abit KV8-MAX3

Written by Chris Emry Friday, 04 September 2009 10:39

.:: Introduction ::.

It has been nearly three months since the initial release of AMD's Athlon 64 microprocessors. Within that time frame, many hardware websites have been publishing reviews claiming that the ABIT KV8-MAX3 is one of the best motherboards you can drop a 754-pin processor into. So, why would we even begin to think about publishing a review about the exact same motherboard that has been reviewed nearly ten times over and has already received high praises and awards?
Well, we've read these reviews about this particular board like yourself, because after all we are enthusiasts too, but what has ABIT ultimately been able to prove to MBReview with this release? Did these websites overlook anything that was crucial for you, the consumer, to know about? Will the KV8-MAX3 show us a fun-filled maximum experience like others have claimed or become a maximum letdown? Believe me, you don't want to skip to the conclusion for this one! Let's get started by taking a look at the specifications below.
.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Specifications ::.

Processor

- Socket-754 for AMD Athlon 64

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Chipset
VIA K8T800 Northbridge VIA VT8237 Southbridge 3Com Gigabit LAN Realtek ALC658 Audio Silicon Image Sil3114 RAID

Memory

- 3 x 72-bit Single Channel DDR up to 2GB - Supports 3 DIMM DDR333 - Supports 2 DIMM DDR400

Expansion Slots

1 x AGP 8X 5 x PCI 2 x UDMA/133/100/x FDD 6 x SATA IDE/RAID 8 x USB 2.x FireWire

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Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x Parallel, 1 x Serial 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse 5 x Audio I/O 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x RJ-45 Port 1 x S/PDIF In, 1 x S/PDIF Out 1 x IEEEx OTES Exhaust Fan

Special Features

- Abit SoftMenu III - Abit OTES - Abit uGuru

BIOS Features

- Phoenix-Award BIOS

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- 4MB Flash ROM

Form Factor

- ATX Form Factor (12 in. x 9.64 in.)
.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Product Package ::.
The box that the KV8-MAX3 ships in is a nice change from the typical ABIT box with the F1 race car on the front. The KV8-MAX3 can be easily distinguished from other motherboards considering that the shipping box has a large KV8-MAX3 logo stamped all over it along with the AMD Athlon64, OTES and Guru logos on top. There is also an artist's rendition of what the KV8-MAX3 could look like, but it's too bad the actual board doesn't look that way. More on that later.

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One aspect ABIT is well known for in the enthusiast community is their capability to provide the customer with comprehensive and detailed documentation for their motherboards, and you can bet that the KV8-MAX3 follows in this tradition. ABIT tosses in a detailed user manual, a quick installation guide, another guide for their Guru feature, and a sticker to affix to the interior of the computer case for quick references to the motherboard layout. The sticker will come in handy if you often find yourself poking around your motherboard, or happen to lose manuals as much as I seem to.

The bundled accessories include the usual software and driver discs, an expansion bracket with two IEEE1394 ports and two USB ports attached, four SATA cables, three various Molex splitters for power support of SATA devices, one round UDMA/133 cable, one round floppy cable, and of course the appropriate I/O bracket. Unfortunately, the KV8-MAX3 does not come with the heatsink mounting cage which is required to mount a cooling unit to the AMD Athlon64 processor properly, so make sure you have one in your cart before you race to the checkout counter.
Abit also includes a package called Secure IDE with the KV8-MAX3. As the name of this device implies, it will encrypt data on an UDMA hard drive for increased file protection. While this is a nice addition to the bundle, we would rather see Abit include at least one of their Serillel adapters instead so that we can use a UDMA hard drive and connect it to an integrated SATA connector the KV8-MAX3 provides. Two of them would be even better so that we could use them in a RAID array.
One feature that has not been shown in the images above is that all of these bundled accessories are placed neatly in boxes within the KV8-MAX3's main shipping box. I really wish all manufactures would start to do this as ABIT has. By doing this, the manufacturer can further ensure that there is far less of a chance the accessories will acquire any minor damage, or even worse. significant damage to the motherboard surface, or the various mounted components the after it has traveled around the globe, finally arriving at your doorstep.

