Abit AW9D-Max on Vapochill LS

[Charles Wirth]

Intel X6800 ES Stepping B1 1.70v in Bios
Abit Aw9D-Max (http://www.abit-usa.com)
ATI X1900XT Crossfire (http://www.ati.com) stock heat sinks
Asys 850W. PSU
Raptor 150x4 RAID 0
Corsair 6400C3 @ 2.45v
-46c on the display, error in bios. Approx -26c on core w/ generous 20 degree TD. I dont slack on mounting tightness, 20c TD should be fair guess.
MCH 2.0v @ max setting
NB fan added, low noise
Vapochill LS (http://www.asetek.com) CPU cooling R507 charged.

All results are as is and close to max possible with given hardware available. The hardware I am using is the best stuff on the market so my results should be above par for me to even consider this board a contender in benchmarking.

The CPU is a older review sample B1 stepping and slightly worse in clocks than what is available in B2 stepping in both FSB speed and top end speed through independant testing here on XS.

I am booting into windows @ 433x10 3-4-3-9 to complete 2D benches. No hardware was changed for the bandwidth tests on this posts other than the video cards for X1900XT vs GX2 benching. This was a maximum safe speed for 2D and light 3D but not something I would consider 24/7 but rather a top bench speed. Im running voltages up, something not advised for long term use.

The speed was reduced to 420 FSB 3-4-3-12 to get consistant 3D benches with no comprimise to stability on any parts. This is the speed I now stay at and put in many hours on the system to trust it completely for 24/7 use.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/system.jpg
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/devices.jpg

The Vapochill bracket fits fine, no clearance problems at all. I dont forsee any problems with existing aftermarket heatsinks fitting this board.

The OCZ was installed when I took pictures and were substituted for benching. I use 4GB of OCZ ram for my gaming, the Corsair was found to bench best on this plaform. At this time there is a SPD problem. OCZ has sent me updated SPD since this review to correct the boot problem.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/vapomount.jpg

On the backside there is nothing in the way except the small pins that must be trimmed like on all motherboards to prevent shorting. I used flush cut electronics trimmer to prep the board like I do all boards. This is also a reminder that is not ok to leave those cap and ground pins long when you install a metal backplate.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/vapoback.jpg

My Vapochill is custom modded by Chilly1, it has been recharged with R507 and load tested with the most brutal Smithfield and Presler cores for high speeds and optimal capacity. My Vapochill LS unit will pin -50c unloaded and hold around -45c and drop no more than 5c under load. It has been in operation for almost three years now, it has the original firmware as well. A very dependable unit that I can highly recommend to everyone. Asetek (http://www.vapochill.com) has mastered the seal on socket 775 and with proper maintainance they can and will run for years with trouble free operation. I keep mine showroom clean inside and out, airflow is important for performance.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/max.jpg

The board is feature packed and sells for a modest $240 at newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127011). Abit had an engineer deck the boards out in LED's that are changeable in BIOS with a bunch of presets.

Most people dont know that the board has a built in LED light show, programmable settings from bios that allow different patterns.

I use an Antec case with Athena power supply both having blue lights as well. This helped in the decision to make this board my daily gamer.

Abit was quick to issue a beta bios shortly after board release as promised, the bios improved my overclock and no instability problems when operating at 4.33Ghz. I have quite a bit of load on my power supply with the Crossfire cards and 4x RAID drives let alone the huge OC on the system. Im feeding the CPU 1.7v.

I will start off with the usuall bandwidth quicky benches and work up to 3D. I will only use the CCC overclocking to keep my results simple and repeatable.

Once again, I am booting at 433x10 3-4-3-9, shown in some images.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/cine2.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/crystalmark.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sciencemark.jpg

Onto Everest, non ultimate version.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/everlate.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/everread.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/everwrite.jpg

Sandra 2007

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sandracpu.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sandramm.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sandraband.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sandracache.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/sandrabuff.jpg

HDTach results, long run.
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/hdtachlong.jpg

Pi and Pifast results.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/pi1.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/pifast.jpg

All results should be on or above par, the board performs great indeed. For the versions I used, nothing to pick at and most impressive latency on Everest. Running the 4:5 ratio gained me nothing, this has been observed on other boards as well. Tight timing PC6400 is the best choice for this board.

