The Abit KT7A-RAID
Manufacturer - Abit
Introduction
With the introduction of the KT-133A chipset, a whole new door
was opened for overclockers and upgraders alike. A new FSB of 266Mhz (DDR)
allows a multitude of configurations and also gives those who were considering
moving to DDR memory a cost effective alternative. In fact, the performance
of the chipset is so close to that of the AMD760 that a move to a DDR based
system, right now, may not be wise. Once the price comes down a little and
more motherboards are released with overclocking features, then a DDR Memory
based board may be logical. So, what does the Abit KT7A-RAID offer that other
boards don't? What does the "A" offer over the KT7-Classic? Well,
let's take a look.
Layout
The layout of the board is very practical. It has 1-AGP, 5-PCI,
and 1 shared PCI/ISA. I am very pleased that there is no AMR slot. This is
a ridiculous idea that has no practical purpose. To be honest, I have never
even seen an audio/modem riser card that fits into one of these connectors.
The sixth PCI makes much more sense in my opinion. Abit has also removed the
closest capacitor to the Socket as a change to the KT7. This will allow larger
heatsinks to fit without obstruction. Again, the northbridge is turned at
45 degrees to shorten traces thus increasing stability. The three DIMM slots
will take up to 1.5Gigs of memory given three 512MB DIMMS. We also see all
of the IDE connectors grouped together (High-Point and VIA) which is convenient
but does make it difficult in some cases as they may sit behind the harddrive
cage. The ATX connector is in a good place but isn't much of an issue in Socket-A
boards as Slot-A.
Features
Having
a board that is completely jumperless is quite nice. As long as the CPU is
unlocked through the L1 bridges, Soft Menu III can control the multiplier
as well as offer a plethora of FSB settings. There are several preset FSB
settings that are displayed with corresponding PCI speed. In addition, there
is a setting for "CPU FSB Plus MHz". This will allow you to increase
the FSB in 1 MHz increments from 0-28. The multiplier can be set from 5X to
12.5X and voltage can be set up to 1.850V. Memory clock can also be set to
"Host or Host + PCI". Allowing you to use either PC-133 or PC-100
for lower bus settings.
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