Abit IN9 32x Max Intel Socket 775 Motherboard
Introduction, Packaging and Package
Published: 14th February 2007 | Source: Abit | Price: |
abit are a revived company recently with enthusiast eagerley awaiting their next board to come out. The AW9D Max had rave reviews from around the web and seemed to harken back to the awesome Max series of motherboards in the past.
The IN9 Max seemed to take even longer to come out that everyone had hoped. Based on nVidia's 680i chipset and bundled with more features than you can shake a stick at, the IN9 Max seems ready to go on every front. Will it stand up to the usual round of OC3D tests? let's see...
Packaging
abit seem to be heading towards gargantuan proportions with their motherboard boxes nowadays, especially in their high-end boards. When the package came through my door it was certainly impressive.
With a rather bizarre horse/dragon/cyborg covered in flames the box certainly is very striking and large. The top panel flips up to reveal parts of the motherboard that highlight features. The packaging is certainly large enough to withstand a bit of a beating and will catch most people's attention when on retail shelves. Some rather amusing "beast" references are plastered over the box but all of the relevant information is there for you to read about the board.
abit use compartments to store the huge amount of extras you get with the board. As you can see included are two extra-long SLI connectors and abit's PCI-e Wi-Fi card. All in all a very well organised box.
Package
The box includes a plethora of stuff for you to use with the board. In fact I was quite overwhelmed when I took a look inside those neat little white boxes.
Here's what abit have put in the box for you:
* 1 x abit "AirPace" PCI-E x1 WiFi card
* 2 x Extra-long SLI connectors
* PCI backplate bracket to secure SLI bridge connectors (see below)
* Fan mount for NorthBridge
* I/O backplate
* 6 SATA data cables
* Rounded clear IDE cable
* Rounded Black FDD cable
* PCI backplate with 2 x USB and 2 x Firewire connecters (1 x large, 1 x small)
* 1 x Digital Optical audio cable
* 1 x AirPace manual
* 1 x abit IN9 32x Max Manual
* 1 x µGuru Users Manual
* 1 x abit IN9 32x Max Motherboard Jumper Settings quick-reference sheet
* 1 x Driver & Utilities CD for abit IN9 32x Max
Package
The box includes a plethora of stuff for you to use with the board. In fact I was quite overwhelmed when I took a look inside those neat little white boxes.
Here's what abit have put in the box for you:
* 1 x abit "AirPace" PCI-E x1 WiFi card
* 2 x Extra-long SLI connectors
* PCI backplate bracket to secure SLI bridge connectors (see below)
* Fan mount for NorthBridge
* I/O backplate
* 6 SATA data cables
* Rounded clear IDE cable
* Rounded Black FDD cable
* PCI backplate with 2 x USB and 2 x Firewire connecters (1 x large, 1 x small)
* 1 x Digital Optical audio cable
* 1 x AirPace manual
* 1 x abit IN9 32x Max Manual
* 1 x µGuru Users Manual
* 1 x abit IN9 32x Max Motherboard Jumper Settings quick-reference sheet
* 1 x Driver & Utilities CD for abit IN9 32x Max
The IN9 Max is an expensive top-end motherboard and a good bundle is expected. However I feel that abit have gone past the call of duty and this really is a complete package. I'm sure there's something else I would have wanted to see, but I can't think what it is!
On a more serious note, it's good to see abit stacking up this board with all that an enthusiast needs. It makes you feel that your money is well spent, so good job abit.
On a more serious note, it's good to see abit stacking up this board with all that an enthusiast needs. It makes you feel that your money is well spent, so good job abit.
Most Recent Comments
Just waiting to hear back from abit atm but I may give it another go on one of the beta's if they ask me too. May need a dedicated fan on the NB though as it's toasty: which I didn't do for the other boards (I hasten to add)
EDIT: abit said they've had 550FSB in the labs
EDIT: abit said they've had 550FSB in the labs
I'm inclined to believe that if the NB was cooled on the ABIT board like it is on the EVGA board it should do much better than 440FSB. I can't see ABIT putting out the smashing AW9D-MAX and then fall on their faces with the IN9 32X-MAX.
TJS
TJS
The AW9D-MAX does far from smash, I hated that board, and so did 90% of the other poor ripped off owners of it.
Hey, Frag, mine worked like a charm... didn't know so many had problems (other than Herr Schmidt). I thought a lot of people were getting some pretty good clocks compared to the 680i (don't know too much about the RD600 yet).
TJS
TJS
I'm inclined to believe that if the NB was cooled on the ABIT board like it is on the EVGA board it should do much better than 440FSB. I can't see ABIT putting out the smashing AW9D-MAX and then fall on their faces with the IN9 32X-MAX.
The fact is though that the cooler gets very very hot :(
Passive chipset heatsink + extremely hot running chipset = ? :p
I find all this passive heatpipe nonsense very annoying personally. It wouldn't surprise me if it's cheaper than adding a fan, and that's the reason so many manufacturers are taking it onboard.
They build a board for enthusiasts, but the first thing enthusiasts do is rip off the nb cooling and replace it with something else (something that isn't aluminium sprayed in a copper colour).
They build a board for enthusiasts, but the first thing enthusiasts do is rip off the nb cooling and replace it with something else (something that isn't aluminium sprayed in a copper colour).
If only they would implement a decent 3rd party solution or even get a decent solution in-house
If only they would implement a decent 3rd party solution or even get a decent solution in-house
Yep, something made out of copper with a fan on top. Not too much to ask really when you're paying over £200 for a motherboard.
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P.S. I put a link to your review in [H]ardOCP's forum IN9 32X thread.