After gaming on this board for a few weeks it has proven itself for stability. My NB gets very hot but not unstable if dont have a fan on it. I have not gotten SLI benches done, waiting on replacement 7950GT. One of my cards was defective and was un-noticed as I had it in the second slot and tested single in primary. I finally tried the second card solo and found it broken.

[Charles Wirth]

No special cooling or hard overclocking done on the video cards, CCC was used to push the cards to 700/800 even though the cards are capable of much more. I wanted decent but comparable results.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9050057
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k1.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4965194
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k3.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2219897
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k5.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=502838
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k6.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/am3.jpg

2K6 was giving me some problems on the CPU tests, I backed system speed down to 4.2Ghz to get all tests done. The high detail scores on 2k1 are top notch, even the AM3 score is very strong.

Here is the 7950GX2 in action, not bad scores compared to the Crossfire setup. These scores are from a single card.

Card clocks 600/700 stock heatsinks.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9050655
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/gx2k1.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4966479
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/gx2k3.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2221290
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/gx2k5.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=504526
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/gx2k6.jpg

The single GX2 is beating the dual X1900XT's on Aquamark3 showing the GX2 to be a very strong single card solution that can rival the ATI counterparts. The new X1950 has been released and I am sure securing the position that two cards are better than one.

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/gxam3.jpg

Here are the 7950GT SLI benchmarks, I increased the clock speeds to 650/800 or +100Mhz on the GPU and memory like I did on all the other cards. I had to use the older modded drivers by Big Sam. Many thanks for having the files ready ahead of time.

The modded driver is the only way to get SLI to work on the AW9D-Max board currently.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9065194
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k1b.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4996264
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k3b.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2256210
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k5b.jpg

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=545677
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/2k6b.jpg

http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/am3b.jpg

There is no power restart issues like those found on the Asus line of boards and I only had done the cmos reset once by choice. The system will reset after failed overclock correctly making life much easier when testing.

It would be safe to reccomend this board for both benching and gaming. Stability is one of this boards stong points and I have only used the cmos reset once. Knowing the board hits so high on 1066 strap makes this board very strong in bandwidth at top speed. If it had the 1333 strap I am sure this board could huge bus speeds like those found on other boards.

The other problem is my top multiple is 11x with the x6800 on the beta bios, not the big of a problem as I use 10x now.

Abit needs to include the fans with the Max boards, not sure why that was overlooked.

[alpha0ne]

Looks like you've made my mind up for board # 6 :slapass: :clap:

[ArcTan]

Looks like you've made my mind up for board # 6 :slapass: :clap::eek:
Didn't you just get a P5B dlx?

Damn tempting too
Maybe board #3 for me :p:

[jimmyz]

did you get the uguru panel also? on their website it is listed for 25 dollars. does it come with the max version?

[Charles Wirth]

I did not get the Uguru Panels yet, I did request some.

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=141198

[Vassili]

Nice test!

But isn't that a strange HDTach result with 4x150 Raptor Raid-0?:confused:

[Unseen]

Intel X6800 ES Stepping B1 1.70v in Bios
http://fugger.netfirms.com/max/cine2.jpg


just for reference. P5b deluxe
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6719/cine4320wc4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Kabauterman]

I have a retail version and my FSB goes on 1,75V up to 430 MHz
more i have't testet yet but I think it's a good board for OC, it haves many more OC Options than P5W oder P5B

And instability I have't seen by me!

[rapty]

Considering this or the Asus P5W64 what do you guys consider better?

[gloatlizard]

what is the highest settable vcore?thx

[Kabauterman]

1,725 V is max

[Hazzan]

Cool Fugger !!

[Durzel]

On the backside there is nothing in the way except the small pins that must be trimmed like on all motherboards to prevent shorting.Can you tell me what you mean by this?

