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6 New Athlon Boards With VIA’s KT133A” –>
Introduction
Only some weeks have passed since we published the first review on six KT133A motherboards. Right now, the situation for all who are interested in buying an Athlon or Duron system is quite sophisticated. One the one hand there is the party of single data rate SDRAM supporters. They keep referring to benchmarks, showing that the performance gap between conventional SDRAM and DDR-SDRAM is actually not particularly big. They might have a point right now, as it is often difficult to distinguish a SDR from a DDR system subjectively.
The other party is preaching the opposite. While I was waiting to be attended in a local computer shop some days ago, I was given the rare opportunity to listen to the sermon of an evidently radical supporter of DDR technology. He was portraying DDR memory as some kind of panacea for IT: Superior performance over other memory technologies, short latency and excellent price/performance ratio… (what about cure for cancer?).
Our job at Tom’s Hardware Guide is to inform our readers about facts and trends; helping everybody who is interested to form her/his opinion on topics she/he is interested in. Yes, DDR SDRAM seems to be the trend setting memory with the biggest chance of long-lasting success in the market. This technology has definitely more potential than what actual systems are able to show, like the review of VIA’s Apollo Pro 266 (for Pentium III systems) tried to point out. However, the purchase of latest technology has always been an expensive affair. Current Athlon or Duron systems already benefit from DDR memory – at higher investments, of course. 128 MB PC133 SDRAM memory can be obtained for $35 right now, while there is still a premium to pay for the same amount of DDR memory.
Finally everybody has to make the decision on his/her own whether to buy a DDR-based motherboard or to stay with SDRAM. Considering that the average system performance is ahead of software requirements (including games) by at least six months, the question what memory technology to chose becomes more or less dispensable. This statement can of course only be applied to the mainstream market. High-end computers should certainly reflect latest technology, because for the buyers of those systems it is usually more important than expenses.
VIA VT8363A / KT133A
First of all I’d like to suggest the lecture of our preceding articles dealing with VIA’s renewed KT133A chipset:
- VIA In Shape: 6 Motherboards using the renewed KT133A Chipset
This article is the original review of the first six motherboards equipped with VIA’s KT133A chipset. It also deals with the technical features of this chipset including 133 MHz (266 MHz) FSB for Athlon platforms. - The Three Musketeers – Athlon Platforms For 133 MHz FSB
Tom compared the three Athlon platforms VIA KT133A, AMD-760 (DDR) and ALi’s MaGiK-1 chipset (DDR). - DDR-SDRAM Has Finally Arrived
- VIA’s New South Bridge: VT82C686B Supporting UltraATA/100
Athlon is Hot!
The most popular CPU socket today: AMD’s Socket 462 for Athlon and Duron
Particularly the Athlon models beyond 800 MHz produce a lot of heat, which has to be discharged by proper CPU coolers. Two months ago we took a close look at 17 different models. Cooling is one of the most important things to pay attention to, especially as long as Athlon processors happen to encounter sudden heat deaths without adequate cooling. That means – in terms of Athlon systems – that you definitely should add the price for a proper CPU cooler to your cost planning, even if it means that you might have to take a slower model than you originally wanted.
Athlon is Hot! Continued
Athlon uses a flip chip processor package, which means that the die is brought directly to the top without the use of a heat plate. Thus the heat can be transferred to the cooling device (copper is far the best choice) very easily. On the other hand the die becomes very delicate to physical damage. Be careful when mounting the CPU cooler!
NMC puts this sticker on the processor socket, which clearly points out to use thermal compound.
Soyo also put a little note on the CPU socket, alluding the necessity of a properly installed CPU cooler.
IDE RAID On Board
The IDE RAID controller chip from AMI is called MG80649 and provides two IDE channels, supporting RAID level 0, 1 or 10.
Promise’s chip is named PDV20265R and comes with the same standard features like AMI.
Last but not least HighPoint also offers an IDE RAID controller. The HPT370 together with the Promise chip are widely used.
AOpen AK73-1394 (A)
Do you still remember AOpen’s first motherboard with black PCB? Almost one year ago they released the AX6BC Pro II Millennium Edition. In August 2000, we took a look at it. As people kept asking for those exclusive motherboards, AOpen decided to use this black color for their high end products every now and then.
The recent Athlon board is based on VIA’s KT133A chipset and dyed black. The AK73-1394(A) is the only Athlon C-Type motherboard available with an integrated Firewire (IEEE1394) controller (Texas Instruments). Both Windows 98 and Windows 2000 recognize the board’s 1394-chip by default, so that you basically do not require any drivers. However, the package includes everything you might need: A short installation instruction sheet plus an excellent manual, a full set of flat cables, a USB adapter cable to make use of two more USB ports, two CDs with Norton Anti Virus 2000 and drivers/utilities and last but not least the FireWire adapter cable.
