KT400A vs nForce2 vs SiS746

Motherboards/AMD S462 by piotke @ 2003-05-15

A couple of months ago nVidia introduced the nForce? chipset for AMD. It outperformed VIA?s KT400 chipset by a considerably margin. Now VIA introduced a newer version, the KT400A. Is it a decent alternative for the Nforce?? And what about Sis ? They have the Sis 746 that boasts 200Mhz FSB. I compared three motherboards based on these chipsets, and of course, overclocked them. Tested motherboards: Abit NF7-S v2.0 (nForce2) , DFI Lanparty (KT400A) and the ECS L7S7A2L (SiS746)

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Lay-out and extra's

Abit nForce2

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Features:
  • nForce 2 Chipset (K7)

  • FSB333

  • Dual DDR 400

  • AGP 8X

  • Serial ATA

  • IEEE1394

  • USB2.0

  • SoftMenu™ ABIT Engineered

    • In the box we find:
  • 1 ATA 133 IDE cable & 1 floppy cable

  • I/O panel

  • Manual & driver cd

  • Floppy with raid drivers

  • USB and Firewire bracket

  • Serial Ata cable

  • Serial Ata converter with power connector


    • The power connector is located near the I/O ports. We can also find an AUX power connector, to keep the voltage rails stable. This connector is located just above the ATX connector. According to me, that this could affect the airflow, because the power cables pass before the outtake fan in most common cases.


    DFI KT400A

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    Features:
  • VIA KT400A

  • FSB333+ (max. 400MHz)

  • DDR 400

  • AGP 8X

  • One SATA (Serial ATA) interface

  • IEEE1394

  • USB2.0

  • Dual LAN (2 lan ports)

  • RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 1.5


    • In the box we find:
  • 2 ATA 133 IDE cable & 1 floppy cable, all rounded and UV reactive

  • I/O panel

  • Manual & driver cd

  • Floppy with raid drivers & raid manual

  • Manual for installation of CPU

  • 5.25" front panel for audio, USB, ... ports

  • Backpack for carrying your PC tower to a LAN-party

  • Some knickknacks such as extra jumpers, a case badge, a "lanparty" sticker, ...

    The DFI has basically the same layout as the ABIT. Both the power connectors can be found right behind the I/O panel. But that's not the most remarkable aspect of this board, the fancy colours are!
    Some parts are UV-reactive painted, starting with the PCI and AGP slots, the memory banks, IDE connectors and even the BIOS battery holder.
    More interesting option for the enthusiasts among us are the extra reset and power-on button located on this board. So you don't have to use a screwdriver anymore for shorting two pins for booting.

    The buttons:
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    The Flashy backlight effect:
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    ECS SIS746

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    Features:
  • AGP 8X

  • USB 2.0 (SiS963)

  • IEEE 1394 (optional)

  • 6 Channel Audio

  • Supports DDR400 by overclocking

    • In the box we find:
  • 1 ATA 133 IDE cable

  • I/O panel

  • Manual & driver cd

  • USB flash card reader with screws


    • The first impression of the ECS I got, was the size. It was about 7 cm smaller than the Abit. This could be an advantage if you're planning to use it for a DIVX box. The power ATX-connector is located on the top right corner keeping the area for the IDE cables clear!

    And the size difference between the ECS, below and the ABIT:
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    So, what can we decide? All three of the boards have a lot of recent and high-end features such as IEEE1394 and DDR 400 support. All three provide us also with a lot of options, but the DFI is tops them all: Rounded cables, UV reactive ports, a backpack, a special front panel, overall quite complete package.

    The ECS also has quit an unique extra, the MMC ( Multi Media Card ) reader.

    Now, how do they perform? On the next page we're going to test the boards.
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