Motherboard Soltek SL-75KV +

In competitive struggle corporations-manufacturers of motherboards continue to perfect the architecture of the products. Thus implementators of cards aspire not only to provide high efficiency and wide functionality of computers, but also, inserting perspective processing techniques to give various resources of customisation, optimisation, monitoring and dispersal. It provides maximum usage of resources of accessories and thanks to possibility of application of the forced modes additional growth of productivity of computers at the appropriate control of parametres of operation of hardware.

To nobody a secret, that modern motherboards are extremely difficult accessories constructed on the basis of the newest units with application of modern technological solutions. The abundance of specifications, standards, various requirements, guidelines and limitations promotes unification of these extremely important components which parametres define possibilities of computers. At the same time the corporations releasing motherboards, submitting to market requirements, but, competing among themselves, enter the various refinements improving them consumer properties into the architecture of cards.

However the problem of development and release of modern motherboards and the units making their basis, is complicated not only high and permanently increasing requirements, but also the different processor interfaces incompatible among themselves. It is linked to usage of processors of corporations of Intel and AMD, oriented accordingly on buses GTL +/AGTL + and Alpha EV6.

Thanks to excellence of products of the last generation of AMD corporation, together with successful and high-speed processor interface Alpha EV6 popularity of the new architecture permanently grows. Especially it was promoted by processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron, created in konstruktive PGA and calculated for special Socket A plug (Socket 462). This plug is incompatible with traditional Socket 370, become standard standard. The plug of this type uses with processors of Pentium III and Celeron Intel corporations, and also similar products of other corporations. Despite inconsistence of processor interfaces and plugs, there is an overgrowth of release of the products intended under processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron. Not in a small degree it was promoted by the successful architecture of chip set VIA Apollo KT133.

High parametres of chip set VIA Apollo KT133 have allowed to realise possibilities and technological potential of processors AMD oriented to the architecture of bus Alpha EV6.

High capacity of the processor bus of this type have allowed to balance informational streams in system taking into account usage of new, high-speed components, that eventually, has reduced cycles of waiting of the processor and promoted growth of the common computer power. Also it is necessary to mark, that on the given metric computers with processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron quite often show the advantages before systems of the alternative architecture with bus GTL +/AGTL +, oriented to usage of Pentium III and Celeron from Intel corporation.

Advantages of the perspective architecture and high potential of processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron — are obvious. However on one metric they all the same concede to systems of the traditional architecture with Intel processors. It is a question about such powerful and popular a resource of rise of productivity of computers as dispersal (overclocking) which idea is linked to usage of the forced functional modes of units and subsystems. Modes of dispersal after arresting of frequency coefficients by manufacturers of modern processors are carried out recently exclusively through increase frequency processor FSB Alpha EV6 buses.

However the high transmission frequency of data and a wide bar, and also features of implementation of the bus and the architecture of chip set VIA Apollo KT133 superimpose limitation on dispersal by a similar method. Usually through change frequency FSB it is possible to raise productivity of system no more than on 10 %. Considering growing popularity of dispersal as an effective method of rise of the computer power, the specified features limited wide implantation of the perspective architecture and high-powered processors of AMD corporation.

But, despite formal arresting of frequency coefficients (multipliers), using features of processors AMD Athlon and AMD Duron, implementators and manufacturers of motherboards managed to troubleshoot their "defrostings". It has allowed to make a choice of the optimum behaviour providing reaching of maximum productivity, using possibilities of change as frequency FSB, and values of frequency coefficient.

Among while limited nomenclature of motherboards of the most steadfast attention card SL-75KV + deserves Soltek corporation, possessing not only ample opportunities of dispersal, but high efficiency in a regular mode.

Processors: AMD Athlon and AMD Duron with processor Socket A plug (Socket 462) and clock rate of 100 MHz (DDR) bus FSB Alpha EV6 providing data transfer with frequency of 200 MHz.

Chip set: VIA Apollo KT133 (VT8363+VT82C686A).

To 768 Mb in 3 DIMM (168 p, 3,3), PC100/PC133 SDRAM, frequency of the bus of memory of 100/133 MHz.

BIOS: Award Plug and Play BIOS.