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.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Software Suite ::.
After the KV8-MAX3 has a fresh OS installed, the next thing you will need to do is install the drivers for the chipset and any integrated components you have decided to utilize. Simply insert the disc into your CD drive, and a window will proceed to pop up and display the correct drivers for each of the vital components, along with those of the optional hardware that you chose to enable via the BIOS. Click on the driver/s that you want to install, and a wizard will lead the way. It couldn't be any simpler.

The only way you will be able to fully interact with the heart and soul of ABITs exclusive Guru feature is with a software package run from a Windows environment, so let's go over this feature now. The Guru software that was shipped to us with our KV8-MAX3 sample is the 1.12 version. There are a total of six different categories within the Guru feature, and they are as follows: OCGuru, ABITEQ, FanEQ, AudioEQ, FlashMenu and BlackBox.
OCGuru is a utility that was designed to help novices and experts alike with overclocking system components in real time. This allows for the user to avoid the hassle of constant restarts after nudging the frequencies up a bit to check for system stability, and then repeating the process until they have achieved a maximum stable overclock. Unfortunately, our experience with OCGuru proved to be rather fruitless. When we attempted to work with the OCGuru featured, no matter the frequency we tried to set the FSB to, it would always spike the FSB frequency an extra 20MHz, resulting in a system failure. It will be interesting to see how OCGuru will develop as the K8 platform matures, or how it works on current mature platforms, such as the AMD AthlonXP or the Intel Pentium 4, as ABIT releases these motherboards with their Guru chip.

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ABITEQ is a program that will monitor all voltages and component temperatures within your PC. This software seemed to work without error, and it has many options and available settings so that you can configure each individual value to a specific value that works best for you. If you are familiar with using other hardware monitoring programs, such as the various incarnations of the famed Motherboard Monitor software, then ABITEQ can only aid you with increased precision since the program was customized specifically for your KV8-MAX3.
The FanEQ software is, for all intents and purposes, the exact same thing that you will find in the BIOS for this Guru feature, although it increases the ease of use as it can be used with a software interface. As the name of FanEQ suggests, the program will automatically adjust fan speeds in real time according to temperatures for the CPU, Northbridge and OTES fans. If you are on the hunt for a virtually noiseless system, then FanEQ will be a welcomed and useful addition to your setup.
AudioEQ is probably the least exciting category within the Guru feature. It is basically a software suite that will only work if you decide to use the integrated audio on the KV8-MAX3. Over the last two years, we have seen integrated audio solutions really begin to step up to the plate as far as sound quality, and capabilities go. Nevertheless, most audio enthusiasts will still choose to opt with a PCI solution that will offer superior recording and playback quality, along with a lessened burden on the CPU. The AudioEQ software itself is an interface that will allow the user to adjust the equalizer themselves or pick from a list of presets.

ABIT FlashMenu is wonderful and worked with absolute perfection. Although this idea is nothing new, as we have used a feature like this from other manufacturers, no longer will a user have to search around ABITS website for the correct BIOS file, download the file, boot from a floppy disc and insert command switches to flash the BIOS. All the user will have to do now is click the button where it says "One Click Live Update," sit back, and relax while FlashMenu updates your BIOS to the latest available version.

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BlackBox is an interesting and most welcome idea. ABIT claims that BlackBox will be able to record system crashes or failures, and then be able to report these errors to ABIT technical support for diagnostic purposes. Unfortunately, BlackBox will not be able to help the end user with each and every error a user could face, but this is the best thing I have ever seen implemented on a motherboard from a manufacturer that is willing to improve the technical support area of their products. In the long run, BlackBox will help out both parties tremendously as this technology develops.
.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Layout ::.
The KV8-MAX3 is the latest addition to ABITs famed MAX motherboard lineup, but there is still one category that they continue to fall short in with almost every release, and it has to do with the appearance of the board. Sure, cosmetics are probably one of the last aspects that any manufacturer concentrates on unless the board is targeted towards the modding community, but the actual look of the product can only compliment a package that is being promoted as the best in computer hardware. Using an enhanced color theme (like the one pictured on the shipping box) could possibly make the consumer have a second look, which can only be a good thing.
The upper portion of the ABIT KV8-MAX3 around the processor socket and Northbridge is very crowded, and I honestly cannot find anything in this part of the motherboard's design that I consider desirable. First of all, the processor socket is too close to the OTES (Outside Thermal

