VIA KT333 Motherboard Roundup

[Guru]

Over at Anandtech! http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1636

Have not read the article yet so can't comment on it!

[Guru]

ABIT KX7-333

The KX7-333 does have four DIMM slots, but stability with all four banks populated isn't guaranteed. In fact, we could only run the board reliably with two memory banks populated at DDR333 speeds with the timings set to automatically adjust according to the modules' SPD logic. In some cases, we could get three modules to work relatively well but overall you shouldn't count on using more than two sticks of memory in the KX7-333 without sacrificing stability.

And there is more!

According to ABIT the latest KX7-333 BIOS supports the Thoroughbred core; however, the board cannot read from the processor's on-die thermal diode. Because of this, no good thermal protection is built into the motherboard, which is a bit of a disappointment considering that the board was released long after Tom's Hardware Guide brought attention to the issue of thermal emergencies and the Athlon XP processor. To be fair to ABIT, most motherboard manufacturers still have yet to implement this functionality; it won't be until their KT400 boards ship before we see the ability to read directly from the processor's thermal diode.

[Guru]

Compare that 2 the MSI!

MSI's entry in this roundup comes in the form of the KT3 Ultra; sporting MSI's signature fire-red PCB, the KT3 Ultra is a very eye catching design but as you have come to expect from us, looks are of our least concern.

The board follows a fairly basic expansion slot configuration with 5 PCI, 1 CNR and 1 AGP 4X slot. There are three DIMM slots on the motherboard and the KT3 Ultra proved to be stable in our tests even with all three populated with DDR333 modules. We were also pleased that the KT3 Ultra was one of only two motherboards in this roundup that properly supported reading temperatures off of the Athlon XP's thermal diode.



Although MSI didn't outfit the KT3 Ultra with on-board Ethernet, they did make it compliant with their Bluetooth kit. The kit is sold separately and works by plugging one end into the KT3 Ultra motherboard, and a USB dongle can do into any other PC (it does not have to be MSI based) to form a small Bluetooth network. The inclusion of Bluetooth functionality is definitely a neat feature, but Bluetooth was never intended to be a PC networking standard and on-board Ethernet would have been much more useful. Remember that Bluetooth offers very little bandwidth (1Mbps), which isn't sufficient for any type of PC network. It's a nice feature to have, but it's more of a novelty item in this case; we'd trade it for on-board Ethernet any day.

The KT3 Ultra uses the same Avance Logic ALC650 AC'97 codec for its audio that most other manufacturers seem to be using. It's interesting to note that the codec on MSI's board actually has Realtek's logo on the chip (Realtek owns Avance Logic) while all of the other chips are clearly labeled as Avance Logic. That doesn't change anything but we just found it interesting.

MSI has a very elegant implementation of the ALC650 with an external bracket providing center/LFE and rear 1/8" outputs. You'll also find two SPDIF outputs on the bracket in the form of a 1/8" jack and an optical connector.



Departing from the norm, MSI used a smaller NEC USB 2.0 controller instead of the VIA controller that most other motherboard manufacturers implemented. USB ports are plenty on the KT3 Ultra since MSI takes advantage of the external NEC controller and the USB 1.1 controller integrated into the South Bridge. The integrated USB 1.1 controller drives the two USB 1.1 ports on the motherboard and two more 1.1 ports provided on an external bracket. Another bracket offers up to 4 USB 2.0 ports that are driven by the on-board NEC controller; in the event that you're using MSI's Bluetooth kit, you lose the functionality of one of those ports on the bracket as the Bluetooth bracket eats up one of your USB 2.0 root ports. This doesn't make much sense to us either as using a USB 2 port for a Bluetooth connection is a waste of bandwidth; it would make much more sense for MSI to use a USB 1.1 port, which offers more than enough bandwidth for Bluetooth.

On-board RAID is driven by the Promise PDC20276 controller, we've already complained enough about this controller on the previous pages; it drives the two IDE channels mounted near the last PCI slot on the motherboard.

Our only real complaint about the KT3 Ultra (other than the lack of any on-board Ethernet) stems from its AMI BIOS. Adjusting FSB frequencies is a pain as there is no input field for you to key in your desired FSB frequency as is the case with most AWARD BIOS setups. Instead you have to use the plus and minus keys to scroll through a list of FSB settings from 133 - 220MHz, which is a tad irritating.

The current BIOS for the board supports the new Thoroughbred core and all voltage adjustments are supported in the setup.

We ran into no stability issues while testing the KT3 Ultra.

[[GDI]Raptor]

Im very satisfied with my ASUS A7V333 motherboard.... :-)

[Dr Mordrid]

Just bear in mind that the VIA KT-266/333 chipsets don't have the PCI bandwidth of SiS735/745's or the AMD/Intel chipsets.

Nice as my Gigabyte GA-7VRX/GA-7VRXP KT-333 boards are for general purpose editing/computing THEY DO NOT WORK WELL with devices I have here that require high bandwidths or when two medium-high bandwidth devices are in the same system.

This problem is not Gigabyte specific but a chipset issue.

Dr. Mordrid

[SteveC]

Originally posted by [GDI]Raptor
Im very satisfied with my ASUS A7V333 motherboard.... :-)

What he said.

[Guru]

Another one over at sharkyextreme! http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardwar...le.php/1367631

MSI kicked abits ass in theis one!

[Jammrock]

Does anyone know of a SiS 745 motherboard rounup? Possibly a KT333 vs SiS 745 review? I've been looking, but not finding.

Jammrock

[Dr Mordrid]

Most roundups test using benchmarks that don't measure PCI performance so they don't show its advantages.

Unfortunately it usually takes some $$ test gear to properly measure this parameter. That or an accessory board that pushes the PCI's limits, and then you have to see which mainboard/chipsets it'll work with and which won't.

Dr. Mordrid