It’s Time For DDR: 3 New 760 Athlon Mobos – THG.RU

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The Right Time For DDR Athlon Mobos

The time for DDR is finally here. With memory prices dropping to the level of conventional SDRAM, there few reasons for buying an Athlon computer based on SDRAM.

Double Data Rate SDRAM is able to provide twice the bandwidth of Single Data Rate by transferring data both on the rising and the falling edge of the clock signal. Graphics cards based on GeForce2, GeForce 3 or Radeon chips have already been taking advantage of this fast memory technology for almost two years now.

Right now, there are four Athlon chipsets available that come with DDR support: ALi’s MaGiK-1, the SiS 735, the VIA KT266 and the AMD 760, of course. While all four chipsets work reliably, the ALi and VIA products are not quite able to unleash the full potential of DDR SDRAM – as the new SiS 735 and the AMD 760 do. However, there is still a long way to go for SiS, as they are primarily known as manufacturer of low-end products. Though the SiS 735 is a good performer, it will be difficult for the company to introduce it to the mid-range market. That leaves the AMD 760 as the go to choice right now.

The performance advantage of DDR memory over SDR is usually between 5 and 10%. With some applications, you won’t see any difference at all, while bandwidth-intensive software might see up to 30% improvement. However, there are three reasons why DDR is the memory to choose: First, DDR actually enhances performance (Rambus DRAM was never able to live up to expectations). Second, the current price difference between DDR and SDR SDRAM is getting to be negligible. Lastly, mobo manufacturers did not release their DDR-enabled products in a hurry, but took the time to make sure that their chipsets work reliably. That means that DDR Athlon mobos are now ready for the mainstream.

AMD760

In comparison with the other chipsets for Duron and Athlon processors, the AMD760 has some advantages besides its excellent performance. Along with VIA’s Apollo KT266, it is the only chipset that is able to address 2 GB RAM. However, the VIA chipset only supports two DIMM slots, while the AMD760 can take up to four DDR-DIMMs. As far as I know, 1 GB DDR modules are not yet available, leaving two 512 MB DIMMs the only practicable maximum memory configuration. In addition, there is also a version for dual processor systems available (AMD 762), making Athlon-based computers suitable for servers and workstations now.

It is well known that AMD does not want to become a big player in the chipset business. Yet they want to be some kind of technology provider. AMD focused on providing a perfectly reliable and fast performing reference to show the industry what a good chipset for their processors should look like.

You might want to take a look at out first motherboard review that dealt with AMD760 motherboards: Athlon Boosters – Three AMD 760 Boards for DDR SDRAM. In this article, we took a look at the Asus A7M266, Biostar M7MIA and Gigabyte GA-7DX.

As this review was not done with any of our reference graphics cards but with a Quadro model, the graphics benchmarks cannot be compared to the results of this particular review. That’s why I decided not to include those results.

The Boards

Epox 8K7A+

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: 06/06/2001

The Epox motherboard is called EP-8K7A+ and comes with a huge feature list: Besides the six PCI slots, this board features an ATA-RAID chip from HighPoint (HPT370A), an integrated debug module with LED display, an AC97 sound system with three line-ins, three fan headers, two DIMM slots for DDR modules and several jumpers. JP3 can be used to alter the DIMM voltage, JP2 allows you to raise the CPU voltage – both in 0.1 V increments. There are also some DIP switches to choose a multiplier. Also, you can set the FSB speed range to 100-132 or 133-166 MHz by setting JCLK1. This particular setting has to be made in the BIOS.

The motherboard supports a total of four USB ports. Unfortunately, there is no cable included to make use of ports 3 & 4.

As you can see on this picture, Epox put some voltage regulators on the back side of the motherboard. Thanks to this, the basic design is quite clean.

Finally, the stability of this motherboard is excellent, making it quite a good choice for users with high expectations of their hardware.

