ABIT KD7 KT400 chipset

| | | | | | |

CPU's - Digital Cameras - Graphics Cards - Memory - Monitors - Motherboards - Printers - More

	*VIA KT400*	*ABIT KD7* Picture for illustration purposes only (KD7 original)
	Socket A
	1 AGP, 6 PCI
	4 DDR DIMM slots for PC1600/PC2100 PC2700/PC3200
	Get the Latest Prices

The KD7 from Abit. Another motherboard from this massive motherboard manufacturer which hasn't disappointed. I'm not going to run through everything about this board. But I will look at features which makes the board one of the latest around.

AGP 8x

Firstly it has AGP 8x support so you can fully utilize those latest graphics cards such as the Geforce 4 Ti 4800 and the Radeon 9700. This provides an AGP bus bandwidth of 2.1Gb/s instead of the 1.1Gb/s provided with the AGP 4x specification. With more and more complex textures coming into games the AGP bus speed is getting more and more important all the time as On-Card memory is not large enough to handle everything.

DDR400

The Abit KD7 Supports the current fastest memory available DDR400. DDR400 also known as PC3200. DDR400 provides a 200Mhz*2 memory system. Remember the days of PC100. Only 2 banks of DDR400 can be used though with a max of 2Gb. Should really be enough though. Only problem is that without upgrade you wont be able to go beyond 2Gb without using the slower memory. No problem for anyone other than people looking to run a network server or something similar.

5bit FID (Frequency ID)

By ABIT 5-bits FID Override technology, users can get variety of CPU over-clocking sets.
ABIT CPU H.T.P (Hardware Thermal Protection)
ABIT CPU H.T.P. uses pure hardware detection, which not like others use software detection to prevent CPU overheating. ABIT CPU H.T.P provides more reliable result for customers' investment.

USB 2.0

USB 2.0 is up to 40 times faster than the standard USB1.1 ports. This is great news if you are using external Hard Disks CD-Drives or scanning large pictures on a USB scanner. with 480Mbs transfer rate there will be no slow down is your USB transmission.

Supported CPU

Supports AMD K7 Athlon™/Athlon™ XP Socket A 200/266/333Mhz FSB Processors
Supports AMD K7 Duron™ Socket A 200MHz FSB Processors

Chipset Features

VIA KT400/VT8235 chipset
Supports Hi-Speed Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0)
Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI)
AGP connector supports AGP 4X/8X (1.5V/0.8V)

System memory

Four 184-pin DIMM sockets
Supports 2 DIMM DDR 333/400 (Max. 2GB)
Supports 3 DIMM Un-buffered DDR 200/266 (Max. 3GB)
Supports 4 DIMM Registered DDR 200/266 (Max. 3.5GB)

Expansion Slots

1 x AGP 8X
6 x PCI

Other

Floppy Port supports up to 2.88MB
2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 Connectors
2 x USB headers
1 x CD-IN, 1 x AUX-IN
1 x IrDA

Audio

6-Channel AC 97 CODEC on board
Professional digital audio interface supports 24-bit S/PDIF Out

LAN

On board 10/100Mb Operation supports ACPI & Wake on LAN

BIOS

SoftMenu™ Technology to set CPU parameters
Supports Plug-and-Play (PNP)
Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
Supports Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS

Back Panel I/O Ports

1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 mouse
2 x Serial, 1 x Parallel
1 x S/PDIF Output
Audio connectors (Front Speaker, Line-in, Mic-in, Center/Sub, Surround Speaker)
2 x USB, 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector

Board Size

ATX Form Factor

Variations

There are a number of variations of this board. To list them we currently have,

KD7
KD7-Raid
KD7-B
KD7-E
KD7-G
KD7-S

The variations of the boards are very slight but when ordering it could make a difference to you. The extra features on the board may put the price up a little when you don't need them. Or you could be ordering a board with a the feature you want missing. The Table below will show you the differences

Model	S-ATA	DDR	LAN (MB/s)	RAID
KD7/KD7-B	NO	400	10/100	NO
KD7-E	NO	333	NO	NO
KD7-G	YES	400	10/100/1000	NO
KD7-S	YES	400	10/100	NO
KD7-RAID	NO	400	10/100	YES

As you can see from the table the KD7 comes in many forms. From the KD7-E which is based on the KT333 chipset and doesn't support RAID Serial ATA or have LAN onboard to the KD7-G which does support Serial ATA has upto a 1GB/s LAN but only the KD7-Raid has the RAID feature. The KD7-E is likely to be in a budget system and is going to be a lot cheaper than the RAID or the -G version.

Abit has really given you a choice with this board, you can really pick what you need from it and buy that version. I think that is very welcome. Less components onboard can improve stability and produce less heat. If your not going to use them then you don't want to be paying for them. On the other hand you always want the option of getting the components that you require. If I had to choose a board out of the lot of them it would be the KD7-S. I think for home purposes RAID and a Gigabyte LAN isn't really needed but Serial ATA is an up and coming feature which will prove useful.

Useful Links