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Abit KT7-RAID
Written by Spode (29/Nov/00)
Page 2 of 4

Untitled Document

Let's take a look at the specs taken from the Abit Site:

CPU
1. Supports AMD-K7 Athlon Socket A 200MHz FSB Processors
2. Supports AMD-K7 Duron Socket A 200MHz FSB Processors

Chipset
1.
VIA (KT133) /VIA 686A
2. Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)
3. Supports AGP 2X/4X (Sideband)
4. Supports 100/133MHz Memory Bus Settings

Ultra DMA 100
1. High Point HTP370 IDE Controller
2. Ultra DMA 100MB/Sec data transfer rate
3. RAID 0(stripping mode for boosting performance)
4. RAID 1 (mirroring mode for data security)
5. RAID 0 +1(stripping and mirroring)

Memory

1.
Three 168-pin DIMM sockets support PC100/PC133 SDRAM module
2. Supports up to 1.5 GB MAX. (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512MB SDRAM)
3. Supports VCM module

System BIOS
1. SOFTMENUTM III Technology to set CPU parameters
2. Award Plug and Play BIOS
3. Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS
4.
Year 2000 Compliant

Multi I/O Functions
1. Two Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33/66/100(up to 4 HDD devices)
2. Two Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33

3. PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Mouse Connectors
4. 1x Floppy Port (up to 2.88MB)
5. 1x Parallel Port (EPP/ECP)
6. 2x Serial Ports
7. 2x USB Connectors
8.
On board USB header for Two extra USB channels

Miscellaneous
1. ATX form factor
2. 1 AGP slot, 6 PCI slots and 1 ISA slots
3. Hardware monitoring - Including Fan speed, Voltages, System environment temperature
4. Built-in Wake on LAN/Wake on Modem
5. Built-in IrDA TX/RX header

The board basically has everything that you expect to get from any board. AGP 4x worked fine on my board but with no increase over 2x. As it is using the same chipset as the A7V, performance will not vary much between them.

The BIOS

As with most Abit motherboards now, this one has CPU SoftMenu of the 3rd variety.

Once a CPU has been unlocked, the motherboard supports multipliers up to 12.5 (currently) and a maximum FSB of 183mhz. But a well known fact is that Via built the chipsets to NOT be fsb overclockable. The maximum I could get stabily out of mine was 114mhz.

The Core Voltage is selectable all the way up to 1.85volts although on mine in reads as 1.92 in the BIOS. This is where I find the KT7 a little limiting. NOT ENOUGH VOLTAGE. Although it is possible to hack the board using a resistor to get more voltage, the A7V mod is easier to do. It also supports I/O voltage all the way to 3.90v.

One thing I like about the this board is the sheer amount of tweaks. Here is a list of a few of the tweaks available for the CPU:

Fast Cpu Command Decode
Cpu Drive Strength
Enhance Chip Performance
Force 4-Way Interleave
Enable 4-way Interleave

All these tweaks although not making a noticeable difference in performance, are what gives these boards the edge. But the thing I found most impressive was the increddible ram speed!


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