Changing Of The Guard: Four Athlon Motherboards For DDR400 – THG.RU

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Four Athlon Motherboards For DDR400″ –>

The New Elite? The First Athlon Motherboards With VIA’s KT400 Chipset

AMD has made a comeback – thanks to the Athlon XP 2600+, the chip manufacturer mingles once more at the front of the pack. Still, there’s a lot to be done because Intel is approaching the 3 GHz marker with giant steps. Due to the fact that the Athlon XP runs at a significantly lower clock speed, the only way that it can reach a comparable performance level is by way of an optimized platform.

This is exactly where VIA fits in with its KT400 chipset. As indicated by the name, this new chipset supports the fastest of all the DDR standards, namely DDR400 (alias PC3200). With a full 400 MHz memory clock, and the option of a 333 MHz FSB clock, the newcomer is currently the most optimal – theoretically, at least.

While Intel won’t be offically making the switch to DDR333 until this fall, this memory type has already become the standard in AMD systems. Today, you can also get modules for operation in the fast CL2 mode, and this is something that might not happen with DDR400 for months. The question then arises: is the 20% performance increase (resulting from a clock increase from 333 MHz to 400 MHz) noticeable despite slower memory timings, or is it better to invest in a good motherboard with KT333? To answer this question, we took four KT400 motherboards and put them through rigorous testing for a first look comparison.

Bringing Hope: Athlon XP 2600+

For a few months, it really looked as if AMD had lost its chance at catching up with Intel. With the Athlon XP 2100+ (1733 MHz), the Palomino processor core reached the end of its service – more clock speed is simply not possible without reducing reliability.

It was only with the launch of the Thoroughbred (the Athlon core that was shrunk from 0.18 µm to 0.13 µm) that made it possible to increase the clock to 1800 MHz (2200+). However, this turned out to be quite sobering: for one thing, the new processor was not significantly faster than its predecessor. For another thing, this CPU was hardly overclockable, which implied a meager production yield. In short, AMD could not hold its own against the Pentium 4 models of up to 2.53 GHz.

Nevertheless, AMD has responded – an overhauled Thoroughbred core (the “B” version) is now available with Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+ (2 and 2.13 GHz), and it probably won’t be much longer until faster versions come out. Also, an increase in the FSB clock from 266 MHz to 333 MHz (double data rate) is pending. And with respect to the chipsets, there’s no problem with this because the VIA’s KT333 as well as KT400 support a 333 MHz system clock.

The test of the Athlon XP 2600+ clearly showed that AMD was back in the same league as Intel. Although the Pentium 4 with 2.8 GHz currently sets the standard, Intel’s firm dominance is over, for the time being.

Consistent Development: From KT266 To KT333 And KT400

When it comes to VIA’s chipset family, progress can divided into two areas: first, there’s the performance boost that results from particular methods, such as improving the memory controller – and here, memory increase is included. Secondly, numerous integrated features are updated from time to time to reflect the latest technology, for example, the implementation of UltraATA/133 or USB 2.0. It’s difficult to categorize AGP 8x because there are no graphics cards available to test what the real performance advantages are that come with doubled AGP bandwidth.

The Trend: Gigabit-Ethernet On Board

The network controller with MSI and Asus: Broadcom BCM5702 is supposed to be suitable for Gigabit Ethernet, but works at 10/100 MBit/s as well.

In the past months, integrated network adapters have become increasingly popular.

On the one hand, the corresponding controller chips for 10/ 100 MBit/s have gotten to be quite inexpensive. And on the other hand, the RJ45 port is not only helpful for traditional networks – broadband connections of all types (DSL, cable, powerline) are always connected via RJ45, regardless of whether the computer is directly connected to a modem or if a router (including Ethernet hub or switch) is used.

100 MBit/s is the world standard today. Simple network cards and hubs or switches are inexpensive, and even the cables are affordable as well as multi-purpose (ISDN, for example).

There are differences among network controllers, however: cards such as the 3C905-TX from 3com (our reference model) take on all network tasks, so that the processor does not have to deal with the load most of the time. Because of this, good quality network cards still cost more than $30. The other category of cards only involves the functionality and requires significantly more processor time because many partial functions have to be emulated. These more modest controllers are used on motherboards because they are inexpensive.

Gigabit-Ethernet (1.000 MBit/s) can be implemented in two ways: via the typical copper cable (Cat. 5+ or 6), or via fiber optic cable. The simplest method is certainly to use copper cabling, because, this way, backwards compatibility is guaranteed. This is something not provided by fiber optic cable, and what makes things more difficult is that the components required for this are sometimes extremely expensive.