I haven't seen this in any Vapochill install manual, and I'm a bit worried now!

[sladesurfer]

is there a cold boot on the board??? Like the Asus boards cause im not happy with that. everytime a bios tweak the mobo have to shut down. Bad for my components

[Charles Wirth]

Fixed the missing images, netfirms was having problems last night.

Lets say you were to smack your buddy in the face with the back of the mobo. Those pins that stick out would gouge small holes in their face and they would bleed if they were not trimmed down. Its those pins that need to be removed for the vapo mounting or the pins would short out on the metal backplate as shown in the image above. All boards have those pins, its just a reminder to remove them for safety.

I will be adding GX2 and SLI 3D results.

[vanovich]

I have a retail version and my FSB goes on 1,75V up to 430 MHz
more i have't testet yet but I think it's a good board for OC, it haves many more OC Options than P5W oder P5B

And instability I have't seen by me!
what cooling you using?

[Kabauterman]

Stock Cooling with Fan over the End of the Heatpiepes
CPU is Watercooled

[Nosfer@tu]

Ownage ther Fugger. GREAT TO SE ABIT BACK IN THE GAME :D

Now we just need some of the less skilled users to go faster.

Why are you only running 400 fsb Kabauterman?

Have you tried a lower multi Fugger :) ?

[Kabauterman]

Why are you only running 400 fsb Kabauterman?

I have an Retail E6600 not an ES
so I can't get over 3,7 GHz

I have Test the FSB with 7x Multi but it's not possilbe to give more than 425
but Alex (for forumdeluxx.de) says that it is a BIOS problem ans Abit is on work to fix that!

[Charles Wirth]

GX2 results posted at the end of post #2.

Working on SLI tomorrow.

Yes, I have tried lower multi's.

[Kabauterman]

GX2 results posted at the end of post #2.

Working on SLI tomorrow.

Yes, I have tried lower multi's.

is it also so that the FSB not goes higher with more vMCH ?

[Charles Wirth]

Pretty much maxed out on the 1066 strap, if we had the 1333 strap I bet we could be pushing upwards of 600FSB with 2v

[Kabauterman]

Pretty much maxed out on the 1066 strap, if we had the 1333 strap I bet we could be pushing upwards of 600FSB with 2v

I think so too ...

the timings are stronger than on other Boards,
I think the Abit have potential to be THE BEST i975X Board for OC ...

hope for newer BIOS :party:


€:
Here are some of my Abit Pic's if you want you can use them for Post #1

http://www.hardwarextreme.de/dave/Abit/

[SLi_dog]

what's the voltage regulation like?

eg at max setting of 1.7313 vcore, what's the actual vcore? 1.725?

Any idea of other settings over/undervolting?

[TuKo]

Quad SLI on Intel... ? :)

[Kabauterman]

what's the voltage regulation like?

eg at max setting of 1.7313 vcore, what's the actual vcore? 1.725?

Any idea of other settings over/undervolting?

Vcore is more Stable like on a P5WDH jo set 1,6 and you get 1,6 idle droop is around 0.01 -0.02 V

[VoRtAn_MaDgE]

Fugger...

Did you already test any workstation 975x from asus?

P5WDG2-WS or P5W64 WS ???

Would be nice a compare of both ;)

[Charles Wirth]

Yea, I tried the DH and found it un-useable for my setup. I needed 4 SATA pots off the ICH7R and the power down on restart problem over 333FSB was too annoying.

[Fr3ak]

Thats the only thing I hate about the board. So annoying when you are looking for max oc.
Cant be good for my pump too :/

[Charles Wirth]

I cannot get the driver to load on the 7950GT's in SLI. Suggestions??

I have been in the .inf and it has the entries for the card from the standard assignment of cards in the list.

[itznfb]

which drivers are you using?

91.33 won't work...
you need 91.47 or higher

[Kabauterman]

which drivers are you using?

91.33 won't work...
you need 91.47 or higher

With SLI on Intel u can't use non Hacked drivers ;)

[Charles Wirth]

Yep .47

It does not find the video card and fails to install. With the GX2 it will state what the card it found is. I need to try the cards on a diff mobo later.

