ABIT KV7 (KT600): Budget Performance in a Small Package
by Evan Lieb on September 7, 2003 10:42 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ABIT KV7: Basic Features
| Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket-462 |
| Chipset | VIA KT600 North Bridge VIA VT8237 South Bridge |
| Bus Speeds | up to 250MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| Core Voltages | up to 2.325V in 0.0250V increments excluding 1.925V, 2.050V, 2.150V, & 2.250V) |
| DRAM Voltage | up to 2.80V (in 0.05V increments excluding 2.75V) |
| Chipset Voltag | up to 2.95V (in 0.1V increments) |
| AGP Voltage | up to 1.65V (in 0.05V increments) |
| Memory Slots | 3 X 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots |
| Expansion Slots | 1 X AGP 8X Slot 5 X PCI Slots |
| Onboard IDE RAID | N/A |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | Eight USB 2.0 ports supported by VT8237 No IEEE 1394 FireWire available |
| Onboard LAN | VIA VT6103 10/100 controller |
| Onboard Audio | VIA VT1616 AC’97 codec |
| Onboard Serial ATA | Two SATA connectors via VT8237 (RAID 0, 1 & 0 + 1) |
| BIOS Revision | August 4th, 2003 |
ABIT is one of the first motherboard makers (Soltek being the first we’ve seen) to finally implement the VIA VT1616 codec that has been glaringly absent on previous KT600 motherboards, such as Epox’s 8KRA2+, Gigabyte’s 7VT600 1394, MSI’s KT6 Delta-FIS2R, and ASUS’ A7V600. We have preached the use of VIA’s VT1616 codec instead of cheaper codecs like Realtek’s ALC650/655 because the VT1616 is capable of outputting higher sound quality when an analog speaker system is utilized (in other words, when you use the analog out port). While this sound solution isn’t in the same league as VIA’s Envy24 solutions (which are capable of 24 bit/96KHz sampling), it’s better than most Socket A motherboards that are bound to using fairly low-end Realtek codecs. However, for everyday audio tasks, such as listening to MP3s and even occasional gaming, the KV7 offers good sound quality. Therefore, the KV7’s onboard sound quality really isn’t terribly different from the other KT600 motherboards that AnandTech has reviewed in the past, but it certainly is better.
The ABIT KV7’s LAN controller is powered by an uncommon, but perfectly functional, IC (integrated circuit) named the VIA VT6103. The VIA VT6103 is your standard 10/100 Fast Ethernet PHY that will serve any basic broadband user’s needs. We’ve mentioned in countless reviews that 10/100/1000 network controllers can be found on most modern-day Intel motherboards, but that the same cannot be said about modern-day AMD motherboards (KT600, nForce2, or otherwise). GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) is quite useful for a small niche of home/home office users who transfer large files between networked computers, but besides that it’s not terribly helpful for the majority of mainstream users and enthusiasts. Therefore, we view the absence of onboard GbE as a minor negative attribute of the KV7.
The ABIT KV7 comes with a rather standard collection of I/O ports for a low-end enthusiast motherboard. Included in the rear panel are two PS/2 ports, one serial port, one parallel port, four USB 2.0 ports, one LAN port, SPDIF ports, and Mic In, Line In, and Line Out, which drive the onboard sound. The four USB 2.0 ports should be just enough for people that use everyday USB equipment, such as printers, scanners, digital cameras, USB flash memory keys, etc. ABIT is known for adding intriguing sets of I/O ports, so the addition of SPDIF ports to the KV7 is no surprise whatsoever. SPDIF won’t be too useful to the average person, but enthusiasts should be pleased with this option as it gives them flexibility. It is to be expected that the KV7 omits any support for IEEE 1394 FireWire, via the rear I/O panel or otherwise. There are very few mainstream motherboards that come with onboard FireWire to begin with, save for select few Intel motherboards. So, the lack of FireWire is not a huge loss, especially since USB devices are quite prevalent.
As expected with all current KT600 motherboards, the KV7 has native Serial ATA support, courtesy of VIA's brand new VT8237 South Bridge. The VT8237 supports RAID 0, 1 and 0 + 1, which is a nice addition for users looking for the best combination of RAID support in a desktop motherboard. The advantage of RAID 0 + 1 is fast data access (like RAID 0), with the ability to lose one drive, and still have a complete duplicate surviving drive or set of drives (like RAID 1). In case you didn't already know, RAID 0 + 1 is stripping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1) combined without parity having to be calculated and written. In addition to all of this, VIA has also upped V-link's throughput from 533MB/s to 1066MB/s. All in all, VIA's new South Bridge is impressive, and certainly gives KT600 boards some added value compared to nForce2 motherboards. The new increased chipset I/O bandwidth is also a welcome addition, as it should help in those “intangible” computing experiences, such as multitasking.
