ABit KV8-MAX3, Continued
Secure IDE consists of an encryption chip, which is located between the (UltraATA) hard disk and the controller. An integrated USB port is attached to the back of the housing via a black cable, where one of the two "keys" (in the picture on the bottom right) then has to be inserted in order to gain access to the system, as the entire hard disk with boot sector is encrypted.
Pictured is the encryption chip LX-40 from eNOVA; this works with 40 bit. The manufacturer also offers high quality encryption (up to 128 bit) - but this would be too expensive as an addition to a motherboard.
Abit offers the intelligent fan control, called Fan EQ, on the KV8-MAX3. We dispensed with it for the test.
The KV8-MAX3 discharges the EPROM of the memory chip correctly and operates the test module with the settings we requested.