I forgot to mention, no LOD adjustments were used on any 3D benchmark. Lack of known tweaks = the low Nature on the X1900 CF setup. Those were all straight up runs. I could squeeze quite a bit more points out but it would not be a true representation of what you could get out of the box.

[itznfb]

you try 92.91?
i think i used 92.91 when i got 2 7950gt's working. neither card was mine though, so i can't retest to confirm

i may have used "non-official" chipset drivers, i can't remember though. i'll dig through my files and see if i can find anything.

edit: coolaler has them doesn't he?

2edit: :banana::banana::banana::banana: nm i found them, YGPM

[Harshal]

Nice review Fugger! Me wants this one :D as sold P5B-Dlx last week

[mr_knowitall15]

lookin good! Whats the highest the fsb will go at any multi fugger? I am able to get a really good deal on a 6600, 6700, and even the X6800. If this board is capable of 4 Ghz with the 6600 (450 fsb) im totally sold!
Glad to see Abit is back as a real player again! (IC7 series FTW)

[SLi_dog]

FUGGER or Kabauterman, any chance of getting copies of the additional BIOS'?

[dragonhunter]

Yea, I tried the DH and found it un-useable for my setup. I needed 4 SATA pots off the ICH7R and the power down on restart problem over 333FSB was too annoying.


Fugger, pls confirm that the Abit board you're using does NOT have the power down on restart like the Asus board?

Thank you

[mr_knowitall15]

Fugger, pls confirm that the Abit board you're using does NOT have the power down on restart like the Asus board?
Thank you

There is no power restart issues like those found on the Asus line of boards and I only had done the cmos reset once by choice. The system will reset after failed overclock correctly making life much easier when testing.
:slap:

[b0bd0le]

i guess i'll buy this board

what's the best ram for this fugger?

[Charles Wirth]

Right now D9 based ram works best.

[b0bd0le]

Right now D9 based ram works best.

awesome, thanks for the quick reply

would my assumption that this board would max out my retail 6600 be correct? How's the performance with the 9x multi?

[Charles Wirth]

I would say with phase 3.6~3.8Ghz would be about the max bench speed and the screen shot of 4Ghz might be possible.

8x would be too low, 9x or 10x would about right.

[Kabauterman]

FUGGER do you know somthing about the next BIOS versions
when do they come

[Charles Wirth]

Nope, but they know what we need.

[itznfb]

hey FUGGER did those drivers work?

[Bootsy]

Fugger thanks for the 411 on this board!! I got mine wednesday and so far I like.
I can run my 6800 superPi stable up to 4.1 (my DFI crapped out around 3.9).
However, I cant get my memory to run any higher than 375 1:1. Do you think its my mem?( 3gb Mushkin Extreme DDR2 667) I am running the beta bios by the way and tried all combinations 1gig, 2gig , 3gig.

[Kabauterman]

http://www.hardwarextreme.de/dave/aw9d12.rar

AW9D-Max Final 12

[ojdr2001]

I forgot to mention, no LOD adjustments were used on any 3D benchmark. Lack of known tweaks = the low Nature on the X1900 CF setup.

Which catalyst did you use? I cannot activate properly CF in Nature 2001 with cat above 6.6. Tried every tweak: AI, Mipmap, etc,etc

With Cat 6.6 or below CF works like a charm in Nat / 2001

[hausner]

great review FUGGER !

[TheDro]

FUGGER what sound are you going to use w/ that setup? External, audiomax, or pci flex solution?

[Charles Wirth]

I used an older cat driver, you would need to check the bench run for exact revision . I think it was 6.4

On the 375 FSB problem, what multiple are you trying to use? I had a problem with 10x and lower.

Onboard sounds is good enough for me.

[Bootsy]

I used an older cat driver, you would need to check the bench run for exact revision . I think it was 6.4

On the 375 FSB problem, what multiple are you trying to use? I had a problem with 10x and lower.

Onboard sounds is good enough for me.

