With the release of the Pentium 4 "C" 800FSB CPUs, there was also the release of the Intel 875P. As we've seen here at VL, the ticket to top Pentium 4 performance comes with the Canterwood, but a quick look around though, and you'll see that this performance comes at a price. Some people are willing to splurge on it, whereas others are a little more hesitant.

Shortly after, the more mainstream oriented i865PE chipset was released, codenamed Springdale. The Springdale offers almost every feature the Canterwood does, at a much lower cost. Could this be the P4 based mainboard to buy? We'll try to help you decide with our look at the ABIT IS7 Max II Advance.

Specifications

Processor
- Supports Intel® Pentium® 4 Socket 478 processors (800/533MHz FSB)
- Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology

Chipset
- Intel® 865PE / ICH5-R RAID
- Supports Dual Channel DDR 400 Memory
- Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)

Memory
- Four 184-pin DIMM sockets
- Supports 4 DIMM Single/Dual Channel DDR 400 memory
- Supports 4 DIMM DDR 400 up to 4GB

AGP
- Accelerated Graphics Port connector supports AGP PRO 8X/4X (0.8V/1.5V)

LAN
- On board 10/100MB LAN

Serial ATA RAID
- On board 2 channels Serial ATA 150MB/s data transfer rate
- Supports RAID 0/1

USB 2.0
- 8 ports USB 2.0 supports 480MB/s data transfer rate

Audio
- 6-Channel AC 97 CODEC on board
- Professional digital audio interface supports 24-bit S/P DIF optical In/Out

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

IEEE 1394a
- Supports IEEE 1394a at 100/200/400 Mb/s transfer rate

System BIOS
- SoftMenu™ Technology to set CPU parameters
- Supports Plug-and-Play (PNP)
- Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
- Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS

Looking at the Canterwood based IC7 Max II Advance, you'll see a lot of similarities between the two. However, the notable difference is the omission of Intel's Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT). There's been a lot of discussions, reviews and benchmarks done, and although the PAT is a nice feature, the performance gains may or may not be something you'll be able to justify as a must have, considering the price difference. Like the IC7, the IS7 supports 800MHz FSB processors (and 533MHz FSB for backwards compatibility), Hyper-Threading technology, Dual Channel DDR (up to 400MHz).

Packaging and Contents

Our box arrived a little banged up (good job UPS), but otherwise, everything came intact. Blue, black and white are the colours of the day, with everything neatly packed inside.

Other than the motherboard, ABIT throws in a replacement IO back panel, IDE and floppy cables, a couple SATA cables, power connections, driver CD, a manual, and a reference sticker with the mobo layout on it. What's nice about this sticker is you can just place it on the interior of the case, and you no longer have to rummage through your manual to figure out how to connect your case cabling.

Intel 865PE Brief

Before getting into the IS7 itself, we'll talk briefly about the brains behind the Springdale's brawn. You can grab the specifications from Intel's site, but in short, one of the big features is support for 800FSB CPUs. As enthusiasts know, the Front Side Bus is what really determines the overall system performance. In other words, when you're overclocking, 18x133 (2.4GHz) will not be as fast as 12x200 (2.4GHz). Performance will actually be pretty close though, but Hyper-Threading isn't something that is present in older 2.4GHz P4s, but is so in the P4 "C" CPUs.

The other notable feature of the 865PE is Dual Channel DDR400. Your PC3200 ram can now run full bore, and in Dual Channel mode, offering up to 6.4 GB/s of bandwidth. As we've seen with the nForce 2, and the Canterwood, this technology can add a significant boost to system performance. Ideally, you'll want to run matched pairs to get the most out of it.

Along with the Intel 865PE, and just as important is the ICH5/ICH5R Southbridge. Some of the supported features are USB2.0, SATA, 10/100 LAN, Intel's Communication Streaming Architecture, and six-channel audio. There are two items that will be of most interest though, and that's Soft SATA RAID support (present only in the ICH5R) and Hyper-Threading. The Integrated Intel RAID Technology is interesting because board manufacturers no longer need to add a 3rd party RAID controller. This should save money (for manufacturer and consumer), and PCB real estate. Our review board adds a third party controller though.