Even if an integrated Gigabit-Ethernet controller is hardly able to reach the level of a fully-fledged adapter card, the customer can still get the maximum performance and flexibility at a minimally higher price compared to 100 Mbit/s.

With DDR400 Into The Future? DDR Memory Based On PC3200 Standard

More clock speed = more performance. This is a statement that is uncontested in most cases. However, in the case of DDR RAM, this statement should be carefully investigated, because ultimately, memory performance does not depend on clock speed alone. The memory timings in particular have a clearly noticeable influence on the overall performance. Making the step from DDR266 to DDR333 means a clock increase of 25%. Even in unfavorable conditions (DDR266 with CL2 vs. DDR333 with CL2.5), the faster memory still brings performance advantages.

However, there’s only a 20% difference between DDR333 and DDR400. Therefore, it’s possible that a great deal of the performance boost will disappear, simply because there are not yet any memory modules available for DDR400 with CL2. Timings aside, though, the time for DDR400 will come — at the latest, when DDR400 modules with CL2 timing become available.

DDR400 – A Premature Birth?

Having established the fact that a faster memory interface probably cannot be used to full advantage in practice, there’s another question of how it performs with the higher memory clock. In fact, there is a fundamental limitation when using DDR SDRAM based on the PC3200 standard: only a single DIM module with 400 MHz can be used! If two modules are used, then the memory clock is automatically reduced to 333 MHz. If three DIMMs are used, then the chipset sets it back even further to 266 MHz!

This can certainly be assigned to the high clock speed, but the suspicions grow that DDR400 is only really useful for the marketing department of the large providers – at least in the near future.

With 150 MB/s: Serial ATA

Both Asus and MSI equip their KT400 boards with the Serial ATA controller PDC20376 from Promise. Although Serial ATA will not be replacing traditional ATA any time soon, the days of ribbon cables are definitely numbered. Among the advantages of Serial ATA, there’s not only the higher data rate (up to 150 MB/s), but the thinner cable and the problem-free connector are easier to handle. Asus offers the more intelligent solution: the Serial ATA controller can support up to four drives. However, only two connections and a 40-pin connection are provided. The latter can be used for one or two IDE drives, or it can run two further Serial ATA drives via the adapter that comes in the packages.

The Boards

Asus A7V8X

Board Revision: 1.03

BIOS Version: 1006-01 (2. September 2002)

As usual, the design of the Asus board is organized and well thought out. Accordingly, the features listed in the user manual read like the menu of a high-class restaurant: AGP 8X; six PCI slots; six USB 2.0 ports; three UltraATA/133 channels plus two Serial ATA ports (or two ATA/133 and four Serial ATA ports); VIA FireWire controller; Gigabit-Ethernet adapter from Broadcom; six-channel AC97 sound system from Realtek; and the typical Asus qualities – overclockability and reliability in particular.

The sound system offers two internal inputs (e.g., for DVD-ROM and CD recorder), as well as a coaxial digital-in and digital-out. Even the game port was not forgotten – even though the latest joysticks and steering wheels today are mostly connected via USB. Speaking of USB: four USB ports are firmly soldered to the board and can be used directly from the connector panel. An adapter cable for two further ports is included in the package.

Up till now, Asus always gave you the choice of making CPU settings manually with the DIP switch or using the Soft Menu of the well-structured BIOS. The latter was always a must if you wanted to overclock. Now, Asus no longer offers the DIP switch option, which should mean a loss for system integrators.

Asus did away with a fan for the KT400 chip – we view this as a positive thing because if a component doesn’t exist (and if the component is unnecessary), then it can’t break down.

The Serial ATA controller from Promise (indicated by the blue arrow) offers transfer rates of up to 150 MB/s. Two ports can be used directly (red arrows), and in the lower part of the image you can see a 40-pin IDE connection, which can be used for two Serial ATA connections via the adapter (included).

Complete set of accessories, including user guide, software CD, three IDE cables, two Serial ATA cables and various adapters for game port, USB 2.0, FireWire, etc.

Gigabyte GA-7VAXP

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: F4M (22. August 2002)

First, the bad news: unfortunately, the Gigabyte board almost completely refused to work with the Athlon XP 2600+ – after a few seconds, it would turn itself off again. Even upgrading the BIOS did not improve matters; only a test with the Athlon XP 2000+ showed that the board appeared to function. However, Gigabyte confirmed that this issue only happens with some pre-release samples (some bug within the thermal protection of the new Athlon XP) and already sent us the mass-production version of this board, which runs flawlessly and will take part in our huge KT400 roundup soon.

