Gigabyte
7VAXP (VIA KT400) Mainboard
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This is the most functional board among Gigabyte's models based on the VIA
KT400. It will be interesting for many who are going to buy a board on this modern
chipset. Accessories: - Package of a standard design;
-
Documentation: user manual, installation manual for IDE RAID, a poster with brief
installation steps - in English;
- Cables: 3 ATA66/100/133 and FDD;
-
Bracket with 4 USB ports;
- Bracket with 3 IEEE 1394 ports;
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Bracket with SPDIF-Out connectors TosLink and Coaxial;
- CD containing:
- drivers;
- DirectX 8.1;
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
-
Norton Internet Security 2002;
- Gigabyte EasyTune 4;
-
Gigabyte Face Wizard;
- Gigabyte Windows Utility Manager;
-
Gigabyte Management Tools.
The layout is not ideal because of cables stretching toward the audio-ins and
some connectors on the left edge, but on the other hand, the board is deprived
of many typical downsides. However, it can be difficult to reach some switches
when the board is already installed. Their functions are shown on the textolite.
The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates 4 capacitors of 3300
uF and several less capacious ones. 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 Realtek
RTL8100BL chip and supporting 10BaseT/100BaseTX;
- IDE RAID controller
based on the Promise PDC20276 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1 on the protocols up
to ATA133;
- IEEE 1394 bus controller based on the VIA VT6306 chip.
Thanks
to the Winbond WT83L518D Smart I/O controller the board supports (and have connectors)
readers for smart cards and flash cards of the Memory Stick format. The
board incorporates the following technologies: - DualBIOS (second
Flash EEPROM chip for a copy of the BIOS).
+2.5 V supplied to the
memory modules is indicated with the LED. The system monitoring is supported
by the ITE IT8705F chip. What is controlled: - processor voltage,
+3.3, +5 and +12 V, +5 V SB;
- speed of 2 fans;
- temperatures
of the processor (a built-in sensor) and the board (a built-in sensor).
There
are 2 connectors for adjustable and 2 for unadjustable connection of fans (one
of them is connected to a fan on the heatsink of the chipset's north bridge).
Brief characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion
slots - AGP/ 3 PCI; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0 / 3 IEEE1394; dimensions
- 305x235 mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches | Jumpers
for setting a FSB frequency | 100, 133, 166 MHz | | Switches
to set a processor multiplier | x5-x12.5 | | BIOS
based on the 6.00PG of Award | Setup of memory timings | + | CAS
Latency, Bank Interleave, Precharge to Active, Active to Precharge, Active to
CMD, Burst Length, Queue Depth, Command Rate, Write Recovery Time, tWTR. |
| Setup of memory frequency | + | By SPD, DDR200,
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 | + | 100-200 MHz in 1MHz steps |
| Changeable CPU multiplier | - | | | Changeable
core voltage | + | Auto, +5%, +7.5%, +10% | | Changeable
memory voltage | + | +0.1, +0.2, +0.3 V | | Changeable
chipset voltage | - | | | Changeable AGP
bus voltage | + | +0.1, +0.2, +0.3 V | We
used the latest available version of the BIOS - BIOS F5. Its functional
capabilities put the board into the first places, and taking into account its
average performance level (not striking but not terrible either) we can gauge
it as an excellent product without noticeable defects. Test results:
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