ABIT AW9D MAX Motherboard Pictures

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:07 pm

I just got in the abit AWD9-MAX motherboard and it looks really good. The layout is much better than the abit AB9 Pro that I purchased a couple weeks ago and had some issues with.

The first thing that struck me was the fact that the board uses all Solid State Capacitors just like the famed Gigabyte DS3.

Looks like if you're going to run Crossfire this board again leaves you with no open PCI slots... good bye AGEIA PhysX and BigFoot Killer NIC use. Take note that abit included a power and reset button right next to the diagnostic LED display, which is very nice.

This time around both Intel 975 Express chipset and the ICH7R southbridge are conneceted by heat pipes.

The I/O panel is very clean with just 4 USB, PS2, dual nic's and the external SATA port.

Looks like a very solid board so far. I know a number of our forum members have this board already, so feel free to post up your own pictures and or thoughts. A review of the board is on the schedule.

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:01 pm

I was seriously considering this board, until I saw that it has only one PCI slot

I need a PCI slot for my TV card and also the sound card.............and I ain't forking out even more money for a PCIe TV card when my PVR350 works so damn well.
I read that this board can easily boot with FSB over 450.........which most 975 boards can't do. I'd love to see some OC results!

/off topic, how is the gigabyte board for stability and use of mem dividers? I'm thinking of switching to Intel soon and I need to make up my mind on a board.

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:02 pm

Expect pics when Ive finished modding my P180

I'm still a PSU down to a full PC so will have super tidy cable management if that doesnt get here before I finish.

I only hope that I can beat your review board's overclock

Dan

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:02 pm

kenc51 wrote:/off topic, how is the gigabyte board for stability and use of mem dividers? I'm thinking of switching to Intel soon and I need to make up my mind on a board.

doing testing on that now... it's um... interesting so far

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:03 pm

DMB2000uk wrote:I only hope that I can beat your review board's overclock...

Is that a challange? I think it is... I got two words for you... bring it!

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:32 pm

Yeah, the gloves are off now, Your puny nautilus wont stand a chance next to my storm block

(Dont even think about using that Dry Ice tube on it though!

)

Actually though i'm quite a noob when it comes to overclocking (My first real CPU overclock with serious cooling) So we'll see if i have any talent

.

I dont want to break my board yet, so we'll go for the maximum stable overclock (not suicide runs

), whats the defining 'benchmark' that we can use?

Dan

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:33 pm

Got the board up and running... It's got pretty blue lights on the bottom of the boards and blue LED's around the heatsink for the Silent OTES 2 cooling system that looks pretty cool... I turned the lights out and took this so you can see it...

Here is the BIOS revision that came on my board version 11, which is the first release. As of right now this is the most recent BIOS available.

The only major negative thing that I see in this BIOS is the lack of support for 1333FSB. Since Peter from ABIT said this board supports Kentsfield (Quad Core) processors that must mean that it will be made available when a BIOS update comes out here in the near future.

Finally an Intel board that has memory voltage options... Up to 2.65V in this BIOS! The Gigabyte DS3 tops out at 2.4V and thats not enough for memory like the OCZ PC2-8800 Gold and Corsair PC2-8888 DOMINATOR series (which is what I'm running).

Looking good so far!

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:21 pm

I've seem to hit a wall at 420MHz FSB or so... I know it can do more than that as on the Gigabyte DS3 I was hitting 440 with the same chip.... warm reboots are an issue so far and with my ES B1 stepping CPU I can't lower the multiplier down to six it's stuck at seven. I called up ABIT-USA and guess what... The already have a beta bios, so I'm in luck!!

Beta BIOS 12.b02 has fixed following bugs

1. CPU function /Thermal Monitor function disppeared in BIOS 11 (This bug fixed by a beta BIOS 12.b02)

2.The multiplier of Conroe B2 stepping CPU(E6300/6400/6700) was locked (This bug fixed by a beta BIOS 12.b02)

3.Onchip SATA port will hang or disappear when you change PCIE clock over 105MHz. (This item moved by a beta BIOS 12.b02)

Time go dig the floppy drive out I guess

Post by **DMB2000uk** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 7:05 pm

Damn, now we'll be on even ground, yeah of course I was going to tell you about the beta bios, wouldnt want an unfair playing field

Dan

Post by **Apoptosis** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:15 pm

The new BIOS helps out a bunch... solid at 450MHz FSB with it and a ton of voltage on the MCH. It's a good thing you got a water cooler because I have to crank the volts on the CPU to nearly 1.6V to hit this.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:59 am

Serbu also likes the retail box... It's his new favorite box...