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Exhaust System) mechanism. So close in fact that installing or removing a heatsink would always scratch or bend the OTES. Luckily, ABIT has addressed this problem, and only the first 200 units that shipped out of manufacturing were plagued by this problem. If you were to purchase a retail motherboard today, you would receive a board with the modified OTES design that takes care of the heatsink mounting issues. Another problem is that both of ATX power connectors have been sandwiched in-between some capacitors and the I/O back panel, which could make it extremely difficult to tidy up cables, and could also give the user a hard time removing or installing each power connector because of their current locations.

Finally, while other hardware review sites have reported that the Northbridge heatsink and fan was rather quiet on their KV8-MAX3 sample, I beg to differ. Maybe the fan on our sample is an exception, but it always produced an annoying whine that could be heard over all of the other fans within the test system at the highest RPM setting. We have talked this issue over with ABIT, and it seems that this is indeed a problem that is likely limited to our testing sample as this isnt a widespread problem. I was pleased, however, to find that ABIT coated the K8T800 Northbridge with some thermal grease to help aid in thermal transfer to pull heat away from the chip more efficiently than using a standard thermal adhesive pad. It was also rather easy to remove the heatsink and fan unit, should you decide to replace it with a more elaborate or passive cooling solution.
When we flip the KV8-MAX3 over, we can see that the OTES cooling system is held to the motherboard using two screws and a plastic nut for each screw. This mounting hardware is run through two of the motherboard mounting holes. You might want to remove each nut before you install the KV8-MAX3 in your case, because the motherboard could bend slightly and not line up correctly with the I/O bracket. This could also possibly be the reason why some users, including ourselves, have been greeted with a siren sound when turning on the KV8-MAX3 for the first time. After we removed the nuts and then reinstalled the board in our case, the KV8-MAX3 worked flawlessly throughout operation. If nothing else, we hope that knowing about what we did to get past the siren sound can give the user another chance to get the motherboard up and running before requesting an RMA number.

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Within the expansion slot area, there are two red colored FireWire headers that have been placed in-between the AGP slot and the first PCI slot. We think another location for these headers would be more appropriate, so the required cables won't block airflow or get entangled with the fan on your video card. Additionally, if you are using a video card that has one of those massive GPU cooling solutions, you might not be able to use the FireWire headers at all. The large rectangular chip that resides to the very left of the FireWire headers is the 3Com Gigabit Ethernet Controller which provides up to a 1000Mbps connection for networking. The small Realtek ALC658 audio chip is located to the left of the fourth and fifth PCI slots, and the accompanying onboard audio connectors and header resides just above it. I would like to mention, however, that the integrated audio on the KV8-MAX3 is the best onboard solution that I have ever heard. Whether it was the legendary sound of Bob Marley or the harder sound of Tool, the music that this integrated audio solution provided was simply put, crystal clear, only coming in a close second to my Fortissimo III add-on sound card.

.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Layout Cont. ::.
Although we could not get a clear enough picture to show to you, we were unable to use some of our PCI cards in the fourth PCI slot. With almost every PCI card we tried to install, the screw that holds the bracket to the PCI device would always come in contact with the CD audio in header, totally preventing the installation of a PCI card in this particular slot. This design isn't the worst interference that we have seen before on a motherboard, but any type of interference that could possibly prevent the installation of a device is unacceptable. This area also houses a single, red, three-pin fan header under the last PCI slot, but I would have preferred to see this located near the front panel header instead.
The Southbridge area on the KV8-MAX3 is littered with various chips and connectors, so let us begin to work our way around this area of the motherboard by mentioning that the white colored front panel header rests in the bottom right corner. To the left of the front panel header are four SATA/150 connectors that will be used in conjunction with the Silicon Image Sil3114 SATA RAID chip. This chip can provide a RAID 0, 1, or 0+1 array for the latest interface in hard drive technology. Just above this chip, and to the right of the second and third PCI slots are two blue USB 2.0 headers which will allow you to connect four additional USB 2.0 ports to your computer.