Video: support of 1 arrangement AGP 1X/2X/4X.

Audio: AC ' 97

Input/output resources (I/O): 2 ports IDE (to 4 arrangements UltraDMA/66/33), PS/2 plugs for keyboard and mouse hooking up, 1 floppy-port, 1 parallel port (EPP/ECP), 2 serial ports, 2 ports USB (+2 dop.) etc.

Slots: 1 AGP (Pro), 5 PCI, 1 ISA.

Forms the factor: ATX (305x220 mm).

For comparison purposes productivity of the system created on the basis of motherboard Soltek SL-75KV +, as measurement standards computers with motherboards Abit KT7 and Abit BE6-II used. Thus it is necessary to consider, that the systems which basis is made by cards Abit BE6-II, quite often are leaders on productivity.

Motherboards:

Processors:

The working memory: 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM;

The videoadapter: ASUS AGP-V3800 TV (video chip set TNT2, a video memory of 32 Mb SGRAM, TV-in, TV-out);

Hard disk: IBM DPTA-372050 (20 Gbytes, 2 Mb of the cache memory, 7200 rpm, UltraDMA/66);

Power of the power supply: 250 W;

OS: Windows 98 Second Edition;

The test: WinBench 99 (CPUmark 99 and FPU WinMark).

In the course of testing the card has shown high efficiency and stability.

One copy of the motherboard given for rather short time participated in testing only. These circumstances do not allow to do any conclusions about compatibility with a wide spectrum of modern hardware-software resources, and also to judge dependability of operation of cards Soltek SL-KV75 +.

Change frequency processor buses at dispersal (оverclocking) can be carried out or through dip switches - 100, 103, 105, 110, 112, 115, 120, 124, 133.3, 140, 150 MHz, or through BIOS Setup - 100, 103, 105, 112, 115, 120, 124 MHz.

The power on a processor kernel can be regulated in a band 1,5-1,85 In with step 0,25 Century

Installation of value of a factor is fulfilled through dip switches (SW1 DIP1-DIP4).

Considering possibilities of dispersal of the processor a method of change of value of a factor, it is necessary to mark, that it is possible only at ispolzovaii those processors for which bridges L1 have not been intersected.

Otherwise the given function becomes unavailable. But even for such processors function of correction of multipliers is not completely lost and can be restored (http://rudteam.narod.ru/cpu/new-amd-oc.html). It allows to disperse effectively all variants of processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron. However it is expedient to remind, that the forced modes are characterised by the raised levels of a heat release. Therefore in such modes it is necessary to provide effective cooling of processors.

Estimating possibilities of dispersal of the processor through factor change, it is necessary to mark, that in the course of perfection programnogo code BIOS the number of possible values of frequency coefficients has been increased in comparison with the first releases of motherboards.

Here followed complete given article, however for the sake of justice it is necessary to tell and about motherboards of following generation. The matter is that in the course of perfection of the best products which the card presented above concerns, Soltek corporation has developed a number of perspective processing techniques. Implantation of these processing techniques in the cards which architecture is grounded on the newest units, has allowed to create a number of successful motherboards.

The special place among the cards giving possibility of dispersal at the expense of usage of a method of change of a factor of the processor, is occupied with motherboards Soltek SL-75KAV, SL-75KAV-X. As a basis of these cards chip set VIA Apollo KT133A calculated on clock frequency of bus FSB Alpha EV6 to 133 MHz (DDR) that allows to provide data transfer with frequency to 266 MHz has served  . In cards Soltek SL-75KAV, SL-75KAV-X the newest processing techniques providing diagnostics of hardware, and also an automatic or automanual choice of a mode of dispersal of processors are realised. Besides, in motherboard SL-75KAV-X highly marked iXBT (www.ixbt.com), it is presented also vocal diagnostics of hardware of the computer in several languages.

The architecture of similar motherboards, except a wide band of change frequency buses FSB, allows to carry out under certain conditions selection of a best value of frequency coefficient of the processor. Multiplexing of two methods of dispersal gives the chance to realise in a maximum degree hidden potential of processors AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) and AMD Duron and to reach maximum computer power.

Results of testing of the new bar of cards from Soltek will be presented in the near future.