We've gone over Hyper-Threading before, but in no small words, it's a free performance boost (well, technically not free, since you have to buy a HT enabled CPU) over older, comparably clocked P4s by optimizing a system's ability to multitask. With proper software and OS support, it enables a single processor to run two separate threads of software simultaneously.

The ABIT IS7 Max II Advance

Targeted at the mainstream user, you'd think that i865PE motherboards wouldn't appeal to the enthusiast. A quick look at the the i865PE, and initially we'd say that there isn't anything special about it, but upon closer examination of the ABIT IS7, and you'll realize that ABIT designed this board for the power user. Unlike the IC7, ABIT reverted back to the orange PCB we're used to seeing on their boards. There are five three-pin fan headers (one which is used by the Northbridge fan), which should be more than enough for the majority of users.

The CPU socket is setup in a more traditional manner that we're used to seeing on Pentium 4 boards, with the key facing to the right (as pictured) of the motherboard. There's nothing noteworthy about the alignment, other than it may be a little to close to the edge. There's enough clearance for most heatsinks, and the capacitors don't get in the way when installing the retail heatsink clips. As with past ABIT boards, Rubycon capacitors are used here, and they are of high quality.

Moving to the left, we get a look at a sweet looking Northbridge HSF, which is the same one used on the IC7. There are clamps used to hold the heatsink down, which makes swapping it, or reapplying thermal paste, an easy task since you won't need to remove the motherboard as you would if there were push pins. ABIT used a thermal pad, but we recommend removing it and applying some quality thermal paste.

Next up is the AGP slot, which also has the AGP card retention clip we're normally used to seeing. One design issue I see is that the AGP slot is lined up with the edge of the ram slots. You will most likely have to remove your AGP card when removing/reinstalling your ram in DIMM1 (and possibly DIMM2). A minor nuisance, but I just call it like I see it. In practice, it is possible to jimmy the ram out with an AGP card installed, which I have done, but it isn't easy.

You also have five PCI slots, which should be more than enough for most users. There is a fair amount of space between the AGP slot and PCI#1, which means that unless you use an aftermarket VGA cooler that is excessively huge, you will not lose PCI#1 as you normally would. Again, ABIT is thinking about the enthusiast.

Just below the PCI slots are your SATA and IDE connections. Like the IC7, the IDE connections are aligned at the edge of the motherboard, facing away. Personally, I like this alignment, as it makes hiding IDE cables easier, but it is certainly not as easy to work with if your hard drives cover the connections. For the SATA connections, two are controlled by the ICH5R, and the Silicon Image SATA controller controls the other two.

Moving to the right, the power connection is located near the edge of the motherboard, just above the floppy connection. The location is good, as it is far away from the CPU socket. It is possible that your power cable may drape across your ram if you're the type who just plugs things in without routing it neatly.

Speaking of which, the IS7 supports up to 4GB of ram. Dual Channel support is available by using two sticks of ram in either slot 1+3 or slot 2+4. Feel free to read our Corsair TWINX review if you're wondering what Dual Channel is all about. Keep in mind the notes made earlier regarding AGP card and ram access.

One issue I have is the location of the CMOS reset. What is good is you don't have any capacitors grouped around the jumper, which makes it a simple affair to grab on to it. However, the location puts it int he vicinity of CDROM drives in standard ATX cases. Add the IDE cables and power connections, and if you have more than one CDROM drive, you can imagine it's a bit of an inconvenience to get to it.

Although the primary power is kept away from the CPU socket, the 12v AUX connection is not. Normally, I'd mention how this is an inconvenient location, but the 12v connection does supply the extra power to the CPU, and the shorter distance will keep the Pentium 4 itself happy.

For the rear panel I/O, I think there will be plenty here that should make people happy. You have your PS/2 ports, serial and parallel ports, S/PDIF and five audio ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire connection, and a Gigabit LAN connection.

The last items worth pointing out are the onboard peripherals. Above, left to right, is the Intel 865PE, the ICH5R, the Realtek ALC650, and a 3Com Gigabit NIC. I've never used the 3COM Gigabit NIC before, so it'll be interesting to see how it performs. I'm not too wild about the Realtek solution though. Sound quality has always been good, but CPU utilization has also always been higher than others.