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To the immediate right of the USB 2.0 headers is the VIA VT8237 Southbridge. The two SATA ports that the Southbridge natively supports rest to the right of the VT8237, with a yellow colored Clear_CMOS jumper just beneath them. Although the Clear_CMOS jumper cap has an extended tip, the location of the Clear_CMOS jumper could be hard to grab hold of if you have the SATA cables attached to these two connectors.
Above the front panel header is the floppy connector. It would have been much better if ABIT decided to place the floppy connector lying parallel to the right edge of the board so that you could route a floppy cable easier within the case. The floppy connector could also block the visualization of codes from the diagnostic LED that has been placed right above it, but we are glad to see that the diagnostic LED is onboard and wish every motherboard could be equipped with this helpful luxury. To the left of the diagnostic LED is ABITs exclusive Guru chip, while the System BIOS chip is located on the other side of the LED display between the floppy connector and the Winbond hardware monitoring chip.
As we make our way into the memory portion of the PCB, we next see two IDE connectors are located farther up the right edge of the KV8-MAX3. The location of these IDE connectors is in an ideal position, allowing improved air circulation inside the case when bulky IDE cables are attached. The system buzzer and an additional fan header are in this area as well, located under the IDE connectors beside a motherboard mounting hole. The CPU fan header cannot be seen in the image above, but it rests in-between the first DIMM slot and where the edge of the OTES mechanism begins to pull air through this enhanced cooling solution.

Now, another problem with the design is evident within the memory area. No matter how many times we stress to motherboard manufacturers concerning problematic areas with their designs, an installed video card in the AGP slot will repeatedly interfere with removing or installing extra memory in the memory slots if each of these slots are placed too close to one another. This design flaw can be found on many motherboards, much more than we would like to admit, and unfortunately this problem is present on the KV8-MAX3. This makes it overly difficult to perform a memory upgrade which should be the easiest type of upgrade for any computer system. In many cases, this problem is merely due to lack of available real-estate on the motherboard, and from the optimal trace routing that the simulators gave to the engineers, although we still dont care for this common problem, to say the least.

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Our last stop on the KV8-MAX3s PCB is the rear I/O panel, and as you can see, the design is very different from what can be found on the majority of boards on the market. The panel consists of the OTES exhaust fan at the top, two PS/2 ports, two S/PDIF ports to be used with the other five audio ports, one FireWire port, one RJ-45 LAN port, and finally four USB 2.0 ports.
.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 System BIOS ::.
The KV8-MAX3 is equipped with ABITs popular SoftMenu III customized Phoenix-Award BIOS. The images shown below are with the 1.6 version (updated using uGuru FlashMenu) and this release was also used for all of our benchmarking, overclocking and torture tests. The images below represent what the KV8-MAX3 can offer over a typical enthusiast BIOS.
All of the overclocking options for the KV8-MAX3 are located within the SoftMenu III section of the BIOS, and the image above was taken with the highest settings available for each individual overclocking option. I seriously doubt that anyone could possibly need more for their overclocking adventures since the AGP and PCI clocks cannot be locked, and also taking the infancy of the K8 core into account. The VCore selections can be adjusted in a rather unusual way, to provide voltage to the processor in.01v increments. Focus your attention now to the phrase at the very bottom of the SoftMenu III screen. It reads "Press F8 to OC on the Fly" and we tried several times with numerous configurations, but pressing the F8 key did absolutely nothing.

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The image above represents what the ABIT KV8-MAX3 can offer a user for tweaking their installed memory of choice. These options are available in the DRAM configuration sub-menu found within the Advanced Chipset Features main menu. The actual memory timing settings for each one listed has a very broad range, so if you are planning on squeezing out a CAS 2.0-2-2-2-5-1T timing set, or to aim for a high FSB with CAS 3-etc., you need not worry. The KV8-MAX3 has got you covered. You just have to make sure your memory can handle what you throw at it, and then you are off to tweak the night away.

