| ASUS K8V Deluxe |
|---|
† Voltage and Physical support for previous generation of AGP
‡ Not just pin headers onboard |
|
| Board Revision | 1.12 |
| BIOS Version | 1005 |
| Default Clock Speed (MHz) | 2002.6 |
| North Bridge | VIA K8T800 |
| South Bridge | VIA VT8237 |
| Number of PCI slots | 5 |
| Memory type | DDR266/333/400 |
| Number of memory slots | 3 |
| Maximum Memory (GB) | 3 |
| Universal AGP support † | No |
| AGP Pro Support | No |
| Number of Physical USB 1.1 ports ‡ | 0 |
| Number of Physical USB 2.0 ports ‡ | 4 |
| Active Cooling on Chipset | No |
| Adjustable AGP Voltage | Yes |
| Adjustable Memory Voltage | Yes |
| Southbridge UDMA 133 Support | No |
| IDE or RAID Controller other than Southbridge | Promise R20378 RAID Controller |
| Auto speed-down/shutdown on fan failure | No |
| Auto speed-down/shutdown on heat alarm | No |
| On-board Sound | ADI 1980 SoundMax 6-Channel 5.1 Audio |
| On-board LAN | 3COM 3C940 GB Ethernet LAN |
Right off the bat the first thing you will take notice of is the black PCB, this is a much more eye appealing color than their usual drab brown and hopefully is something we will see more of in the future. The layout of this model is done fairly well with the boards wiring diagram clearly defined and readable. The power connectors are located too far apart for a perfect design, but other than that all seems to be well. There is plenty of room for installing and removing your VGA card as the memory is located far enough away as not to interfere the installation or removal of the video card or RAM. The VIA K8T800 supports the latest ZIF socket 754 CPU's up to the current 3400+ and can utilize up to 3GB of ECC un-buffered PC2100-PC3200 SDRAM in either dual or single channel mode. It is best to use the channel nearest the CPU if using only one stick of memory and it is marked differently than the other two channels.
Sizing in at 12"X9.6" (30.5cmX24.5cm) in the standard ATX form factor the board will fit in any mid-large case that offers a removable/replaceable rear I/O shield as the K8V requires its own I/O shield that comes with the board. In total there are 8 USB 2.0 ports available, 4X on the rear I/O and 4X more that connect by a cable to headers on the board and occupies one PCI slot on the back the enclosure. There are 2 IEEE1394 ports provided by the VIA VT6307 controller one that is located on the rear I/O, the other on the same cable bracket as the previously mentioned USB 2.0 controllers. The IEEE1394 is a fast connection that can be used to hook up a variety of media devices such as camcorders, or external peripherals that require a high-speed interface such as hard drives or DVD recorders. For connecting to your home network or internet provider, the 3COM 3C940 Gigabit Ethernet LAN delivers an auto-detectable 10/100/1000mbits environment via the RJ45 LAN connector located on the rear I/O.
There is a Wi-Fi connector located on bottom of the board, and with the proper equipment can be used for connecting to a wireless network, this board did not come with the stuff to tackle this and can be purchased separately. One of the stand-out features in my book is the ADI SoundMax Cadenza, which I feel is the best embedded audio solution on the market as its sound quality is on par with any other sound product available including Creative Labs Audigy line. The GUI for the SoundMax audio solution is very easy to navigate and the AD1980 chipset offers 6-channel digital 5.1 audio including both a coaxial and SPDIF connection. Five v2.2 PCI slots is nothing out of the ordinary and is the common amount found on most boards seen in this desktop category, but they are there nonetheless. The board has the standard rear I/O connections as well, such as PS2 keyboard/mouse inputs, a parallel port, a com port and audio/SPDIF connections.
What you get for PATA/SATA support is very good on the K8V Deluxe. There are Dual-SATA RAID controllers; one is provided by the South Bridge chipset allowing RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays, the other by the Promise R20378 RAID controller allowing RAID modes 0, 1 and 0+1, making for a total of four SATA RAID connections. There are three PATA connectors; there are dual ATA133 connectors controlled by the South Bridge allowing up to four IDE devices the other (Promise R20378) is a single channel solution offering support for an additional two IDE drives. Finding any information about the Promise controller is like searching for a needle in a haystack as I could find no additional technical information on their site and this seems to be the case for other review sites as well. Finding the driver for the Promise controller is rather difficult as well and can only be found in the 64-Bit section of the Promise site, my advice; do not lose your installation CD if you plan on using the Promise controller. Well that takes care of what he board has to offer feature wise, but how does it perform? Let's find out.
