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Page 3 of 8 Basic Features and BIOS: | CPU | Socket-754 | | Chipset | VIA K8T800 Northbridge
VIA 8237 Southbridge | | Bus Speeds | 200MHz to 300MHz (in 1MHz increments) | | AGP/PCI Speeds | CPU:AGP:PCI - Fixed, 6:2:1, 7:2:1, 8:2:1 | | Core Voltage Support | 1.50v to 1.85v in 0.025v increments | | AGP Voltage Support | 1.50v-1.65v in 0.05v increments | | DRAM Voltage Support | 2.50v to 2.8v in 0.05v increments
(up to 3.2v in uGuru) | | Northbridge Voltage | 1.50V-1.65V in 0.05V increments | | Southbridge Voltage | 2.50V-2.65V in 0.05V increments | | HyperTransport Voltage | 1.20V-1.40V in 0.05V increments | | Memory Slots | 2 x 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots
Support to 2GB DDR 400/333/266 | | Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot
5 PCI Slots | | Onboard RAID | VIA VT8237 supports 2 SATA drives in Raid 0/1/JBOD configurations | | Onboard USB 2.0 | 8 USB 2.0 supported through VIA VT8237 | | Onboard LAN | Gigabit Ethernet by VIA VT6122 PCI | | Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC658
6-Channel with SPDIF Out | | Onboard SATA | 2x IDE connectors and 2x SATA connectors by VIA 8237 |
Since Abit integrates some of the exceptional tweaking options into the BIOS, we weren’t expecting anything less than stellar from them. While many of the options are fairly regular from one board maker to another, there are other settings that we would briefly like to touch upon. First of all, Abit has a separate uGuru section that lets you tweak and monitor settings that others boards don’t offer. The uGuru utility is truly a fascinating innovation by Abit that actually works and works well. As the board is being targeted at the enthusiast segment, it comes with alterable voltage settings for the northbridge, southbridge and the HyperTransport link. The core voltage, as you can see, moves up in 0.025 increments to a maximum of 1.85v. The system bus goes up in 1Mhz from 200MHz all the way up to 300MHz, which is a standard that even the value and non-overclocking friendly boards support. Perhaps the most exciting feature is the availability of the AGP/PCI lock that can be altered in three different ways with three different divider settings. While almost all of these features are exciting and should please almost everyone, the DRAM voltage is somewhat of a let down. Initially the board supports only 2.80v, but with the uGuru utility, the settings go from being mediocre to extreme as the voltage options move up to 3.2v. Another thing to point out are multiplier settings of the HyperTransport bus. Many motherboard makers usually tend to offer settings in 0.5x increments, but that’s not the case with KV8 Pro. Once again, these are features that logically make sense, but Abit has made some immature errors here and there that would otherwise make this board a perfect choice.
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