Abit KV8-MAX3 (VIA K8T800) Motherboard Review
Performance
I chose the following platforms as the contenders: Soltek 75FRN2-L built on the nForce II chipset with a Barton processor (clock speed = 2GHz, 200õ10), as well as all the remaining boards for Socket754 with the Athlon64 3000+ processor. In a certain sense, this section can be regarded as a replacement to the roundup on motherboards of this type.
Note that by default the board sets the system bus speed (FSB) at 204 MHz, which results in quite substantial rise of the processor clock speed (10õ204=2040MHz). However, we notice this point in good time and forcedly set the FSB to 200 MHz.
In our test configuration, we used the following hardware:
| Test configuration |
| Processor |
AMD Athlon XP (Barton); true clock speed 2GHz, 200õ10
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (true clock speed 2.01GHz, 201õ10). |
| Cooler |
Zalman 7000Cu |
| Video card |
Ati Radeon 9500 128Mb (8x1 ; 400/300)
Ati Catalyst v3.8 |
| Sound card |
Creative Live 5.1 |
| HDD |
IBM DTLA 307030 30Gb |
| Memory |
2x256 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM TwinX, made by Corsair
|
| Case |
Inwin506 with PowerMan 300W power supply unit |
| OS |
Windows XP SP1 |
Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks.
Now on to the gaming tests (i.e. real-world applications).
On the whole, Abit KV8-MAX3 showed a performance level typical of motherboards built on the VIA K8T800 chipset.
Final Words
Above all, note the relatively low price set at $145 on the date of publishing the review. For this money, the user gets a well-equipped high-end motherboard with a number of proprietary technologies and utilities. Also note the wide expansion options and a rich set of overclocking tools.
Of special note is the presence of the OTES system that provides for a forced cooling of the power supply module that improves the operational stability. Also draw your attention to the very powerful option of the board in the system monitoring and controlling the fan's rotational speeds.
Conclusion
Pros:
- Good performance level;
- Support for SerialATA (2 channels; RAID);
- Additional 4-channel SerialATA/RAID controller;
- Integrated 6.1 audio and high-speed LAN (Gigabit Ethernet) controller;
- Support for USB2.0 (8 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire, 3 ports);
- Relatively low price;
- Support for the Cool'n'Quiet;
- A rich set of Abit's proprietary utilities (FlashMenu, EQ etc.);
- Rich package bundle and excellent exterior.
Cons:
The board's specific features:
- Powerful overclocking tools
Read more on this topic:
 Asus K8V Deluxe WiFi (VIA K8T800)
Shuttle AN50R (nVidia nForce3 150)
MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R (VIA K8T800)
Gigabyte K8NNXP (nVidia nForce3 150)
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