nov 2006, 14:16	#9
mclean007 Officious Bystander Join Date: May 2003 Location: Nodnol Posts: 1,595	some of the graphs have the wrong legend underneath - some of the gaming ones which should say "fps" say "seconds - lower is faster". Aside from that, great review (as usual)! __________________ Demand Naked DSL in the UK!

10th Nov 2006, 14:23	#11
Highland3r I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Leeds UK Posts: 7,158	Would be nice to see the 1333 strap option finally emerge on boards. However it'd need to be a use set option rather than an auto option above 400 FSB IMO. The performance hit from the increased chipset latencies takes a fair FSB increase to overcome (looking at 30 or so FSB) for most people running at or around 400 FSB the 1066 strap is more than sufficient. Those wanting more could make good use of the extra strap selectable in bios. If the thermal crap on the max is anything like that used on the AB9 then applying new paste should allow you to clock higher still. FWIW, managed ~ 480 FSB on a AB9 which also runs a 1066 strap (all be it i'd assume slightly looser timings being 965 chipset based) vMCH helped to a certain extent but above 1.8 or so the chipset seems to overheat due to shoddy cooling. Keep the chipset cooler and you should be able to hit a higher FSB __________________ Prawn or not...?

10th Nov 2006, 14:43	#16
M4RTIN Ultramodder Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Birmingham, UK Posts: 1,257	something i meant find out on, i notice that this board is quad core compatible.. how do we know wether a board will work with kentsfield?, is it any 975X or just some 965's and 975X's

10th Nov 2006, 14:49	#17
Grinch123456 Multimodder Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 95	This board has the worst, bar none, layout I've ever seen. It's absolutely atrocious! I would rather have that audio-max thing sitting in an x1 slot or a PCI slot and remove that proprietary connection but add a hardware limitation so it can only be used on abit boards. And the SATA ports! Sweet jesus this is downright atrocious on so many levels! abit is still not worthy of the ABIT name.

10th Nov 2006, 16:03	#19
BUFF Hypermodder Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 912	Are the mch voltages that you mention the BIOS values or did you meter them? The guys on XS reckon that there is significant droop (& they have a vmod) where 2.0V in BIOS for mch may only be ~1.8V. & I'm with Highland3r on the 1333 strap , it's effects & therefore how much (if any) of an improvement it may actually yield. Still seems to be 1 of the top 975X boards but I think that I'm going to wait on the IN9 32X-MAX & also how RD600 does.