The layout
The extra chips and port hardware required for the IT7 MAX2 V2.0's army of integrated peripherals must have given Abit's board designers fits. PCB real estate for standard ATX motherboards is limited, which makes squeezing all those chips and ports onto a board especially challenging.

A less offensive shade of brown

Despite all the chips, ports, and other mounting hardware, Abit manages to pack everything onto the IT7 MAX2 V2.0 board and still retain four full PCI slots. I could whine about the lack of a fifth PCI slot since Abit managed to accomplish that feat with their Athlon-based AT7 MAX2, but that would be stretching it. If a motherboard is already populated with its own Ethernet, 6-channel audio, RAID, Serial ATA, Firewire, and plenty of USB 2.0 ports, what do you need more than four PCI slots for?

If you're worried about having space for a double-wide graphics cooling system like Abit's OTES or the GeForce FX's Dustbuster, don't be. The board's four PCI slots start one slot away from the AGP slot, so there's plenty of room for whatever crazy cooling contraption graphics card companies come up with next.

Unlike other enthusiast-oriented motherboards, whose PCBs come dressed up in stylish colors, the IT7 MAX2 V2.0's PCB looks a little drab. If your case is painted, windowed, and decked out with neon lights and laser-cut fan grills, the IT7 MAX2 V2.0 is probably going to look a little out of place. Then again, we can all be thankful that Abit hasn't dipped the IT7 MAX2 V2.0 in the poo-brown dye they're using for their Siluro Ti 4200 OTES graphics cards and AT7 MAX2 motherboards.

Only three DIMM slots?

The three DIMM slots support DDR333 memory up to a combined maximum of 2GB, thanks to the limitations Intel's 845PE chipset. No, the board doesn't support DDR400. Given the limited availability of even high-latency DDR400 memory, low-latency DDR333 may offer better overall performance, anyway.

PS/2 ports resurrected

Scrapping legacy serial and parallel ports gives Abit plenty of room on the port back plane for loads of audio, USB 2.0, and Firewire ports. After going AWOL from the original IT7, PS/2 ports are back with a vengeance. Owners of PS/2 KVM switches and old buck-spring keyboards, rejoice!

Deleting those PS/2 ports could make room for a couple more USB ports, but I'm not so sure that would be a great idea. Six USB ports at the rear of a PC should be more than enough. I'd prefer to access any additional ports via expansion headers that I can move up to the front of my PC. I'd rather not have to crawl under my desk, showing plumber's crack, every time I want to plug in a USB key drive, digital camera, or portable audio player.