Gigabyte 7VT600 1394 (KT600): More Fun with KT600
by Evan Lieb on July 26, 2003 10:44 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Gigabyte 7VT600 1394: Board Layout
The 7VT600 1394’s layout was very well thought out, in general. There are only a few minor annoyances to report.
One component that we always like to see implemented correctly is the ATX (20-pin) connector. The 7VT600 1394’s ATX connector is located at the top right-hand side of the PCB, just to the right of the DIMM slots. Since standard PSUs do not have an extra long ATX cable, this location is perfect, because it will reduce clutter and greatly minimize the intrusive ATX wires from obstructing the installation/uninstallation of the CPU HSF, memory modules, and any other components that you may decide to modify or uninstall in that area. If you’re using a high-quality PSU with an extra-long ATX connector, then you have nothing to worry about, but the ATX connector location is still ideal for those users who can’t afford the best PSUs.
Thankfully, we see Gigabyte place the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors above the midsection of the motherboard and to the right of the DIMM slots. This location will permit bundled IDE cables to reach the upper bays of your ATX case. That means you will be able to install optical drives in the 1st and 2nd bays, as well as make use of the Slave connector on the bundled IDE cables. In addition, improved air flow and case organization are great benefits. All in all, you can’t go wrong with this placement.
The location of the Floppy connector on the 7VT600 1394 is less than desirable, however. If you are going to install a Floppy drive in your system, the Floppy cable will create some case clutter and disorganization. On a positive note, the Floppy connector is located right next to (and slightly above) the Primary/Secondary IDE connectors. Still, we see no reason why Gigabyte couldn’t just place the Floppy connector at the bottom of the board near the IEEE 1394 FireWire ports.
Gigabyte offers a nice touch to the 7VT600 1394 by placing the DIMM connectors far enough away from the AGP slot so that it won’t force users to uninstall their video card if they need to install or uninstall memory modules. Unscrewing your video card, unplugging your VGA cable, and physically uninstalling your video card from the AGP slot is quite a long process to complete if you’re just trying to swap memory. Slowly but surely, motherboard makers are beginning to take notice of the hardware community’s complaints about DIMM connector location, and are properly implementing the changes during layout engineering sessions. DFI was the first of several motherboard makers to openly acknowledge that their engineers literally designed their motherboards around user requests from web sites such as AnandTech, [H]ardOCP, Tom's Hardware, and many other web sites.
Unfortunately, as with the 7NNXP, Gigabyte continues to leave out the four mounting holes for the more powerful CPU HSFs on the market. This is definitely a drag for cooling enthusiasts, as well as serious overclockers. Nonetheless, there are good copper HSFs out there that can be purchased very cheaply (between $10 and $15) that don’t require mounting holes, and therefore are compatible with all Socket A motherboards (assuming said HSF isn’t too large).
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Anonymous User - Saturday, August 2, 2003 - link
I don't get why people blame VIA for the SBlive issue when pretty much every other companies sound cards work flawlessly. Face it, VIA or Nforce you're gonna have issues with your SBlive. Right now on my "NFORCE2" the stupid control panel keeps crashing out on me and sometimes retarded sound has this annoying occational reverb crap which updating drivers seems to not fix. Man, if they didn't have the best gaming sound card i'd drop creative products in a heartbeat.Anonymous User - Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - link
This guy read my mind!, all VIA chipsets I ever had were plagged with errors, KT133, KT133A and KT266A, this one stills make noices with the SB live!, no mather the filter installed. Never again VIA!, nVidia did a better first try with the nforce1 than VIA with the 3tr KT chipset.Locutus4657 - Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - link
I'm not sure if I'll ever buy another VIA chipset again. Ever since I checked their developers white pages on my KT133 chipset and found out it has over 200 pages of Errata. My next system will be either an nForce 2 system of a Operton system.Anonymous User - Monday, July 28, 2003 - link
2 Things I wanted to say.Good rather unbiased review, except that I dont really a gree that the KT600 is a value board. if people were interesting in SERIOUS value they (if they knew what they were doing, sadly most people out for a cheap computer wont) would still go with a NForce2 motherboard because you get a Geforce 4mx built in! I mean computer shops will probably sell the KT600 with the cheapest video card you can get and the end consumer would of been WAY better off having a geforce4mx built in. I mean at least you can taste even the latest games with gfmx4...which is really important.
Secondly I can't express how disgusted I am in the MB makers that reck the Nforce2s reputation for good sound via the MCP-T sound storm technology by putting these crap realtek chips infront of them and ruining the sound quality of the nforce2 MBs, as far as I am concerned this should almost be illegal!
Anonymous User - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Ok review, but would have been better with a few backplate shots and memory bandwidth benchmarks.ViRGE - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
It's worth noting that audio port switching isn't all it's cracked up to be. Nvidia for example, discourages the practice, which is why you won't find a SoundStorm board that uses it, even if most are using the 655 codec. This is all of course because it results in poorer sound quality(or so Nvidia claims), so in a sense, you're worse off with the 655 than you are with the 650, although with anything Realtek, you're doing worse than the reference(SigmaTel/VIA) solution.Anonymous User - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Poor VIA, cmon DawgsDennis Travis - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Very good review Evan as usuall. Thanks!!Anonymous User - Sunday, July 27, 2003 - link
Ya know, if via would fix their stupid drivers packaging problems, they would do much better, at least as far as i'm concerned. I don't care if one size fits all, I just want to run the package for the product and have it remove the old and install the new and get it right. I'll never waste my time fooling around with their stuff until I've heard that's been fixed.