When we take a look at the SANDRA memory bandwidth tests, the massive gain in performance from the K8 motherboards over the K7 board is because of the integrated memory controller within the Athlon64 processor. Again, the KV8-MAX3 pulls ahead of the K8V Deluxe, but the increase is by less than 1%. Hopefully ABITs new Athlon64 motherboard can hold this lead in the rest of our benchmarking tests. Lets see if it can, starting off with our own PriBench.

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.:: MBReview PriBench v1.04 ::.
Using our very own in-house benchmark, MBReview PriBench uses a computationally intensive algorithm to compute several hundred millions of prime integers. Unlike other synthetic benchmarks which rely on additional components within a computer system like the hard drive, PriBench does not rely on any of these exterior devices for the tests. PriBench is a system level benchmark, solely utilizing the performance of the processor and memory subsystem. It also focuses on comparing processor architectures and technologies and then seeing how much a core clock and/or FSB speed increase can be beneficial to the system. Our program is extremely accurate as we have witnessed time fluctuations of approximately.03 seconds.
Taking a look at the results, the KV8-MAX3 once again is able to show us that is can perform slightly better than the K8V Deluxe in the first two and more demanding intensity tests. Te extra performance we are seeing from the K8 solutions comes from the advanced architecture of the Athlon64, such as the improved branch prediction and also because of integrated memory controller within the K8 processor. The extra 512KB of L2 cache that this Athlon64 sample has over the Barton is also playing a role here. Clearly, the Athlon64 is superior to the AthlonXP when it comes to computationally intensive applications.

.:: SuperPI ::.

In the SuperPI tests, we run the program four times: once at one million, once at two million, once at four million, and once again at eight million. The numbers in the graph show the time in seconds that it took the system to calculate prime integers to the set number of digits with the lower number showing better performance. This time around, the ASUS K8V Deluxe is able to pull ahead of the ABIT KV8-MAX3 in the one and two million tests by a hair or two.

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However, you can see that the scores for the four million and eight million tests are missing for each K8 motherboard. This is because every time we ran these two particular tests, we were always greeted with a BSOD with a 0x0000009C error code. After checking Microsoft's Knowledge Base, this error points to a problem with memory communication or within the processor itself. I don't doubt it either, as the BSOD was probably due to the fact that we are using an engineering sample Athlon64 that was manufactured all the way back in 2002. Now that the less expensive Athlon64 3000+ models have hit store shelves, it will be interesting to see if this error crops up again when our retail processor arrives.
.:: FutureMark 3DMark2001SE ::.
3DMark2001 SE is first off on today's list of multimedia application benchmarks, and the ABIT KV8-MAX3 once again hands ASUS solution second place. But, just take a look of how much more power the Athlon64 platform can offer over the fastest K7 platform available today. We are seeing a performance increase of roughly 13% when a 754-pin Athlon64 is under the hood.

.:: Quake III Arena ::.

The next benchmark is embedded within my favorite computer game, Quake III Arena. There is no question that the relevance of this benchmark is coming to an end soon, but overall performance can improve dramatically with increased system memory bandwidth, even with today's fastest video cards. With that being said, you can see that the Athlon64 and its' integrated memory controller once again pummels the fastest AthlonXP platform out there. There is virtually no difference between the two K8 boards, but the 13% performance increase over the K7 is impressive to say the least.

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.:: Unreal Tournament 2003 ::.
The last gaming benchmark we will test our motherboards with is the Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo with the HardOCP 2.1 version benchmarking add-on program. I have found that the add-on can save a lot of time when benchmarking, has a very simple interface, and is already pre-configured to test a variety of platforms equally instead of having to manually adjust any of the in-game settings myself. I chose to benchmark each board using the Direct3D engine with low quality tests at a 640x480 resolution. Once again the results are the nearly the same as in the previous benchmarks, as the K8 overtakes the AthlonXP nForce2 platform by a sizeable margin. There is no doubt that every hardcore gamer out there should be looking for an Athlon64 in their next rig.

