ABIT IC7-G (875P): Challenging the Overclocking Throne

Final Words

We have come to several conclusions regarding ABIT's IC7-G motherboard, and they are listed as follows:

1. The ABIT IC7-G is an excellent FSB overclocker, one of the best in fact. This is no coincidence either, as ABIT is almost synonymous with overclocking.

2. The ABIT IC7-G is also filled with all the features you would expect from a high-end Pentium 4 motherboard, including Serial ATA support, SPDIF, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 FireWire, sound, Gigabit LAN via the CSA bus, and of course the speedy 875P MCH itself, the only shipping chipset that officially supports 800MHz FSB processors (845PE unofficially supports 800MHz FSB processors).

3. Currently the IC7-G is selling for between $225 and $240 online. While this isn't the most competitive price on the planet, you shouldn't expect the best bang for your buck from a high-end Pentium 4 motherboard to begin with. However, you'll be happy to know that there is a much lower-cost version of the IC7-G, aptly dubbed the IC7. The only difference between the IC7 and IC7-G is that the IC7 lacks Gigabit LAN via the CSA bus, no Serillel 2 adapter (for converting your Parallel ATA hard drive's interface to Serial ATA, quite a handy feature) and lastly, only two Serial ATA connectors; the third and forth SI3112A-controlled SATA connectors are missing from the IC7 (but present on the IC7-G reviewed here today).

At this point it's a pretty close battle between the ABIT IC7-G and MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R. If you're hell-bent on price but still greatly desire the highest-end Pentium 4 motherboard possible, the MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R should fit your needs nicely. If you're willing to spend that extra $20 or $30 for the ABIT name and better FSB overclocking capability/functionality, look no further than the ABIT IC7-G or even the ABIT IC7 if you don't mind losing a couple onboard features.

We should also remind users that you should not be purchasing any 875P motherboard if you plan on using it with a 533MHz FSB processor. There's nothing wrong with this combination, but you might as well purchase an SiS 655 (or Springdale) motherboard if you're going to just be using a 533MHz FSB processor, even if you plan on doing FSB overclocking. Combining an 875P motherboard with an 800MHz FSB processor is your best bet at this point.

May 20th, 2003 Update: We are currently attempting to fix a bug that is present in our new benchmark graph engine. We will update this review with the correct scores soon, but for now you can take a look at the our MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R review for accurate benchmark scores.