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Evan Lieb - Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - link
Haha, thanks for clarifying that #13. ;)Take care,
Evan
Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - link
I think #5 is referring to the apparent omission of the word "look" in the sentence. I congratulate #5 on taking the time to carefully proofread the article in search of typographical errors. As I was more focused on the substance of the review (which I thought was excellent, conistent with my general experience with Anandtech), I missed this major point that seriously affected the readability of the entire article! :)Evan Lieb - Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - link
Oh, forgot to comment on a couple other things.#1, Anand does more than you'll ever know. Right now he's been relegated to two things: 1) Technology reviews, which he is best suited for because he is easily the most well versed AnandTech editor. And 2) administrative duties such as hiring new editors (Andrew Ku, Wesley Fink, and more people you'll hear about soon), getting the products and content editors need, and just running the web site (which includes a countless list of things).
#3, set your FSB to 175MHz (350MHz DDR), set your DRAM speed to DDR400, download CPU-Z v. 1.18, and then look in the memory section and see what your memory is running at. Your memory should adjust itself accordingly to its FSB.
Evan Lieb - Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - link
#10, I was unaware that ABIT has that policy. I'll have to confirm that with them. Even if that is the case, other motherboard makers do the same thing, and quite honestly it's not that big of a deal IMO.#5, how is that sentence not readable? Do you have any suggestions?
Take care,
Evan
Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
#7, they're not charging for standard shipping, just the upgrade to express, which is understandable and was only in my message for info (since it wasn't included in the review). I even don't have a major problem with the $7 "processing fee", but to charge $150 ahead-of-time and then the additional time of waiting for the "check is in the mail" refund seems to be less of a good policy compared to other's policy of charging only if the defective unit isn't returned with 30 days.Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
#7, what he explained is a quite common thing on nForce2 motherboards, especially among advanced users. I cower in fear everytime I update my bios or drivers fearing either my system or board will be hosed. You never know when you'll download that bios or driver that will just decide to kill everything (*cries about having to repair install windows xp after installing 2.41 and again 2.42, as if I didn't learn my lesson first time :P*).Granted most of these problems disappear if you leave your system alone and stick to the 2.03 driver set (if you can stand the little quirks about it), the occurrence of such problems are seemingly less in the latest VIA chipsets.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
#6, I (#3) did not want to run FSB/RAM asynchronously. I want to run it in sync no matter what the FSB is set to, but the board has no clear setting for that. The available RAM settings are 266, 333, 400 and SPD in wich it goes with whatever the RAM module is rated to run at. There is no setting to simply let it follow the FSB as in all other boards I have ever encountered. I could guess that it does in fact follow the FSB anyway, but have no way to confirm it. Especially when the BIOS reports one of those set RAM speeds when booting up, regardless of FSB frequency. (I know of the AGP/PCI business but it's irrelevant to this specific technical issue)Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
#2, of course ABIT is going to charge for shipping, it's ridiculous to think they're going to eat those fees.And by the way #4, nForce2 motherboards are much better than KT600 motherboards in general. This is fact, why try to deny it by claiming your experience is the norm. Idiot.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
to 3there's no need to run amd based systems FSB/mem async, it doesn't get you more speed. you'd better manipulate with multiplier. if you raise your CPU's FSB the mem/agp/pci come all along. for example if you raise your kt600 fsb to 220 your mem speed will also be 220MHz (you can't run it on pc2100 or 2700 levels to normalize your mem speed, but only on pc3200 mode) and yor agp/pci will be 73,5MHz/36,7MHz.
for example, I'm running my kt333 at 200FSB and my agp/pci is 80/40. and I cant understand how come anantech guys only got out maximum of 210 mHz fsb, i belive some peolple here need to learn more about overclocking. I've got even 215MHz of FSB out of my kt333. isn't that strange? has there been a downward evolution by VIA.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 8, 2003 - link
"Anyway, today we take a close at ABIT's latest creation, the KV7."Please take the time to make your articles more readable. Thank you.