DFI AK76-SN

Board Revision: A

BIOS Version: 5/10/2001

DFI’s Athlon motherboard with AMD chipset does not have any special hardware except the standard features: Six PCI slots, two DDR DIMMs, standard ATA/100 controller included in VIA’s VT82C686B South Bridge, AGP 4x, four USB ports (while only two can be used immediately). There are four fan headers present, which could be an advantage for densely equipped systems.

The multiplier and Vcore setting is done via two DIP switch blocks (SW1 and SW2), while JP2, JP3 and JP4 are responsible for the FSB speed: 100 or 133 MHz. Inside the BIOS setup, you may also alter the particular values.

The BIOS does not differ very much from the ones that are used by competitors. There are many options for the memory parameters. If you are not familiar with them, you should have the auto config set it up for you.

DFI’s motherboard was second fastest in this review. Combined with perfect stability, this lightly featured motherboard (there is only one IDE cable) should be available at attractive prices, making it a good choice for those on a tighter budget.

FIC AD11

Board Version: 1.2

BIOS Version: 03/16/2001

FIC’s 760 motherboard is called AD11 and is the only board in this review which has a CNR slot. Usually, this kind of expansion slot is only used by some OEMs. For most users, the CNR slot is useless, and because it takes the place of a PCI slot, this means that you only have five PCI slots free, compared to the six with competing boards.

The CPU is set up via two DIP blocks, one for the frequency ratio, the other one for the core voltage. Jumper FS decides whether the motherboard runs at 100 or 133 MHz FSB (200 and 266 MHz respectively with DDR).

This motherboard only has two fan headers, and one of them is already used by the North Bridge fan. So, after you use the second one for the CPU cooler, there will be no connector left for additional fans. Unlike the DFI motherboard, the AD11 comes with an AC97 sound system.

FIC ships this motherboard with a full set of cables (one 80pin IDE, one 40pin IDE, one floppy), a comprehensive manual, a driver CD and another CD with Norton Ghost and Anti Virus.

If you can live without additional fan headers and with only five PCI slots, the AD11, which ran smoothly throughout our benchmark suite, might be the right choice for you.

Test Setup

Benchmarks – SYSmark 2000 – Windows 98 SE

Though the SYSmark result does not make any practical difference, it has become one of the core benchmarks for motherboard reviews. The graphics card does not have any influence on the SYSmark number, so the results are roughly comparable to other motherboard tests which were run with the same hard drive. The Epox board is fastest here, followed by FIC and DFI.

Quake III Arena

The Timedemo 001 of Quake III Arena may be the most important 3D benchmark for gamers. The frame rate at 640×480 is certainly not critical for real life gaming situations, but benchmarking at low resolution ensures that any performance discrepancies are caused by the motherboard and not by the graphics card.

Here, FIC places first, although the others follow closely on its heels.

Mercedes Benz Truck Racing

Mercedes Benz Truck Racing (MTBR) is also a popular benchmark because its high demands on the CPU and graphics card quickly unmasks any weaknesses in performance. In this case, the three motherboards hardly differ in terms of performance.

Advanced Visualizer

The Advanced Visualizer is one of six parts of the SPECview 6.1.2 benchmark suite. Running all six parts makes sense for graphics card reviews, but motherboard performance can be determined by running only one or two of them.

The DFI-Board is able to score a better result than the two others.

ProCDRS

ProCDRS requires a lot of memory bandwidth, CPU and graphics performance. Due to that, all boards work at their limits and the results are quite similar.

Conclusion

Once again, a motherboard review finished without a clear performance champion. The Epox EP-8K7A+ is the winner in terms of features, as it comes with ATA/100 RAID, a sound system and a debug module.

FIC’s motherboard comes with a sound system, which has become standard today, but with only five PCI slots. Instead of the sixth one, this board has a CNR slot. FIC boards are usually available at attractive prices; if you can live without the extra fan header, you will get a good performer with nice software add-ons.

DFI reduced the AK76-SN to only the necessary components. There is no sound system, no RAID, no debug unit but a naked Athlon motherboard which did not cause any problems. Though it only finishes third in terms of features, it may be your first choice in terms of costs.