Experienced users will be happy about the quick installation sheet, since it clearly explains every component.
There is not much need to configure the motherboard by hardware. Jumper JP21 is present to choose the frequency range: 100-120 MHz or 121 to 166 MHz. SW1 (dip switches) is ready to choose the CPU multiplier, which can also be done in the BIOS.
Like other AOpen Pro series motherboards, the AK73-1394 (A) comes with the dual BIOS called Die Hard BIOS. If one BIOS should ever fail due to a failed flash-procedure, you can switch to the alternative BIOS by setting JP30 to 2-3. AOpen is the only company to provide core voltages down to 1.1 Volts, btw.
AOpen AK73-1394 (A), Continued
The board uses VIA’s 686B south bridge, providing two UltraATA/100 channels for max. four devices. Three DIMM sockets, five PCI, one ISA, one AMR, an AGP 4x slot with card locking system and a sound system according to AC97 complete the hardware features.
You might get trouble with large CPU coolers, as three capacitors are rather close to the socket. However, the two coolers that I used did not cause any problems.
Once again AOpen proved to create a reliable motherboard with good performance at a good price. Thanks to the various accessories included, AOpen reaches a far better price/performance ratio than others.
That’s AOpen’s cooler on VIA’s VT8363A chip. It definitely looks much nicer than other heat sinks.
As already said, the AOpen package includes practically everything.
Asus A7V133 – New BIOS 1002
Board Revision: 1.01
BIOS Version: 1002
I already wrote about Asus’ A7V133 in the initial review. Recently they sent me the latest BIOS revision 1002, which improved performance some more.
The new A7V133 seems to be equipped very well, although there were hardly any changed since the initial A7V. It still comes with the ATA100 controller from Promise, which also allows you RAID level 0, although the 686B-southbridge supports ATA100 as well. Thus you can connect up to 8 ATA100 hard drives to this motherboard.
All CPU adjustments including multiplier, system speed (up to 166 MHz) and Vcore can either be done in the BIOS, or by using several dipswitches. The latter is basically interesting for system integrators who want to prevent users from changing important processor settings.
Asus ships an adapter for the two additional USB ports (a total of four). Just like the ABit KT7A, the VT8464 (the north bridge of the Apollo KT133A chipset) is cooled by a HSF. You can find an AMR slot on the motherboard, which shares it’s space with the fifth PCI slot. Thus you don’t have to give up a PCI slot just due to the presence of the usually useless AMR interface, but you still have to pay for it.
The A7V133 comes with an AGP Pro connector, which has some more pins to ensure a proper power supply of high-end graphics cards. Three DIMM sockets will hold up to 1.5 GB of SDRAM memory. I just missed any note about ECC, which lets me suppose that this memory type is not supported.
IWill KK266-R
Board Revision: 1.1
BIOS Version: Januar 8, 2001
The latest motherboard from IWill comes in a nice plastic shell inside the box. There you can also find a driver CD, some flat cables, a comprehensive manual as well as a RAID guide. IWill put the MG80649 IDE RAID controller from American Megatrends on their motherboard, giving you two additional IDE channels (the chip can be disabled by jumper). As the other RAID chips too, this one supports mirroring, striping or a combination of both (RAID 1, 0 or 10).
You will get six PCI slots (even though IDE RAID and a sound system are already on board), one ISA, one AGP 4x slot, three DIMMs for up to 1.5 GB SDRAM memory, two line-ins for the PCI sound system and three fan headers. That’s the first hint on the excellent overclocking capabilities. The Smart Setting (that’s IWill’s name for the soft setup) allows the selection of any clock speed between 100 and 132 or between 133 and 166 MHz. To enable successful overclocking, you may also freely choose the core voltage in increments of 0.025 V between 1.525 and 1.850 V.
Another nice feature is the variety of boot devices. Among the standard options (FDD, IDE, ZIP, LAN, SCSI), you can also choose USB-FDD, USB-HDD, USB-ZIP and USB-CDROM.
On the motherboard you can set JP10 to 1-2 or to 2-3 in order to raise the I/O voltage by 5% or 10%.
IWill placed the big capacitors far away from the CPU socket, which should allow the usage of any cooler you like.
Last but not least this motherboard scored some pretty good results, combined with excellent reliability and a complete shipment. Overclockers should become very happy with the various features, so that this board is definitely one of the most powerful and flexible Athlon platforms right now.
That’s how IWill’s new plastic box looks like.
MSI K7T Turbo
Board Revision: 3
BIOS Version: 1.0B15 (January 17, 2001)
Micro Star International equipped their motherboard with six PCI slots, no ISA, one CNR, one AGP 4x slot including a locking system for the graphics card, three DIMM sockets for up to 1.5 GB of SDRAM memory and an IDE RAID controller chip from Promise Technology. There is also a little PC speaker already on board, which makes the case speaker obsolete.
