Sučeljen sa starijom, ali i dalje odličnom pločom baziranom na i975X čipsetu (Abit AW9D-MAX), koja je još uvijek vrh ponude (nasljednik samo što nije i službeno došao) za LGA 775 platformu, ABIT Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI se dostojno ponio. Blagi zaostaci u određenim testovima, kada se sve zbroji i oduzme, pokazuju minorne razlike koje su stvarno radu definitivno neprimjetne. Jedino za što možemo do određene granice staviti na dušu nVidiji su performanse kontrolera zaduženih za komunikaciju s optičkim uređajima i tvrdim diskovima. Na tom polju nVidia ima problema još od nForce 2 čipseta, a koliko vidimo saga se nastavlja. Naravno, realni rad na takvom sustavu ne odaje takvo stanje stvari no s obzirom na dugovječnost problema i konstantno kaskanje za Intelom i ostalim proizvođačima po pitanju performansi i stabilnosti – nVidia ipak zaslužuje malo kritike. No, na ostalim poljima ova ploča definitivno ispunjava sva očekivanja pa i više od toga. Fatal1ty logo, za početak. Manje iskusnijim korisnicima on prilično lako upada u očima i ušima dok pretražuju cjenike, neki iskusniji korisnici bježe od njega, neki su ravnodušni. Ono što je sigurno, na ovoj ploči ovaj logo, voljeli ga ili ne, u potpunosti pristaje. Brza i stabilna, bez nepotrebnih komplikacija sa starim tehnologijama, prilično dobar overclocker s dobrim pedigreom, ploča je u stanju preuzeti na sebe odgovornu ulogu kamena temeljca moderne platforme.

Pitanje hlađenja je, prema nama, jedina točka koja bi trebala biti ozbiljnije riješena. Heat-pipe hladnjaci se bez problema mogu pronaći i na jeftinijim pločama, koketiranje s gamerskom populacijom bi sigurno bilo lakše kroz te male cjevčice. Ovako, za ozbiljniji overclock mora se pribjegavati malim modifikacijama za poboljšanje hlađenja, no to bi ionako dosta korisnika i napravilo bez obzira na tip hlađenja. Ova ploča svoju pripadnost gamerima i overclockerima ističe u onim granicama koji su prihvatljive većini takvih korisnika tako da je mirne duše možemo preporučiti svima onima koji žele brzu, modernu i stabilnu platformu s dovoljnim overclockerskim potencijalom za neke buduće zahtjeve.

Conclusion

Compared with older but still excellent motherboard based on Intel i975X chipset (Abit AW9D-MAX), which is still king of Intel high-end offering (successor, Intel X38 chipset, will hit the market very soon), ABIT Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI showed very competitive features and performance. Performance in certain tests are lower than expected but we doubt that these differences are noticable while using motherboard in real-world applications. Only serious downsize of this motherboard is performance of SATA controller in comparison to Intel ICH7R found on AW9D-MAX. Of course, this is not Abit’s fault, but peculiarity of nVidia’s chipset, perhaps tied with particular hard disk we used in our tests. In all other disciplines Abit’s nForce 650 SLI based motherboard managed to fulfill our expectations. Fatal1ty logo, for example. Less experienced users are pretty easily attracted by Fatal1ty branded hardware, some experienced users avoid such hardware and some are pretty indiferent about it. One thing is certain, though, whether you like Fatal1ty brand or not, it fits perfectly with Abit’s motherboard. ABIT Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI is fast and stable, offers good overclocking capabilites and is designed without the clutter of old peripherals which are not needed by gamers.

Chipset cooling is only characteristic of this motherboard which Abit’s engineers should have solved in a more serious manner. Even cheaper motherboards today offer coolers based on heatpipes so we see no reason why such solutions couldn’t have been used on this motherboard as well. Because of large heat dissipation of nVidia’s chipset and conventional passive cooler used for chipset cooling, if you want to enjoy serious overclocking with this Abit motherboard you will have to make small modifications of cooling like installing a silent fan on side of your case to blow fresh air over passive cooler. Many computer cases designed for gamers and enthusiast already have sidepanels with fans installed in the factory, so some users won’t actually notice that passive cooling on the motherboard is not sufficient for reaching its full overclocking potential. All in all, ABIT Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI fulfills the needs of gamers and overclockers alike. We can recommend it to everyone who are seeking fast, stable and modern platform which also has overclocking potential to cope with requirements of future applications.