OC3D Review: abit AW9D Max Socket 775 Core2Duo Motherboard

[Ham]

I wonder if they'd be a significant performance drop.

Ive run my 7800 at x4, x8 and x16 and it made no difference.

[TJS]

Funny you should ask, Ham... though I don't know about the '2-3 fps performance drop' being relevant.



I'm assuming (and we all know that will make an @$$ out of U and ME) that whoever made the claim that 8800's won't work on x8 lanes thought there was a slot that was between x4 and x16 size. In any case, I remember the x16/x16 A8N32-SLI came out and didn't blow away the x8/x8 competition, and I haven't seen anything new that makes x16/x16 mobos desirable (since the clarification concerning the 8800 series gpu's).

TJS

[steve30x]

Hey guys im new to this forum. I must comment the author of the review of this motherboard. I have been thinking about buying an AW9D-MAX with about two weeks now. My previous motherboard was an Abit AN8 SLI Fatal1ty and it was fantastic. My current motherboard is an ASUS P5B-VM and I wont comment on it because I dont have one good thing to say about it , But reading the reviews I have seen about the AW9D-MAX has helped me make my mind up.

It looks like i will get the full potential out of my ram and CPU with the ABIT motherboard where as I am restricted with my current motherboard. Cooling shouldnt be a problem when I overclock because I have 4 120mm case fans and 1 200mm fan on the top of my case. Currently My cpu is running @ 25 celcius on idle and it doesnt get any higher than 48 celcius on full load @ 2.7ghz.

[FarFarAway]

Ummm...thanks?

Did you have a question about the motherboard? willing to help just not sure what you wanted to ask?

[steve30x]

Is there any minor bugs I need to know about this motherboard before buying it. For example incompatability with ram , overclocking issues or restrictions with overclocking. Will I get my e6400 up to 3.2ghz with decent CPU cooling? will I be able to lock my ram to 1000mhz without it going higher hen im overclocking the CPU? I just generaly would like to know to watch out for with this motherboard before buying it.

[TJS]

For starters, you're using stock cooling... which isn't conducive to overclocking unless you're shooting for 5 to 10 notches on the FSB I'd advise a better HSF, a little money can go a long way to overclocking nirvana, Scythe Infinitys and Tuniq Towers seem to be popular. I personally like my Vigor Monsoon II TEC/HSF, but for about $110-150 its pretty pricey.

I use G. Skill RAM, and haven't had a problem yet, don't expect to either. I like the 975X chipset, but if you plan on going SLI I don't know that anyone has modded drivers for 8800 series video cards to work with the 975X mobos. I'd seriously consider an nVidia 680i or 650i mobo from ABIT or ASUS, had pretty good experiences with both... wasn't too pleased with EVGA's reference 680i (make pretty good video cards, though). Of course I did grab mine when it was just released and their were problems aplenty, I do believe most of the bugs have been worked out.

The AW9D-MAX is a good choice, but its a bit aged and if you're willing to put forth that kind of cash then the IN9 32X-MAX (680i) mobo would be my choice.

TJS

[FarFarAway]

Agreed on the IN9 Max

Abit's site should have a compatibility list only had a problem with Kingston RAM so far (1200MHz modules)

[Phunky]

I would not touch SLi on this board, i had nothing but problems with my 7950GX2 on this bored and to boot the hacked drivers dont work for the 7950GX2.

Now im on a 8800GTS and it just rawks!

[steve30x]

Originally Posted by name='TJS'

For starters, you're using stock cooling... which isn't conducive to overclocking unless you're shooting for 5 to 10 notches on the FSB I'd advise a better HSF, a little money can go a long way to overclocking nirvana, Scythe Infinitys and Tuniq Towers seem to be popular. I personally like my Vigor Monsoon II TEC/HSF, but for about $110-150 its pretty pricey.

I use G. Skill RAM, and haven't had a problem yet, don't expect to either. I like the 975X chipset, but if you plan on going SLI I don't know that anyone has modded drivers for 8800 series video cards to work with the 975X mobos. I'd seriously consider an nVidia 680i or 650i mobo from ABIT or ASUS, had pretty good experiences with both... wasn't too pleased with EVGA's reference 680i (make pretty good video cards, though). Of course I did grab mine when it was just released and their were problems aplenty, I do believe most of the bugs have been worked out.

The AW9D-MAX is a good choice, but its a bit aged and if you're willing to put forth that kind of cash then the IN9 32X-MAX (680i) mobo would be my choice.

TJS

Ok for starters I know that I need better cooling for overclocking which is why I said I was replacing the stock cooling with a Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise Cooler. Secondly I have very decent ram and I wont be changing it any time soon. Third and finally I wont be doing SLI, I have looked at the price of an IN9 32X max and I am certainly not going to shell out 330 euro for a motherboard. Im willing to go a small bit above 200 euro but not that far above 200 euro.

I just asked what I should out for with the AW9D-MAX before I bought it , I didnt ask to pick faults on my own hardware which I know about already. The only thing I see that is needed to be changed on my hardware for overclocking is the CPU cooling. Unless there is something terribly bad about the AW9D-MAX I will be buying it next month along with Arctic silver 5 and the Vapochill cooler.

Now before you comment on the choice of CPU cooler. My last rig had a vapochill micro on it and it done a fantastic job of cooling my AMD X2 4800 when I had it @ 2.9ghz. Ive also read many reviews about the cooler and it does an admirable job on CPU cooling.

This isnt me being annoyed BTW. Im just point out some facts that I think needs pointing out.

[FarFarAway]

Well then sounds like the AW9D should be ok for you. That Ballistix should be fine in it