ASUS A7V8X
(VIA KT400) Mainboard
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The first board coming on the new VIA's chipset is rich in various controllers,
and some of them embody new standards. Accessories: - Package
of a standard design;
- Documentation: user manual in English;
-
Cables: 2 ATA66/100/133, 1 ATA33, 2 SerialATA and FDD;
-
Bracket with 2 IEEE1394 ports;
- Bracket with 2 USB and Game ports;
-
Bracket for the rear computer panel;
- 2 CDs containing:
- drivers;
- ASUS Live Update;
- ASUS HotKey;
-
ASUS MyLogo;
- ASUS PCProbe;
- ASUS Screensaver;
-
Adobe Acrobat Reader;
- 3Deep;
- DirectX 8.1;
-
Winbond Voice Editor;
- InterVideo WinDVD;
- InterVideo
WinRip;
- InterVideo WinCoder;
- InterVideo WinProducer.
The layout is typical: connectors along the left edge are placed inconveniently,
audio-ins are in front of the PCI slots, and when a video card is installed it's
difficult to handle the memory modules. It can be difficult as well to reach some
jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the
textolite. The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 6 capacitors
of 3300 uF and 4 of 1200 uF. The following controllers are integrated:
- audio controller based on the chipset's capabilities and Avance Logic
ALC650 AC'97 codec supporting 5.1 audio systems and having connectors for front
audio inputs/outputs and for SPDIF;
- network controller based on the Broadcom
BCM5702CKFB chip supporting 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T;
-
IDE RAID controller based on the Promise PDC20376 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1
on the ATA133 and Serial ATA150 protocols;
-
IEEE1394 bus controller based on the VIA VT6306 chip supporting up to 3 ports.
Thanks
to the ITE IT8708F-A I/O controller the board supports (and have a connector)
a reader for smart cards. The board incorporates ASUS Multi-Language
BIOS, ASUS POST Reporter (reports about problems during booting), ASUS MyLogo2
(for displaying your images when the system boots), ASUS C.O.P. (to protect the
processor from overheating), ASUS Q-Fan (auto fan speed control) and ASUS EZ Flash
BIOS (for flashing a new BIOS version without booting the system from a diskette).
+5 V supplied in the StandBy mode is indicated with the green LED, and when
a 3.3V card is inserted into the AGP slot you will see the red LED going on which
means that the card is incompatible (it's impossible to turn on the computer even
with the Power button). Non-unsoldered connectors: none. The system monitoring
is supported by the ASUS ASB100-A Bach chip. What is controlled:
- processor voltage, +3.3, +5 and +12 V;
- speed of 3 fans;
-
temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor), the board (a built-in sensor)
and an external sensor connected to the board.
There are 3 connectors
for adjustable connection of fans. Brief characteristics of the board:
memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots - AGP/ 6 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/
2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0 / 2 IEEE1394 (the controller supports up to 3 ports); dimensions
- 305x245 mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches | Jumper
to clear up the CMOS | | | Jumper for starting
up computer from a PS/2 keyboard | | | Jumpers
for starting up computer from USB keyboard | | | Jumper
to extend the range of voltage values supplied to the processor's core | Disable/Enable |
| Jumper to choose settings for chipset registers | Hardware/Software |
| Jumper to set a mode of the 6th PCI slot | ASUS Wireless
Card/ Normal | | BIOS based on the Award 6.0 | Setup
of memory timings | + | CAS Latency, Active To Precharge
Delay, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge Delay, 1T Command Control, Bank Interleave |
| Setup of memory frequency | + | Auto, DDR266,
DDR333, DDR400 | | Setup of AGP bus | + | |
| Setup of PCI bus | + | | | Changeable
scaler of AGP and PCI buses | - | | | Manual
assignment of interrupts | + | | | Changeable
FSB frequency | + | 100-227 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| Changeable CPU multiplier | + | x5-x22.5 |
| Changeable core voltage | + | 1.5-2.05 V in 0.025V
steps | | Changeable memory voltage | + | Auto,
2.55, 2.65, 2.75, 2.85 V | | Changeable chipset voltage | - | |
| Changeable AGP bus voltage | + | 1.5, 1.6, 1.7,
1.8 V | We used the latest available version of the BIOS -
BIOS 1004. I think most top models from different manufacturers will
look like this one - it doesn't have such a conceptual design like the MAX series
of ABIT, but at the same time the A7V8X opens the door to the future with its
new technologies. Test results:
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