Feature set

As the successor to ABIT’s IC7/IC7-G, the IC7-MAX3 is built on Intel’s high-end 875P “Canterwood” chipset. 875P is nothing more than 865PE with Intel’s Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT for short), although many motherboard manufacturers have found ways to enable this performance-enhancing technology on their 865PE products, including ABIT.

Paired alongside the 875P chipset on the IC7-MAX3 is Intel’s Communications Streaming Architecture (CSA). CSA provides a dedicated 2Gbps link between the onboard Intel Gigabit Ethernet controller and the North Bridge of the 875P chipset. Previous motherboards utilized the PCI bus to accomplish this task, which tops out at just 133MB/sec. By providing a dedicated link to the network controller optimal network performance is ensured, eliminating a potential bottleneck which can lower overall system performance.

Another feature ABIT has implemented is Intel’s ICH5R South Bridge chip. ICH5R takes the eight USB 2.0 ports and native Serial ATA support to another level by incorporating built-in RAID support, an industry first at the time. Support is limited to two Serial ATA drives (one per Serial ATA channel), but Intel’s software makes setup a snap -- reinstallation of the OS isn’t even required.

Six Serial ATA ports

New Silicon Image controller

Intel ICH5R chip

Silicon Image SATA controller

Since the ICH5R South Bridge is limited to support of just two Serial ATA hard drives, ABIT also provides an integrated Serial ATA controller from Silicon Image onboard. The Silicon Image controller supports up to four hard drives, bringing maximum capacity of Serial ATA storage to six drives for the IC7-MAX3. Like the Intel South Bridge, the Silicon Image controller boasts IDE RAID capability and supports RAID levels 0, 1, and 0+1. In comparison, the ICH5R chip is limited to just RAID levels 0 or 1.

The Silicon Image SATA controller takes the place of the HighPoint Parallel ATA controller ABIT has used on previous products (and the older Silicon Image controller used on the IC7-G). With Serial ATA slowly displacing Parallel ATA, this ensures that the IC7-MAX3 is built for the future.

Six-channel audio

Audio duties are handled by Realtek’s ALC650 chip. This AC’97 CODEC is a popular choice among many motherboard manufacturers. It isn’t quite as high-end as Analog Devices SoundMAX, but it’s certainly better than C-Media’s offering.

Basically, it won’t have you jumping out of your seat for cover, but it’s good enough for listening to low bit-rate MP3s and general desktop duties. If you’re a hardcore gamer with a high-end speaker setup however, you will want to upgrade from the IC7-MAX3’s onboard audio.

ALC650 audio onboard

Secure IDE

Secure IDE connected to the HDD

Secure IDE

One of the IC7-MAX3’s most unique features is Secure IDE. Secure IDE works like a dongle that ships with some software. ENOVA’s X-Wall LX-40 chip encrypts the data on your hard drive, ensuring data privacy and protection. A key that resembles a USB flash drive (the dongle) is used to grant access to the data, without this key, the hard drive cannot be accessed.

One Secure IDE device is provided in the IC7-MAX3’s packaging (limiting protection to just one drive), which plugs directly into your computer’s hard drive. Serial ATA drives are not supported. Two keys are provided, so if you lose one you have a backup. ABIT also runs enough cable from the Secure IDE header to reach around the front of your case (and then some), so you won’t have to worry about reaching around the back of your case every time you need to use the key.

Keep in mind that you will have to partition and format your hard drive with the key in place before you can use Secure IDE.