I have tried the 8, 9 and 10 multi. I cant do 400+ with the 11 multi on water. I guess I will wait for the prices to come down on the pc6400 ram you are using.

[TheDro]

Woah I didn't even notice the board has built in LED's, :banana::banana::banana::banana:ing sweet, since my cheap ass won't buy any cathodes. :cheers:

[MJRL]

http://www.hardwarextreme.de/dave/aw9d12.rar

AW9D-Max Final 12
Any feedback on this?

[Raja@ASUS]

nice board I have one, it can boot up 445 out of bios with no mods....

The only issues i am having is running Crossfire, I think it still needs some bios work.... even with the latest final...

I managed a nice superpi with water, certainly not xtreme but ok for me anyway......


http://upload4.postimage.org/1215510/photo_hosting.html

http://worldoverclockingleague.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10

[IcyRocket]

Ok, I have also an Abit AW9D, with multi 10 I´ve FSB 413, but I have still problems with my memory. On Asus P5B Deluxe, DDR2-1200 4-4-4-5 is no thing, on Abit - maximum DDR2-950 4-4-4-5 :(

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/148/x6800iu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Bootsy]

Nice memory clocks!! what memory are you running?

[IcyRocket]

Cellshock DDR2-1000 4-4-4-12, its a brand from MSC in Germany.

Look: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116624

[tictac]

Any feedback on this?

it is same version as posted by fugger.... no need for upgrade...

[Pedro Rocha]

Here are my 1st impressions of the Abit AW9-Max..

Using the new bios 1.2..

Tested iwth E6700 ES cooled by a TT Big Typhoon, memory sticks are TG 667 3-3-3

Photo:

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/Aw9_BT.jpg


Moderate OC ;)

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/AbitAW9_6700_3900_10x390.jpg


More agressive OC to test the limits of the CPU / Mem :

http://pedrorocha.planetaclix.pt/AbitAW9_6700_3900_440_333.jpg

Not bad :D

One of the big advantages of the Abit over the P5W-DH is that you can use ESpeedStep and C1 with any voltage or with any multiplier - that helps a lot to keep the CPU cool:)

I will test the board with single phase and will post results..

[Kabauterman]

it is same version as posted by fugger.... no need for upgrade...


12 Beta is not the Same like 12 Final ...

this BIOS is from yesterday (Postet from Abit Worker in German Forum)

[roro]

This is the result with my abit.
Setting:
enermax 600w coolergiant
abit aw9d max
conroe 6800 b2
thermalright xp90c
asus 7600 GS

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060923203206_445.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060923203206_445.JPG)

bye

[dragonhunter]

roro,
what are your voltages' settings?

[roro]

Sorry, double post.

[roro]

the voltage setting is 1,58 volt to vcore cpu for the 445 Mhz fsb screen's

[roro]

This is the new screen with this mainboard, full air cooling. I have changed the original thermich pad under the chipset with the artic silver 5. The new result with this event is 454 Mhz full air.

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060923232255_454.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060923232255_454.JPG)

Bye and sorry for my bad english.

[dragonhunter]

roro,

MCH and FSB voltages?

[roro]

Mch is 2 v. :)

[DEVIL K-ce]

http://img1.spx.pl/u/lol_16054t.jpg (http://www.spx.pl/u/lol_15912.html)

Vmch 1.9V

[roro]

Update with ln cooling. The mb is very very good.

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060924194549_abit10047.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060924194549_abit10047.JPG)

:D

[DEVIL K-ce]

Wtf :eek:

What setting's in bios ?

Stock board's no mod ?

[roro]

Yes, no mod. In bios vcore max, mch max ....... :D boot in bios at 458 Mhz.

[Lalaboy]

I got mine only yesterday!:)

E6600 B2 (week:25)
Abit AWD9-Max
Water Cooling Corsair COOL
2x1Gb Mushkin Redline XP2 8000
OCZ Modstream 520 12U

Here are my results:
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/9556/superpi13093qh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3419/winrarabit2im6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3465/sandraabitxt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Vcore:1.62, NB: 1.95V, Mem.:2.45V

How can I disable the Thermal Management (Thermal Monitor)??