.:: ABIT KV8-MAX3 Conclusion ::.
When the time came for the KV8-MAX3 to face a round of MBReview punishment, ABITs motherboard was completely solid and ran flawlessly during operation. This was of course after we got past the siren sound that was giving us some trouble when we went to flip the power switch on for the first time, so we took off a point here because of it. Hopefully our suggestion to remove the two plastic nuts from the underside of the motherboard which holds the OTES mechanism in place can help users in a similar situation.
The worst aspect of the KV8-MAX3, in my personal opinion, is the design and layout of the motherboard. There are so many things that I don't like, I would possibly have to rewrite the entire design and layout section over again here in the conclusion. Luckily, ABIT has informed us that their engineers have addressed many of the issues stated within our review. Its always great to see a motherboard manufacturer actively listening to the consumer and improving their products. The reason for the undesirable design could possibly be why the KV8-MAX3 won nearly every benchmark and proved that it was the king of overclocking our current test system in the way that the board was engineered, but if you care about the design of a board as much as I do with the ease-of-use factor entered into the equation, then I would strongly suggest that

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you start to look elsewhere without hesitation.
However, the undesirable layout is mostly due to the fact that every feature you could possibly ever want on a motherboard has been squeezed into the KV8-MAX3 real-estate. ABITs latest MAX series motherboard definitely proves it can carry the MAX name with an impressive feature set, as well as a thorough product accessory bundle. The KV8-MAX3 should last the user a very long time without having the feeling of being left behind.
ABITs exclusive Guru feature looks very promising, but we think that this technology could be represented better on a more mature platform. I hate to say it, but the OCGuru section must have a broader range of options than what is currently offered for it to become even remotely useful on the KV8-MAX3. The BlackBox section would be better if we didn't have to enter in errors and information the board cannot detect on it's own as well. Overall, we think that Guru can become a huge success, but since this is the only motherboard that we have been able to test Guru on, we can only conclude that the current implementation of this feature is work in progress.

The KV8-MAX3 SoftMenu III BIOS mimics past releases from what we have witnessed before from ABIT by giving the user enough options so that he or she can feel that they can get the most from their hardware of choice. But we were quite surprised to find out that pressing the F8 key did nothing to help "overclock on the fly." This issue and others we did not experience should be fixed with ease in a future BIOS update though, which is something that ABIT always seems to release on a frequent basis. We do think that it is time ABIT comes out with a "SoftMenu 4" or they will start to fall within the shadow of DFI's enthusiast BIOS, which ultimately raised the bar on what to expect in the future from all other manufacturers including themselves.
Overclocking our hardware on the KV8-MAX3 was nothing but exciting. The motherboard proved to us that it can bring out the full potential an Athlon64 system can currently offer with a VIA K8T800 chipset. Although the overclock was only a hairline above what other K8 motherboards have achieved with the same chipset, ABIT continues to show us they are serious contenders within the realm of the overclocking world. Taking the performance into account when the system's settings are left at default values, the KV8-MAX3 proved that it is a tad bit faster than other K8T800 based chipset boards that have entered our labs, but you will not be able to notice the marginal performance increases with the naked eye alone.

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So, what has the KV8-MAX3 motherboard shown to us in its entirety? Well, if you are looking to show off a machine that has tidy cables with a user friendly layout, then by all means continue shopping. However, we can honestly say that this motherboard is currently one of the fastest platforms for a 754-pin K8 setup that has almost every feature you can possibly squeeze in a normal PCB dimensional layout. The ABIT KV8-MAX3 has also shown us that it is a worthy competitor by overclocking hardware with a BIOS that can take you there, given that your other components of choice are up to the challenge.
Last but not least, I would like to thank ABIT for sending us the KV8-MAX3 motherboard to make this review possible, and a big thank you to everyone who has read our first Athlon64 motherboard review in full! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, be sure to let us know about them in this thread located within the MBReview forum. We'll see you there!

