Abit IT7Max2 v2 vs. Iwill P4HTS


Abit IT7Max2 v2 vs. Iwill P4HTS - Page 1

The Abit IT7-Max2 v2.0
vs.
The Iwill P4HT-S
Two Fully-Loaded i845PE's Duke it Out...

By, Marco Chiappetta
January 24, 2003

    

Over the past couple of years we have seen quite a few core logic chipsets hit the market for the Pentium 4.  We have tested motherboards based on the i850, i850e, a slew of variations of the i845, the SiS648, VIA's P4X266, 333 and 400...the list goes on and on.  Thanks to a few choice products, a good all-around feature set, including USB 2.0, Hyperthreading support and true DDR333 support, and top-notch performance one chipset in particular has won over many of the enthusiasts out there, the i845PE.  Today, we're taking two of the most talked about i845PE based motherboards currently available, the Abit IT7 Max2 v2 and the Iwill P4HT-S.  Both of these products are fully loaded with slew of integrated components, offering all of the features enthusiasts look for.  We pit these boards against each other in a heated head-to-head battle.  Press on to find out which board came out on top...

Specifications / Features of The Abit IT7-MAX2 v2
Fully Loaded...

CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW
   
SPECIFICATIONS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM ABIT-USA.COM

CPU:

  • Supports Intel Pentium 4 Socket 478 processors with 400/533 MHz Front Side Bus

Chipset:

  • Intel 845PE / ICH4

  • Supports Ultra DMA 33/66/100

  • Accelerated Graphics Port connector supports AGP 4X Interface (1.5V only)

Memory:

  • Three 184-pin DIMM sockets (unbuffered Non-ECC DIMM)

  • Supports 3 DIMM DDR 200/266/333 (Max. 2GB)

Serial ATA:

  • On board 2-Channel Serial ATA interface of 1.5 G bps

ATA133 RAID:

  • High Point HPT374 IDE RAID controller

Audio:

  • 6-Channel AC 97 CODEC on board

USB 2.0:

  • 10 Ports USB 2.0

IEEE 1394:

  • 3 Ports IEEE 1394

LAN:

  • On board RTL8100B 10/100M PCI Fast Ethernet Controller
    System BIOS

SoftMenu? Technology to set CPU parameters:

  • Supports Plug-and-Play (PNP)

  • Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)

Internal I/O Connectors:

  • 1 AGP slot, 4 PCI slots

  • Floppy Port supports up to 2.88MB

  • 2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Connectors

  • 2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 Connectors (RAID)

  • 2 x Serial ATA 1.5G bps Connectors

  • 1 x 6 Channel audio FPIO pin header (for Media XP)

  • 2 x USB headers, 1 x IEEE 1394 header

  • 2 x CD-IN, 1 x IrDA

Back Panel I/O:

  • 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 mouse

  • 4 x USB connectors

  • 2 x IEEE 1394 connectors

  • 1 x SPDIF Out connector

  • Audio connectors (Center/Sub, Surround Speaker)

  • Audio connectors (Front Speaker, Line-in, Mic-in)

  • 2 x USB, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector

Miscellaneous:

  • ATX form factor

  • Hardware monitoring - Including Fan speeds, Voltages, CPU and System environment temperature

  • Supports Wake Up by LAN, Modem Ring, RTC Alarm

  • Supports Keyboard and Mouse Power On

  • Supports STR (Suspend to RAM)

Media XP (Optional):

  • Supports card reader function for Memory Stick?, Secure Digital? and Type I/II CompactFlash?

  • Supports Wireless Remote Control and S/PDIF Out / Mic In / Headphone Out / USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394

Specifications / Features of The Iwill P4HT-S
Red, Very Red

    
SPECIFICATIONS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM IwillUSA.COM

Processor
  • Supports single socket 478 Intel® Pentium® 4 processor
  • Supports 533/400 MHz Intel® Pentium 4 processor speeds up to 3.06 GHz and higher
  • Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology

Chipset

  • Intel® 845PE chipset
  • MCH (82845PE) - Memory Controller Hub
  • ICH4 (82801DB) - I/O Controller Hub 4

Bus Frequency

  • 533/400 MHz system bus
  • System Memory
  • 2 x DIMM slots
  • Supports up to 2GB DDR333/266/200 (PC2700/2100/1600) SDRAM
  • Supports Unbuffered DDR SDRAM modules