[DEVIL K-ce]

Yes, no mod. In bios vcore max, mch max ....... :D boot in bios at 458 Mhz.
Very nice. Cold = more MHz :)

[Kabauterman]

E6600 B2 Step6
Abit AW9D-Max
Gskill 8000 HZ (D9GKX)
Gsforce 7950GX2
Raptoxx 700 W PSU

Watercooled

http://www.hardwarextreme.de/dave/fsb450_tb.jpg (http://www.hardwarextreme.de/dave/fsb450.jpg)

[tictac]

Update with ln cooling. The mb is very very good.

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060924194549_abit10047.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060924194549_abit10047.JPG)

:D

wow.... very nice... now all ya need bios with upper multiplier available... :toast:

[johnsally]

I got mine only yesterday!:)

E6600 B2 (week:25)
Abit AWD9-Max
Water Cooling Corsair COOL
2x1Gb Mushkin Redline XP2 8000
OCZ Modstream 520 12U

Here are my results:
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/9556/superpi13093qh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3419/winrarabit2im6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3465/sandraabitxt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Vcore:1.62, NB: 1.95V, Mem.:2.45V

How can I disable the Thermal Management (Thermal Monitor)??

in bios=) j/k i believe it is in cpu features in bios.

[Foxy_PT]

Very nice review :)
I think this board is excelent, and it still as room for bios improvement and etc...

[syne_24]

One of the big advantages of the Abit over the P5W-DH is that you can use ESpeedStep and C1 with any voltage or with any multiplier - that helps a lot to keep the CPU cool:)

I will test the board with single phase and will post results..

So it can be done but the P5W just doesnt let you. Only enabled in windows with Rightmark for it to work. This board is looking very nice! :)

[Phil The Greek]

Has anyone put the thiw board in BTX position?I have done it and I have the fealing that the chipset is not cooling right.After finishing succesfully a 32Mpi and a 3DMark 05 @9X370 with 1.8VMCH in bios,it suddenly froze in windows without doing something or running any bench.
I also found that with the original bios,when sata1~4 is enabled in raid mode,the uGURU menu in bios is not working(freezes when trying to get inside).I cant test it with beta because I just had a bad flashing trying to flash to beta.Hope I will meet soon whith hipro5 so he can make me a hotflash in bios chip.

[tictac]

it not beta anymore

Version 12 final :
ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/aw9d/aw9d12.zip

[Cornelious0_0]

Wow...this board is looking very nice....now give me more then that one PCI slot and I'll be sold.

Not that bad for single GFX card users, but everyone else is left a little high and dry for any expansion cards with those smaller "oh so usefull" PCI-E slots taking up all the space.

Nice results though guys.

[Phil The Greek]

it not beta anymore

Version 12 final :
ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/download/bios/aw9d/aw9d12.zip
Thank you tictac.That was a fast bios release:thumbsup:

[roro]

I have tested the bios posted by coolaler

http://www.iamxtreme.net/coolaler/m606c_12.b02

and the result with extreme cooling ( ln2 ) is very good.

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060924194549_abit10047.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060924194549_abit10047.JPG)

The problem with this motherboard is currently the multiplier look at 11 max for the 6800 ..........

[Bootsy]

I have tested the bios posted by coolaler

http://www.iamxtreme.net/coolaler/m606c_12.b02

and the result with extreme cooling ( ln2 ) is very good.

http://www.pctuner.info/test/results/th_20060924194549_abit10047.JPG (http://www.pctuner.info/test/image.php?src=20060924194549_abit10047.JPG)

The problem with this motherboard is currently the multiplier look at 11 max for the 6800 ..........

Is this a modded bios?

[roro]

Is this a modded bios?

Yes: tested by coolaler .......

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113633

[INJViper]

Very nice review.. The board looks bad:banana: :banana: :banana: ...

[Bootsy]

Yes: tested by coolaler .......

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113633
Okay thanks. Now what did he mod in ths bios??