The capacitors have been spaced out around the CPU socket, not causing any obstruction to large coolers. An AC97 sound system with three line-in connectors is present as well as two fan headers.
The sample motherboard we received seems to use an early BIOS version, even though the board comes labeled with revision 3, as the performance has not been as good as what we are used from MSI. As you could see with the Asus board, a simple BIOS update can easily improve the overall performance by some points. I’m quite sure that this is also possible with the K7T Turbo.
MSI’s D-LED feature gives you four LEDs on the back panel of the motherboard. They will always inform the user about the system status during boot up. A little D-LED booklet informs you about the meaning of each LED combination.
Due to the sample box, we did not get the full retail shipment as well. However, stability-problems were absolutely no issue with this motherboard.
NMC 8TTX+
Board Revision: 0.3
BIOS Version: January 8, 2001
NMC also jumped onto the “overclocking train”, giving the user a vast set of valuable options: Vcore adjustment, VI/O adjustment and several clock speeds between 124 and 166 MHz. The two USB hubs can be enabled or disabled separately.
On the motherboard you can find six PCI slots, one ISA, the AGP 4x slot with card lock, HighPoint IDE RAID controller chip plus VIA 686B IDE controller (both UltraATA/100), giving you a total of four channels for up to eight devices. Like Epox, NMC placed two digits on the motherboard to allow the user to check the system status while booting.
The layout of the 8TTX+ envisions a second flash BIOS chip, which has not been equipped on our sample. In the vicinity of the CPU socket you can see several big capacitors, which could cause problems with some CPU coolers. Talking about coolers, NMC decided to cool the VT8363A (North Bridge) chip with an active fan, which is the best decision if one wants to create a highly overclockable motherboard.
The placement of the IDE connectors and the ATX power connector is not ideal, as you have to run the cables over hot components like the graphics card or the CPU.
The sound system is AC97-compliant and provides three line-in connectors. Three fan headers have been placed on the motherboard, giving the user enough options to attach fans.
The box is quite complete: Besides the obligatory drivers CD you will get the required flat cables, manual, USB adapter cable to use the ports 3 & 4 and a CD containing Norton Ghost and Anti Virus.
Soyo SY-K7VTA Pro
Board Revision: ?
BIOS Version: 2AA1 (February 2, 2001)
Soyo’s KT133A motherboard offers five PCI slots, one ISA, the AGP 4x slot, three DIMM sockets and an AC97 sound system with only one line-in header. Except for the heat sink w/fan on the North Bridge chip, this one can be called a standard motherboard, as it does not offer any exciting features. There are some DIPswitches on the board, which allow you to set the multiplier (after unlocking the CPU, of course). Another jumper is required to adjust the processor bus clock: 200 or 266 MHz (100 or 133 MHz DDR).
The retail box contains a quick start guide, a driver CD, some flat cables and a 8-in-1 bonus pack, consisting of Norton Ghost, Norton Anti Virus 2000, Adobe ActiveShare, Acrobat Reader, a shopping assistant software called appio, X-Stop internet security, cute dialer and Imagemore (cliparts).
In terms of performance, the Soyo board was not able to place itself at the top of the test bed. However, it comes with some nice overclocking features, which can be found in the ‘Soyo Combo Feature’ section of the BIOS. Here you can adjust the Vcore between +0.025 and +0.250 and -0.025 to -0.100 V. You are also given the option to choose the SDRAM clock (100 or 133 MHz) independent from the real FSB speed.
That’s the sticker which Soyo puts on the socket.
Tyan Trinity KT-A (S2390B)
Board Revision: ?
BIOS Version: January 8, 2001
Tyan also sent us their actual Athlon motherboard based on the VIA KT133A chipset. It is called S2390B (or Trinity KT-A) and comes with six PCI slots, one ISA, one AGP 4x, three DIMM sockets for up to 1.5 GB of PC133 SDRAM (no ECC), two UltraATA/100 IDE controllers and an AC97 sound system with three line-ins. Even a piezo speaker has been placed on the motherboard.
The CPU socket is surrounded by several huge capacitors. Only two fan headers are available in order to attach additional fans – that’s quite unusual for Tyan, as other models come with three or even four headers.
Tyan and IWill are the only two manufacturers out of the 12 boards which give you the option to boot from several USB devices like USB floppy, hard drive or CDROM.
Overclockers can switch to alternative FSB speeds between 133 and 150 MHz. Just the option to increase the CPU core voltage is missing. In my opinion the lack of even faster clock selection (up to 166 MHz) is no disadvantage, as such high clock rates usually do not run reliable any more.
Once again Tyan provided a stable motherboard with lots of hardware features. The overclocking capabilities can be seen as some kind of addendum, but are certainly far away from the level that Asus, AOpen and IWill have reached.