IDE

  • Dual channel ATA 100/66/33 IDE
  • Promise® PDC20275
  • Dual channel ATA/133 IDE controller
  • Supports maximum of eight (8) IDE devices

Serial ATA

  • Silicon Image® Sil 3112 SATALink? PCI Host Controller
  • PCI-to-SATA host controller
  • Supports two independent Serial ATA devices
  • Data transfer rate up to 1.5 Gbps (150 MB/s)

Audio

  • Realtek® ALC650
  • 6-channel AC'97 Audio CODEC
  • S/PDIF digital audio
  • 1 x 4-pin CD-ROM audio-in header
  • 1 x 4-pin AUX header

LAN

  • Realtek® RTL8100 10/100M Fast Ethernet Controller
  • 10/100 Mbps operations

Expansion Slots

  • 1 x AGP slot supports 4X mode (1.5V only)
  • 5 x 32-bit/33 MHz PCI slots
I/O Interface
  • 2 x ATA/100 IDE connectors
  • 2 x ATA/133 IDE connectors
  • 2 x Serial ATA connectors
  • 1 x Floppy connector
  • 1 x Internal IR connector
  • 2 x PS/2 connectors (keyboard and mouse)
  • 1 x 9-pin 16550-based serial port
  • 1 x 25-pin SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
  • 3 x USB 2.0 ports
  • 1 x Internal USB 2.0 port
  • 1 x Internal Wake-on-LAN header
  • 1 x Compact Flash reader connector
  • 1 x Memory Stick / Secure Digital reader connector
  • 1 x Internal USB 2.0 pin header
  • 3 x Audio connectors (Line-in | Line-out | MIC)
  • 1 x Rear Ch. audio connector
  • 1 x Center Ch./Subwoofer audio connector
  • 1 x Digital-out port for S/PDIF support

BIOS

  • Award BIOS 4Mb Flash ROM
  • Flash write protection for BIOS
  • Write protection for memory SPD EEPROM
  • Supports ACPI S1, S3 and S4
  • BIOS feature set
  • BIOS setup features
  • Auto configuration for IDE hard disk type
  • Multiple boot options

System Management

  • Winbond® Super I/O W83637HF
  • Analog Device fan controller for monitoring and alerting
  • Processor temperature sensor
  • Voltage monitoring (Vcore | +1.5V | +2.5V | +3.3V | +5V | +12V | Battery | 5VTSB)

Board Size

  • ATX Form Factor
  • 12 in x 8.3 in (305mm x 210mm)
  • 4 layer PCB

Package Contents

  • 1 x IWILL P4HTS motherboard
  • 1 x Users' manual
  • 1 x IWILL Power Installer CD
  • 1 x ATA/133 IDE cable
  • 1 x ATA/100 IDE cable
  • 1 x Serial ATA cable
  • 1 x Floppy cable
  • 1 x I/O shield

THE BUNDLES:

   

Abit has done an excellent job with the IT7-Max2 v2's bundle.  Included with the board there are two, black, 80-Wire ATA/133 IDE cables as well as a standard floppy cable.  A very complete User's Manual is also included in the package, along with a simple BIOS optimization guide and a set of adhesive cable hold-downs and wire ties.  We also found the obligatory driver CD and a 3.5" floppy disk with drivers for the on-board HPT374 RAID controller.  Abit also includes a custom port shield to accommodate the non-standard external connector layout.  An extra dual-USB back plate was also present, as well as one of Abit's "Serillel" adapters.  The "Serillel" adapter is a "Serial" to "Parallel" ATA adapter that lets users plug standard IDE drives into the Serial-ATA controller available on the IT7 Max2 v2.

Iwill also did a great job with the P4HT-S' accessory bundle, even with a couple of notable exceptions.  The Iwill P4HT ships with two 80-Wire ATA/133 IDE cables, a standard floppy cable and red Serial-ATA cable.  There is a small bag of yellow jumpers included, but we doubt you'll ever have to use them.  A custom I/O port shield is also bundled with the P4HT-S, along with a User's Manual, a driver CD and a floppy equipped with drivers for the on-board SATA controller.  Something we would have liked to see was an extra dual-USB back plate, and oddly enough, a floppy with drivers for the RAID controller wasn't included, but we think this was a fluke with our particular package.  It was nothing a quick trip to Iwill's website couldn't fix.

A Look At The Boards... 

 

Tags:  X2, Will, P4, Abit

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