[Kabauterman]

Okay thanks. Now what did he mod in ths bios??

me wan't to know it too

it is High FSB optimized?

[roro]

I dont'have tested this bios very well but my best results at max fsb is with this.

[Foxy_PT]

Any news on this beauty? :banana:

[mr_knowitall15]

umm its out? at like $230 bucks... dont know what you mean by news..
unless u mean updates from Fugger...

[TWY]

Does anyone experience weird instabilities at times that are linked to RAM timings?

If I set my RAMs to run timings By SPD (5-5-5-15), everything goes fine. But when I set it to Manual, but use the same settings of 5-5-5-15, my Prime95 can fail at times.

I tried using 4-4-4-12 @ DDR800 at 1.85V also, as compared to 4-4-4-12 @ DDR800 but 1.80V on the P5W DH, but the ABIT board fails Prime95. FSB and ratios and other volts are set to the same for both boards (CPU shared between both boards I tested). :(

[Bootsy]

Yes, this board has some issues with ram timings and it gets even worse when you run an X6800 on this board. I have emailed abit tech support and started a thread on the abit forums about this issue.

[Charles Wirth]

Update, SLI benches done with 7950GT.

I overclocked the GPU and memory +100Mhz like the other cards.

I had to use modded drivers to get SLI working.

[SLi_dog]

I was benching with the new 1.3 alpha BIOS and managed to get a max FSB of 432Mhz.

The unlocked multiplier is damn wicked, I got to 4.83Ghz (345x14 - 2:3) 32M stable using dry ice.


Also, the heatsinks on this board are CRAP. I removed them yesterday and they almost seem as if they're there for appearances only. You can pratically bend the heat pipes with your little finger. I removed the NB heatsink and heatpipe (which practically came away in my hands) and replaced it with a thermaltake extreme spirit. I also removed the Southbridge thermal pad and replaced it with ceramique.
I'm wondering if the dodgy heatsinks are the reason for such bad FSB oc's.

[Killnine]

I was benching with the new 1.3 alpha BIOS and managed to get a max FSB of 432Mhz.

The unlocked multiplier is damn wicked, I got to 4.83Ghz (345x14 - 2:3) 32M stable using dry ice.


Also, the heatsinks on this board are CRAP. I removed them yesterday and they almost seem as if they're there for appearances only. You can pratically bend the heat pipes with your little finger. I removed the NB heatsink and heatpipe (which practically came away in my hands) and replaced it with a thermaltake extreme spirit. I also removed the Southbridge thermal pad and replaced it with ceramique.
I'm wondering if the dodgy heatsinks are the reason for such bad FSB oc's.


That sucks. Those heatsinks look super bad:banana: :banana: :banana: .

[CoNMaN]

My system with AW9D-MAX

http://www.conman.se/x6800/pi1mbliten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/x6800/pi1mb.JPG)

http://www.conman.se/32mb1155liten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/32mb1155.JPG)

http://www.conman.se/x6800/everestliten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/x6800/everest.JPG)

http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2399liten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2399.JPG)

http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2402liten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2402.JPG)

http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2403liten.JPG (http://www.conman.se/x6800/PICT2403.JPG)

[SilveradoJ442]

My system with AW9D-MAX

Very Nice. I cannot wait to get my 6800/AW9D-Max under phase. Soon I hope. What voltage do you have set? Maxed out? My 6800 only seems to make it rock stable to 3.6 and tops out around 3.9 (unstable)with my current watercooling . Should I expect similar results? Jinu117 is building me a v2000 w/ single stage down below. Im hoping for the numbers that your getting.

