DFI Lan Party KT400a Motherboard

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Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Brian Kristensen
Kurtis
DFI
Jun. 1, 2003

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BIOS

As far as the BIOS goes, it is the Award BIOS, and it is very similar to most others out there with a few exceptions. DFI has included their own "Genie BIOS" for more control of clock speeds and timings related to the CPU and RAM. The Genie BIOS allows CPU/DRAM overclocking in 1 MHz stepping. You can also change the CPU, AGP, and DRAM voltages. Other functions of the Genie BIOS are sequential SCSI boot-up, flash EPROM for easy BIOS upgrades, support for DMI 2.0 functions, and 4Mbit flash memory.

Overclocking Performance

To see how much the KT400a chip will let us overclock, we tested it out on an AMD AThlon 1700+ JIUHB:0310XPMW DLT3C, which is known for its extreme overclockability. This CPU, with the right motherboard and cooling can reach extreme speeds beyond a 2800+. The processor has a stock speed of 1.47 GHz and a core voltage of 1.5v. By keeping the FSB at 133 and bringing the multiplier to 18, we attained speeds of 2.41 GHz cooled with a Vantec Aeroflow! The core temperature was 52*C though, and we dared not push it further on air cooling.

We also tested the overclockability with a 512 stick of Corsair PC3500 memory. The FSB of the processor was 133, and the speed of the memory is 434 at its highest. We wanted to get as much performance from this memory as possible, so we brought the DRAM voltage to 2.8v, core voltage to 1.75, lowered the multiplier to 9, and brought the FSB up to 166 via the onboard jumpers. The system booted, and there was a significant performance gain over the 133 FSB. Our next try was to set the FSB to 200, but regardless of what we tried, the system would not post. We have read elsewhere of this problem with this motherboard, and came to the conclusion that the KT400a chipset wouldn't allow a higher FSB than 166 with our current processor.

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Page 4 of 11

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Board Layout & Features
Page 3: Accessories
Page 4: BIOS & Overclocking
Page 5: Test Rig
Page 6: Sound Performance
Page 7: USB Performance
Page 8: Ethernet Performance
Page 9: Memory Performance
Page 10: CPU Performance
Page 11: Conclusion

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13 User Comments

1 - Posted by Kurtis on June 1, 2003 - 12:49 am

mesa likey DFI

2 - Posted by ELiTE KiLLaH on June 1, 2003 - 1:38 am

looks good
maybe as a followup or something try running ram in dual channel? (i think i read that you only used a single stick right?)

3 - Posted by MyFifthLimb on June 1, 2003 - 10:56 pm

What game do you think the kid on the box is playing?

4 - Posted by Brian on June 1, 2003 - 11:44 pm

I would have to say Pong. Who wouldn't play pong with such a sweet mobo?!

5 - Posted by Kurtis on June 2, 2003 - 12:32 am

i think he is playing the 'look at my sexy mobo and touch yourself' game

6 - Posted by Brian on June 2, 2003 - 12:44 am

Ok, lets keep this PG guys!

Don't make me start censoring!

j/k, just watch it kronk, you know better :-P

7 - Posted by Kurtis on June 2, 2003 - 1:14 am

by touch yourself, i meant scrub your feet, cuz uh... they are stinky... yeah..

8 - Posted by notobe on August 9, 2003 - 8:19 am

Looks like a good mobo, id buy one if i had the money. Also id like to say nice UV CC.

9 - Posted by caniswolfie on August 9, 2003 - 8:41 pm

He's playing "Look how much money I'm making by modeling" :)

I wish I could have some of that.. :)

10 - Posted by Kurtis on August 9, 2003 - 8:42 pm

lolol its a cartoon kid not a real kid :P cartoons dont make money, they get paid in badger meat

11 - Posted by caniswolfie on August 9, 2003 - 8:53 pm

Mmm.. badger meat.. do you know how much that costs on the open market.. :) I could be a millionaire.. if I were a cartoon.. (*grin* this is what I get for being a smart ass without checking the picture.. ;) )

12 - Posted by Kurtis on August 9, 2003 - 9:18 pm

lolol

13 - Posted by Rich on August 9, 2003 - 9:20 pm

You bring the Badger and I will bring the TT Smartfans! :twisted:

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