THE LAST FEW motherboards I've reviewed have been packed with all sorts of extravagant extras that add a lot of value to the complete package, but don't do much for the boards themselves. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of bundles that give consumers more bang for their buck, but I don't want to see creative and engineering energies diverted away from the actual products to arrays of accessories instead.

Thus far, Abit has shied away from opulent bundles. Instead, they've concentrated on refining features, improving performance, and tweaking that all-important SoftMenu BIOS in an attempt to give consumers the best motherboard possible.

Today, we're looking at Abit's latest offering, the 875P chipset-based IC7-G. The IC7-G doesn't glow in the dark or come packaged with the kitchen sink, but it does deliver a smart array of integrated peripherals, a robust BIOS, and the promise of blistering performance. Will gamers, enthusiasts, and workstation users find value in the IC7-G beyond its relatively barren bundle? Let's find out.