[G H Z]

Update with ln cooling. The mb is very very good

Nice results roro :toast:

Have you tried 13 Beta BIOS for up multi's?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1767359&postcount=784

DL Here (http://www.conman.se/M606C_13.zip):

[mr_knowitall15]

Also, the heatsinks on this board are CRAP. I removed them yesterday and they almost seem as if they're there for appearances only. You can pratically bend the heat pipes with your little finger. I removed the NB heatsink and heatpipe (which practically came away in my hands) and replaced it with a thermaltake extreme spirit. I also removed the Southbridge thermal pad and replaced it with ceramique.
I'm wondering if the dodgy heatsinks are the reason for such bad FSB oc's.
Got my board in yesterday (go fedex!) and am waiting for EVERYTHING else to come from the egg tonight. (not their fault, they shipped the day i ordered... f-ing UPS)
After reading that, i went up and inspected, and oh man they look it. The LOOK cool, but they also look like they perform mediocre. The heatpipe looks like its just silconed to the NB heatsink... :stick: Also, it looks like they all use fairly thick thermal pads :nono: . I may be taking the assembly off and putting some AS5 on the north and southbridge.

[mr_knowitall15]

well... Im pretty impressed thus far. Just got windows and some drivers installed (currently DLing SP2... damn old SP1 disk on mine) Everything seems to be running GREAT! ive done nothing for tweaking, minuse changing the ram to its rated 4-4-4-12, but at only 800Mhz. At completely stock, i got a 20.xxx Pi, and 40xxx 3DMark01. I will start pushin this weekend hopefully (frickin work)

[kenofstephen]

1.3 beta is out, have a good time with x6800 :D :D :D

30x multiplier :D :slobber:

[kenofstephen]

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j272/kenofstephen/13-10-06_2052.jpg
:D :D :D just for fun

[Dr.No.pt]

471 FSB ? :eek:

Very nice !! :toast: :clap:

[Charles Wirth]

Review posted to front page with updated verbage.

http://www.xtremesystems.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=33

I will be doing the proper SLI review on an Nvidia based mobo next for comparison.

[Raja@ASUS]

Review posted to front page with updated verbage.

http://www.xtremesystems.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=33

I will be doing the proper SLI review on an Nvidia based mobo next for comparison.


excellent review for the xtreme user fugger, well written and concise. I found I can game at 420fsb on water too on the 9x multi.

regards
Raja

[qdemn7]

FUGGER, Your review has strongly influenced me toward this board. What kind of performance increase do you think one could get on all W/C if they replaced the NB/SB coolers with waterblocks?

[ochw]

475 think u will get any more out of it?

[zicl]

i just got one of these boards today, its going to replace the p5w-dh im hoping for good things tbh looking at the results people are getting here!!

[Charles Wirth]

One thing to note, the only useable PCI slot has a clearance problem with the audio card below it.

It is impossible to install an Iram.

[flewpastu]

well thats an awsome review Fugger .... i cant tell ya how many times i read it

there have been several Beta 1.3 bios's out and here is the latest Beta 1.3b 04 (http://savefile.com/files/308508) havent a chance to push it yet as i'm only on water with an open window in florida .......... but the prior beta 1.3b 03 i managed aprox 447 X 9 but need to stabilize it but so far this and the 1.3b 03 both have solved many SPD issues and CMOS issues when unplugged still testing 04 tho

i'm hoping to order a Vapo for it in the next couple of weeks but with 5 kids and the holidays closing in .... not sure when it will actually be ordered


otherwise i love the board and have been running it since 1st released in the US ( paid over $300 at the time but just had to have it ) now if we could get some SLI drivers to support 8800GTX that will be next after the Vapo till then i'll keep the 7900GTx's intact

[LarsK]

It's a great oc/benchmark board for conroe, but so far it doesn't work too well with kentsfield. Fsb isn't even orthos stable @ 290 Mhz fsb, 3dmark06 will only run up to around 295 MHz fsb, and it won't even post past 310 Mhz fsb.

Going upwards on the multiplier 11 and up on my QX6700) only clocks 2 of the 4 cores and leaves the other 2 @ 10x. Installed bios 13 beta 4 today and there's no improvement over any of the previous versions.

My E6700 is smoking in the AW9D-Max though, so I guess I'll just have to wait for another motherboard for the QX6700 unless Abit can fix some of those issues with a bios update. But I'm not entirely sure they can.

[ckoons1]

FUGGER,
how far down should i trim capacitor pins on back of motherboard before installing backplate for my lightspeed?
thx
ckoons1