The Premium KT600 Motherboard
Socket-A nForce2 motherboards are quite reasonably priced these days, and the situation can only get better with the recent introduction of Socket-754 motherboards for the new Athlon 64 processors. However, the VIA KT600 motherboards released not long ago are available at even more affordable price-points than the nForce2. In fact, the accompanying VIA VT8237 Southbridge is even more up-to-date than the nForce2 MCP-T Southbridge. A notable downside of the VIA KT600 is its single-channel memory support versus the nForce2 Ultra 400 SPPs dual-channel memory support. This does leave a performance differential on the VIA platform (especially in games), but for most other general use, the VIA KT600 can hold its own against the nForce2 Ultra 400.
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The cost savings obtained on the VIA KT600 platform could even allow you to opt for a more feature-rich motherboard since not everyone is a speed freak. Often, these performance differences can only be encountered in benchmarks whilst hardly any difference is felt in real world usage. So today, we review the MSI KT6 Delta-FIS2R (VIA KT-600) motherboard that is aimed at an entirely different user group from the
Soltek SL-KT600-R motherboard
that was reviewed earlier. In that review, we detailed the history of VIA chipsets, whats new on the KT600 Northbridge + VT8237 Southbridge and the chipset performance between KT400, KT400A, KT600 and nForce2 Ultra 400. Readers who are not in touch with these details are advised to buildup their base with that review.
While the Soltek SL-KT600-R board was as bare as any motherboard could get (with its saving grace coming from the utilization of the VT8237 Southbridge and an ultra affordable price tag), the MSI KT6 Delta-FIS2R is the exact opposite of it. In fact, it is even more feature-rich than its nForce2 Ultra 400 counterpart MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR (if you disregard the SoundStorm audio). Our specs table below details all that the MSI KT6 Delta-FIS2R motherboard boasts:
MSI KT6 Delta-FIS2R Technical Specifications
| Processor |
- Socket A for AMD Athlon XP / Duron processors
- AMD Athlon Processors up to 1.4GHz
- AMD Athlon XP Processors 1500+ to 3200+
- AMD Duron Processors up to 1.3GHz
- Supports processors at 200 / 266 / 333 / 400MHz front side bus
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| Chipset |
- VIA Apollo KT600 North Bridge
- Supports up to 4GB of DDR266/333/400 SDRAM
- DDR400 memory support maximum of 4 banks only
- 200 / 266 / 333 / 400MHz front side bus
- AGP 4x/8x (1.5V only)
- 8X V-Link 533MB/s North/South Bridge interconnect
- FastStream64 Technology
- VIA VT8237 South Bridge
- VIA
DriveStation Controller Suite
- 2-channel Parallel ATA, Ultra ATA 133/100/66/33 Bus Mastering
IDE controller
- 2-channel Serial ATA controller for 2x SATA 150MB/s
ports
- SATAlite Interface for additional two SATA devices
- V-RAID - SATA RAID controller for RAID 0, 1, 0+1 (with
SATAlite)
- VIA Advanced Connectivity Suite
- Supports up to eight USB 2.0 ports
- Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet MAC
- Integrated MC'97 Modem
- PCI (supports PCI 2.2 interface) & LPC bus
controllers
- VIA Vinyl Multichannel Audio Suite
- Integrated VIA Vinyl AC'97 Controller
- Supports VIA Vinyl Audio / Gold standard
- VIA V-MAP Architecture
- Supports 8X V-Link 533MB/s North/South Bridge interconnect
- Supports Ultra V-Link 1066MB/s North/South Bridge
interconnect
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| Cache memory |
- CPU Built-in 512KB (Athlon XP -Barton core) or 256KB (Athlon/Athlon
XP) or 64KB (Duron) L2 cache
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| System memory |
- 3 x 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM
- Supports DDR 200/266/333/400 DIMM Module
- DDR400 memory support maximum of 4 banks
- Supports 2.5V DDR SDRAM
- Supports a maximum of 3GB of memory with 1GB DIMM
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| Storage Controllers |
- 2x Ultra ATA-133 IDE ports integrated VT8237 South
Bridge (up to 4 devices)
- Support for PIO, Ultra DMA-33, Ultra ATA-66/100/133 IDE operating
modes
- 2x Serial ATA/150 ports supported by VT8237 South Bridge
- Up to 150MB/s transfer speeds
- Supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 by
built-in V-RAID
- 2x Serial ATA/150 ports and 1x Ultra ATA-133 port powered by Promise
PDC20378 controller
- Supports Ultra ATA RAID 0 or 1, Serial ATA RAID 0 or 1,
Ultra/Serial ATA RAID 0+1
- Connects up to 2 Serial ATA devices and 2 Ultra ATA-133 devices
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| I/O Interface |
- 1x floppy connector (360KB - 2.88MB)
- 2x serial port
- 1x parallel port (SPP/EPP/ECP)
- 1x PS/2 Keyboard
- 1x PS/2 Mouse
- 8x USB 2.0 ports (6x ports at the rear, 2x ports
via D-Bracket)
- 3 x IEEE1394a/Firewire ports on Bracket (via VIA VT6306)
- 1x IrDA TX/RX header for SIR/ASKIR/IRDA
- Audio ports for on-board sound (Line-Out, Line-In, Mic) based on
6-channel C-Media CM9739A AC'97 sound codec
- 1x RJ-45 10/100/1000 LAN port (Broadcom BCM5788 Gigabit
controller)
- MSI S-Bracket
- MSI D-Bracket
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| Expansion slots |
- 5x 32-bit PCI slots, PCI 2.2 compliant
- 1x 1.5V / 0.8V AGP 2.0/3.0 (2x/4x/8x mode) slot
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| Power Management |
- Supports ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
- Supports Suspend to RAM / Disk (S3 / S4)
- WOL by PME
- Power-on by switch, keyboard
- Power-off by Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/NT shut down and switch
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| Form Factor |
- ATX Form Factor : 30.5cm x 23.5cm
- Fits into regular ATX case
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| BIOS |
- 4Mbit (512KB) Flash ROM
- AMI Flash BIOS with PnP, APM, DMI, and ACPI support
- Multi-boot on LS120, ZIP, ATAPI CD-ROM, SCSI, IDE #1, #2, #3, #4
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In the motherboard package, you'll find the following items:-
MSI KT6-Delta-FIS2R motherboard
I/O Shield
MSI KT6 Delta Users Guide
Promise SATA RAID Users Guide
1x Stripped ATA-133 cable
1x Stripped Floppy cable
4x SATA data cables
1x dual Molex-SATA power cable
Three-port Firewire Bracket
D-Bracket (USB 2.0 bracket with D-LED)
S-Bracket (Analog surround ports and S/PDIF out)
Drivers & Utilities CD
MSI Super Pack CD
Driver diskette for Promise controller
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