- Stability: 19/20 - Design: 15/20 - Features: 19/20 - BIOS: 8/10 - Overclocking: 8/10 - Performance: 18/20 ------------------------Total: 87/100 Points - Good

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AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ & ABIT KV8-MAX3

System Specs

Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Motherboard ABIT KV8-MAX3 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (ABIT Version 16) Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800) Common Components RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ 1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5
f you read our first PC Modder issue late last year, you already know that we lined up 10 AMD Athlon XP processors (XP 2000+ through XP 3200+) and then overclocked them to their limits. With this issue, we're focusing on AMD's Athlon 64 and matching each of several versions of the CPU with multiple chipsets. Despite having the lowest speed rating of our non-FX Athlon 64 trio, the Athlon 64 3000+ isn't the oldest processor we highlight in this issue. In fact, AMD released the Athlon 64 3200+ before launching the 3000+. The 3000+ is the only processor in our lineup that has a NewCastle core, and at $213, it is also the least-expensive processor we overclocked. Even so, the 3000+ is no slouch. It boasts a 2GHz clock speed, a 128KB L1 cache (a 64KB instruction cache and a 64KB data cache), and a 512KB L2 cache. Unlike the Athlon XP's frontside bus architecture, the 3000+ has a 1.6GHz HyperTransport. AMD used its 0.13micron process to produce the core, which boasts MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, and 3DNOW!+ instruction sets. AMD recommends a max CPU case (which covers the
(the Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 even includes a card reader). Whereas the AMD Athlon XP-based boards we reviewed for the last PC Modder included the occasional USB D-bracket, several of these boards boast multiple D-brackets, free programs, and other extras. We weren't surprised that the Deluxe version includes two SATA PSU adapter cables (two HDD connectors each) and four SATA data cables, which are standard issue anymore. The CPU socket mount isn't installed but you can attach it to the mobo easily enough. ABIT threw in a D-bracket that houses two USB 2.0 ports, a mini-B USB port, and a single FireWire port. We're glad to see all of these features on a single bracket, which means you'll need to sacrifice only one PCI slot. If your video card eats up a second slot already, you may try to save space by sneaking the D-bracket into that second slot. We dropped all the goodies and manuals when we saw the KV8MAX3's coolest extra: Secure IDE. ABIT partnered with Nova to offer Secure IDE, which features Nova's XWall LX-40 encryption chip. The chip
IDE cable from the chip to the hard drive. Once you install the chip, you can access your computer only by inserting a special USB key into the device's USB cable, which extends from the chip through a D-bracket. Don't install the Secure IDE device if you're using the KV8-MAX3 to upgrade a PC; the device automatically wipes the hard drive before encrypting it. ABIT claims that the Secure IDE device offers 1.6Gbps throughput and doesn't impact the CPU or system memory, but we decided not to
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (NewCastle) ABIT KV8-MAX3
Stock Performance Overclocked Performance Processor Speed 2.04GHz 2.18GHz FSB 204MHz 218MHz Multiplier Voltage 1.5 1.65 Processor Case Temp Temp 33.4 29.9 34.3 27.2 3Dmark03 PCMark4386 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD 5273 4691
core of the chip) temperature of 70 degrees Celsius. Motherboard The first thing we noticed when we opened the ABIT KV8-MAX3's box is that it is loaded to the gills with extras, and it's no small box. We discovered similar goodies when we rifled through the other AMD Athlon 64-based motherboard boxes
stands on a small PCB that also houses two IDE interfaces, a 4-pin power interface (the KV8-MAX3 includes an extra PSU adapter that has one of these connectors), and some jumpers that let you select your primary or secondary drive. You can encrypt a single hard drive (the X-Wall chip uses 40-bit DES encryption) by running one IDE cable from the motherboard to the chip and another