However, people who go for a Tyan motherboard usually do not pay to much attention to overclocking features or hardware extras. They are out for a reliable motherboard with good performance – that’s what you will get from the Trinity KT-A.
Test Setup
| Hardware | |
| CPU | AMD Athlon 1.0GHz (C Type) 133 MHz FSB (DDR) |
| RAM | 1x 128 MByte SDRAM (Crucial) PC133, 7ns, CL2 |
| Hard Drive | Seagate Barracuda ATA, ST320430A 20 GB, UltraATA/66, 7200 rpm |
| Graphics Card | nVIDIA GeForce2 GTS, 32 MB DDR SDRAM |
| Drivers & Software | |
| HDD/Motherboard/ AGP-Drivers | VIA All-in-One 4.25a (Win 98 and 2000) |
| Graphics Drivers | NVIDIA Reference Drivers 6.49 (Win 98) and 6.47 (Win 2000) |
| DirectX Version | 8.0a |
| Operating Systems | Windows 98 SE, Version 4.10.2222 A Windows 2000, Version 5.00.2195, SP1 |
| Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Quake III Arena | Retail Version command line = +set cd_nocd 1 +set s_initsound 0 Graphics detail set to ‘Normal’, 640x480x16 Benchmark using ‘Q3DEMO1’ |
| Mercedes Benz Truck Racing Demo | Demo Version 640x480x16 |
| ViewPerf | Version 6.1.2 1280x1024x16 |
| Screen Refresh Rate and Resolution | 85 Hz for all Tests, V-Sync = off; 1024×768 |
BAPCo SYSmark 2000: Windows 98 SE & Windows 2000
The clear SYSmark2000 winners are ABit’s KT7A, Asus A7V133 and Soltek’s SL75KAV-X. As most of you know, the SYSmark is quite a theoretical benchmark, as in actual practice most included applications spend most of their time waiting for input from the user. Of course the charts shows the actual differences between the candidates, but it’s hard to distinguish the difference in the real world.
Mercedes Benz Truck Racing
Mercedes Benz Truck Racing is one of the most demanding or worst programmed 3D-games available today. Like with all other motherboard reviews we switched the resolution down to 640×480, in order to make the motherboard (AGP and memory interface) the bottleneck – not the graphics card.
Here, the boards from Soltek, Asus, ABit, AOpen and IWill are on top again. Unfortunately MSI is not able to reach more than the last position.
Quake III Arena – Timedemo 001
There was a little surprise under Quake III Arena. This time AOpen achieved the number one ranking, followed by ABit, Asus and IWill. The performance differences between the best (AOpen) and the slowest (MSI) board are tremendous this time. 156 vs 143 fps are usually two CPU speed bins.
In the past months, most motherboard reviews used to place their focus on features. Now it seems like performance is going to be an issue again. First I did not want to believe those results, hence I repeated the benchmark several times on most of the boards to be absolutely sure.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: Advanced Visualizer
Again on the top: Asus, AOpen and IWill. This time, Epox is able to score position #2. The differences between the candidates are quite big here as well.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: Design Review
Fewer differences in Design Review 7. Asus, AOpen, Epox and ABit form the top again.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: Data Explorer
Here Asus is the clear winner. AOpen, IWill, Epox and Azza are close behind, while all others are quite a bit behind.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: Lightscape
Once again, the A7V133 is able to outperform its competitors.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: MedMCAD
In MedMCAD, the test field is split into two halves. The first one consists of the boards from Asus, Epox, AOpen, ABit, IWill and Azza. Part two includes Soyo, NMC, Tyan, Soltek, DFI and MSI – they are all one step behind the others.
SPECviewperf 6.1.2: ProCDRS
ProCDRS is also split into two sections. Again, Asus and Epox are performing excellent, Azza is also able to score a good position.
Conclusion & Recommendations
The initial review did not reveal too many differences between the boards. Now, with a new Asus BIOS released and new, strong competitors, the formerly tested boards cannot always keep pace with the newcomers.
Asus proved very well that a simple BIOS update can tremendously improve the system overall performance. In terms of performance and overclocking, Asus managed to gain the crown of this review on the second try.
However, my two personal favorites are the AOpen AK73-1394 and IWill’s KK266-R. Both have a much better price/performance ratios than the Asus A7V133, giving you similar features and overclocking capabilities. AOpen is the only manufacturer that includes a FireWire controller. That is particularly important for people who want to use external storage solutions or video devices. Also the possible Vcore range goes down to 1.1 V, which is an excellent basis for future Athlon CPUs.
IWill also comes with a great and reliable motherboard, good performance and a complete shipment.
Everybody who is looking for a cheap motherboard should consider Soltek, DFI or Azza. They all run absolutely reliable as well. If you do not need any special features, you should be content with those boards, as none of them has a real disadvantage.
