![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Sunday , August 31, 2003
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
ABIT KV7
ABIT’s VIA KT600 based solution. Read on to find out just how well it stands up to the likes of the competition, including the speed-crowned nForce2 chipset and if it is worthy of your box.
BIOS
As is standard across their motherboard lines, ABIT chose to base the KV7’s BIOS on the Phoenix AwardBIOS. ABIT customized the BIOS with their own performance tweaks, centered around the SoftMenu3 interface.
ABIT’s SoftMenu interface sets the standard for BIOS related tweaking among enthusiasts. Through a single location, the end user has full control over CPU and system bus speeds as well as component level voltages.
The CPU Operating Speed option gives the user a choice of various pre-configured CPU speeds and FSBs, without having to manually set anything. When the CPU Operating Speed option is set to User Defined, the end user is given full control over the CPU FSB speed, the ratio between the PCI, AGP and CPU FSBs, and the multiplier for the CPU itself. The CPU FSB Clock(MHz) option allows for setting of the CPU FSB from a minimum of 100 MHz to a 250 MHz maximum FSB. The Ratio (FSB:AGP:PCI) controls the speed of the PCI and AGP buses based on the CPU FSB set. A variety of multipliers are available allowing for default PCI and AGP bus speeds at up to 200 MHz. It would have been nice for ABIT to allow default PCI and AGP bus speeds through 250 MHz by providing up to an x/8 divider, but this is a common shortcoming among the AMD VIA based solutions. The Multiplier Factor option is used to determine the actual speed of the CPU when multiplied by the CPU FSB setting. ABIT went above and beyond with the multitude of multipliers available. Note that changing the multiplier will only work correctly on a BIOS unlockable processor, such as an AMD Tbred-b or Barton CPU. Changing the multiplier on a locked CPU can cause a non-booting board, forcing a CMOS reset.
Below the FSB settings are the system voltage settings. The voltage settings themselves become user accessible with the Power Supply option set to User Define. The AGP Voltage option controls the amount of voltage supplied to your AGP card, with a maximum setting of 1.65v. This amount of voltage should be enough for most AGP based overclocking, but more voltage would allow for a bit more aggressive overclocks. The DDR Voltage option sets the amount of voltage pumping through your power hungry RAM. A maximum setting of 2.80v should suffice for most overclocking, but is again a bit lacking for truly pushing the hardware limits. The NB Core Voltage option controls the juice going through your Northbridge chipset, and was a pleasant surprise. This option especially helps in stabilizing the board at higher FSBs. Last but not least, the CPU Core Voltage controls how much voltage your screaming CPU receives. With a maximum setting of 2.325v, even the most [H]ardcore enthusiasts will be pleased.
The Advanced Chipset Features menu allows for full control over chipset related functions from a central location. The menu itself is broken down into various submenus, allowing for better grouping of the various options available. The AGP & P2P Bridge Control submenu contains various options for controling AGP related performance variables. Notice that with the AGP Driving Control option, there are three control options available rather than the one normally seen.
The DRAM Clock/Drive Control submenu contains various performance related options for getting the higher level of performance from your selected memory.
The DRAM Clock option controls the speed of your memory, with options of up to 200 MHz available. Note that you will get much lower system performance if you set your memory speed asynchronously to the CPU FSB speed set. With the DRAM Timing Selectable option is set to Manual, all memory related timing options become manually configurable. Settings available include CAS latency, Bank Interleave, RAS Precharge delay (shown as Precharge to Active(Trp)), RAS to CAS delay (shown as Active to CMD(Trcd)), and Active to Precharge delay. On all memory timing settings, a lower number is more aggressive.
Independent of the DRAM Timing Selectable option, there are a number of other memory options listed to control the aggressiveness of various memory related operations. The DRAM Burst Length determines the amount of data read or written during a burst operation, the higher number being more aggressive. The DRAM Command Rate, Write Recovery, and DDR400 tWTR timing control options determine wait states between specific commands issued, with the lower number being more aggressive in all cases. When set to Manual, the DDR DQS Input Delay allows for customization of the data input strobe delay, while the DDR DQS Output Delay allows for customization of the data output strobe delay. Both of the DDR DQS options are best left set to Auto. Note that all of the above options allow for extremely aggressive tweaking of your memory, but will most definitely lead to a non-booting system when setup incorrectly.