ABIT IC7 MAX3 (875P): New Overclocking Champion?

Company: ABIT
Product: IC7 MAX3
Street Price: $225 USD
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

Conclusions:

So what do we think of ABIT's flagship 875P motherboard? We love it despite the few issues that we had with the layout and the AGP/PCI lock. Overall, the features on the IC7 MAX3 will satisfy even the most zealous of enthusiasts. We really like the improvements from the IC7-G with the addition of two more serial ATA connections and of course the OTES (outside thermal exhaust system). The board is a perfect candidate for entry level servers and workstations. A number of drives can be connected as well as support for Gb LAN.

Overclockers will more than likely want to give this board a shot. It is our opinion that the MAX3 can go beyond 320MHz FSB stable but we are going to need some hardcore cooling to prove it. We cannot say how well OTES cools the mosfets and capacitors because we do not have a thermal imaging camera, but you can bet that it has to cool them off considerably versus no heatsinks or fans. There are currently kits available to help keep mosfets cool and they do not come cheap. It was a good idea on ABIT's part to go ahead and incorporate this with the MAX3 because the enthusiast market is growing at a rapid rate.

With the Prescott coming very soon we hope that the MAX3 will be able to support the new processors. We have read from many reports that 865/875 boards will be able to but until we see a Prescott running on one, we cannot say that 100% sure that this is true but likely. If you are looking for a great board with tons of features and high overclocking potential, then give the MAX3 a try. If you are not that much into overclocking and feel that OTES doesn't suit you, then maybe you'll like the IC7-G or IC7.

Overall: 9.5/10