use this feature anywaywe're gunnin' for speed, not security. The KV8-MAX3 includes a SATA driver floppy disk and a driver CD. Aside from Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0, the package doesn't have any third-party software, but it does include ABIT's new Windowsfriendly Guru utility suite. New users will like Guru's Magical Black Box utility, which emails information about system
problems to ABIT's tech support, meaning you won't need to write a long email explaining your system configuration and problems when you contact tech support. Hardware Guru is a zero-impact monitoring utility that displays your processor's temp and other vital statistics in real-time, which means you can keep an eye on your system's health when you are stressing the system (instead of entering the BIOS and guesstimating how your PC will perform under stress). SATA Connectors Of course, the most imporATX 12V PSU Southbridge (VIA VT8237) tant component of the Guru Connector suite (at least as far as we're conBIOS (Phoenix) cerned), is the OC Guru utility. Northbridge POST Code Display Unlike most motherboard over(VIA K8T800) Guru Chip clocking utilities, which sport outlandish (and often confusing) interfaces, ABIT's OC Guru has a remarkably simple interface that lets you get in, overclock, and get back out without wasting time fumbling through oddlyshaped buttons and tabs. OC Guru has only two tabs: Turbo Mode and F1 Mode. Turbo Mode has a single slider bar that lets Despite the massive OTES (Outside you quickly bump up the processor's clock Thermal Exhaust System) vent, the CPU speed. It also displays your processor's info. socket area has plenty of space. The If you're new to overclocking, you can use OTES vent, which covers several of the Turbo Mode to boost your benchmarks board's Rubycon capacitors, channels without running a large risk. If you want to some air away from the heatsink and out go the extra mile, switch to F1 mode, the back of the case, thanks to a tiny fan which adds CPU, AGP, and DDR (RAM) that sits just above the PS/2 ports. The voltage tools to the mix. Your system mobo spots six SATA connectors, a VIA returns to its default settings when the PC K8T800 northbridge, a VT8237 southreboots, which means you can recover from bridge, and a POST Code Display, which crashes by simply powering on your PC displays dozens of error codes. again (unless your system is a smoldering lump, that is). We were glad to see that you Overclock Comparison won't need to inch your system back into 3Dmark03 its previously overclocked state every time you reboot your PC; the OC Guru lets you Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 save multiple overclocked settings. For Stock Performance 6150 Overclocked Performance 6253 example, you can surf the Internet at the system's default settings, then open OC ABIT KV8-MAX3 Guru, load the saved overclocked settings, Stock Performance 6154 Overclocked Performance 6243 and then dive into Counter-Strike. When you're done playing, you can easily return Jetway S755MAX the system to its original state. Welcome to Stock Performance 6126 Overclocked Performance 6241 the beauty of on-demand overclocking.

Overclocking We weren't surprised to find that the Phoenix Award BIOS V.6 (ABIT Version 16) didn't let us adjust the multiplier from the default 10. The BIOS had plenty of standard OC options, including a wide VCore voltage range: you can push your processor up to a whopping 1.85V if you so choose. You can also change the AGP voltage (1.5V to 1.65V) and the DRAM voltage (2.5V to 3.2V). The BIOS' OC On The Fly feature lets you apply changes without rebooting. We're not sure we like this feature; successfully applying overclocked settings in the BIOS doesn't guarantee that the system can handle the stress when it loads Windows. As a result, some users may unknowingly push their PCs too far. Overclocking is a painstaking, often frustrating (but ultimately rewarding) process; we're always wary of shortcuts. Despite the board's feature-laden overclocking section, we didn't break any records. In fact, the KV8-MAX3 couldn't beat out any of the other two boards in our lineup. The system crashed at 2.16GHz with default voltage (1.5V), so we nudged the voltage to 1.6V and tried again. We upped the system 1MHz without any trouble, but it crashed again at 2.18GHz. Eventually, we coaxed our PC to 2.22GHz with the voltage at 1.7V, but the system refused to post decent benchmark scores. At 2.18GHz with a 1.65V VCore, the system posted its best 3Dmark03 score: 6243. Final Word Overall, we like this board. It has plenty of SATA connectors, a unique cooling system, and a solid utility suite. It's important to note that although the board didn't take clock speed bragging rights, it posted strong benchmark scores. Also, the Guru utility's OC Guru feature lets casual overclockers pump up the volume before playing games or opening intensive applications.

by Joshua Gulick