It’s too bad that some of the test results are missing, because the features of the 7VAXP are quite impressive: five PCI slots, AGP 8X three DIMM sockets, FireWire controller; Promise UltraATA/133 RAID controller; AC97 sound system; network controller from Realtek; and three fan headers – that’s hard to beat. The only thing you’ll have to do without is a Serial ATA, but up to now there has been no need to switch over to the new interface. Lastly, this board also has two Eproms – Gigabyte calls this safety feature “DualBIOS.”

Happily enough, the package includes a full set of accessories – in addition to the obligatory user guide (in English and very extensive), Gigabyte also provides a user guide for the RAID controller from Promise. Appropriate adapter cables for USB 2.0 and FireWire are also included, as well as a set of ribbon cables (three 80-pin IDE, plus floppy).

One of the nice things about the 7VAXP is that it allows for operation with 333 MHz FSB, so it is prepared for future Athlon processors, or for attempts at extreme overclocking. Here, however, the user manual notes that the memory clock runs synchronously at 333 MHz.

MSI KT4 Ultra

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: 1.0 (22. August 2002)

Similar to Asus, MSI places much importance on having the longest list of features possible. Among the features are the PCI sound chip from C-Media, the Gigabit-Ethernet controller from Broadcom, a Serial ATA controller from Promise, a FireWire controller from VIA, and a bluetooth module that is excellent for connecting with mobile phones and other devices.

MSI refuses to be defeated by anyone, and so it provides all the accessories that you could ever want, starting with a combined USB/Bluetooth module, to a FireWire adapter cable, Serial ATA cable, ribbon cable, all the way to the user guides (installation, main guide, IDE RAID).

Even the board from MSI comes with integrated Ethernet adapter for 10, 100 or even 1000 Mbit/s (Gigabit-Ethernet).

QDI KuDoZ 7X

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: 1.1

In contrast to the three other manufacturers, QDI reduces features to the essentials. The KuDoZ 7X is equipped with sound and network controllers (both from VIA) that are part of the standard features today. On the board, there are six PCI slots, a CNR slot, three DIMM sockets and two fan headers. There is no FireWire controller on the board, and instead there are six USB ports. Four of these can be used only via the adapter cable (included) threaded through a slot bracket.

A number of system-related features are categorized as “QDI Innovation Features.” For example, you can set the system start quickly (without BIOS messages), set BIOS to be write-protected and specify which function keys take you to the BIOS update feature.

Test Setup

Benchmark Results

OpenGL Benchmark: Quake 3 Arena

DirectX 7 Benchmark: Unreal Tournament

MP3 Encoding: Lame 3.92

MPEG-4 Encoding: DivX 5.02 and Flask 4.5

Low-Level Benchmark: SiSoft Sandra 2002 Pro

Low-Level Benchmark: MadOnion PCMark 2002 Pro

BAPCo SYSmark 2002

Archiving: WinACE 2.11

3D-Rendering Performance: SPECviewperf 7.0

Conclusion: No Advantages Compared To DDR333!

Considering the high expectations, based on previous experiences with DDR, the test results of the first KT400 boards are a disappointment. Even with the pre-production boards and BIOS version, we had expected that the performance would at least be on par with that of a KT333 motherboard – however, none of the three KT400 boards that we tested achieved the performance of a KT333!

This has to do with two factors: the first factor is that the manufacturers still seem to have trouble getting maximum performance with the new chipset – most likely due to the JEDEC specification for DDR400, which are still missing. This means that each manufacturer must test and validate as many memory types as possible, otherwise the differences and problems cannot be ruled out. The consequences are that conservative memory timings are the order of the day for now. The second factor is that the reliable timings are anything but fast – in light of the results, the advantages of high memory clock speeds are completely nullified by the slow timings.

One of the positive aspects, in any case, is that all of the boards run reliably and stably with auto-settings. Moreover, the latest generation of motherboards shine with a full set of features on a scale never seen before. Here, MSI put together the best package: in addition to USB 2.0, FireWire, gigabit-LAN and Serial ATA, the motherboard also provides a bluetooth module for wireless communication. The Asus board does not provide this option, but it allows for more flexible use of the ATA interfaces.

To make it clear: in our view, KT400 has not yet justified its own existence – even the abundant features of the first products are not enough to change this. It cannot be said that KT400 is flexible either, because at 400 MHz, only a single DIM module can be used.

In a few weeks, we’ll bring you a more extensive comparison of all KT400 motherboards on the market, and show you whether the KT400 emerges as a successor to the throne, or a charlatan.

Features Table