• VIA KT600 chipset

The most impressive thing about this board is its widest range of BIOS settings. In all other respects, this is usual but pretty fast solution.

The layout is not very handy, but the PCB is too small. The IDE ports are behind the PCI ones, but their sideways mounting musn't create any problems. The FDD connector is on the board's left edge, and its cable may worsen free air circulation and be an obstacle when handling connectors on the PCB. The audio connectors are in front of the PCI slots, and the power supply connector is tucked right in the center. It's not easy to reach some jumpers when the board is already installed. Their functions are indicated on the PCB. The 3-phase switching voltage regulator incorporates 4 capacitors of 3300 uF and 3 of 1200 uF. There are also voltage regulators of the AGP bus (2 x 1000 uF) and of the memory (1x1000 uF and several less capcious ones).  The board measures 305x190 mm ("narrow ATX", 6 fastening screws, the front edge may hang loose without additional fastening).  

System monitoring is supported by Winbond W83697HF chip. It controls: 

• processor, AGP bus, memory, battery voltages, +3.3, +5 and +12 V, +5 V Standby 
• rotation speed of 2 fans;  
• temperatures of the processor (built-in sensor and onboard sensor) and the board (built-in sensor).
  

No wasted space for components that didn't get included in the final design. Well, this is a more advanced version among two based on the same PCB: the other - KD7A -  is based on KT400A+VT8235 and has limited functionality (Serial ATA and one of the USB 2.0 ports are not soldered on).

Ports & connectors onboard

• CPU socket (Socket A);
• 3 slots for DDR SDRAM DIMM (two unbuffered DDR333/400 or three DDR266 at most);
• AGP slot (not Pro, with a retention clip);
• 5 PCI slots (32bit, 33MHz);
• Standard power supply connectors (ATX, 4pin for 12V);
• FDD;
• 2 IDE (Parallel ATA) - on chipset;
• 2 Serial ATA RAID - on chipset;
• 2 Connectors for brackets of 2 USB 2.0 ports each;
• Connector for audio-out from CD/DVD drive;
• Aux-in connector;
• 5 connectors for fans (2 with regulation of rotations, one of them connected to the north bridge cooler).
  

Rear panel (left to right, units)

• PS/2 ports for keyboard & mouse;
• 1 LPT, 1 COM;
• 5 audio connectors (Front Speaker, Line-in, Mic-in, Center/Sub, Surround Speaker) and optical S/PDIF-Out;
• 2 USB (2.0);
• 2 USB (2.0) & RJ-45 (Fast Ethernet).

No wonder that there're no brackets with audio-outs supplied with the board as all necessary connectors are already integrated.

Accessories

• Package of the standard design;
• Documentation: a user manual in English, brief board description in 9 languages;
• Sticker with jumpers' functions written on it;
• ATA66/100/133 and FDD cables;
• 2 Serial ATA cables (without power supply adapters);
• Bracket with 2 USB 2.0 ports;
• I/O Shield;
• Diskette with drivers for SATA RAID;
• CD with software:  
  • drivers;
  • user manuals for some boards in PDF;
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader;
  • ABIT FlashMenu;
  • DirectX 9.0.

Integrated controllers

• audio controller based VIA VT1616 AC'97 codec; 5.1 audio system supported,  audio-outs and S/PDIF-out, and a connector for front audio-outs;
• network controller based on the chipset, 10/100 Mbit Base-T (Fast Ethernet) supported.

Technologies

The board supports several proprietary technologies with similar functionality which allow for fine configuring and overclocking of the system, its monitoring and protection of components from damages.

Settings

We used the BIOS 11 as the latest available version.