Abit KT7A
I'm looking to get a new motherboard, and I have my eye on Abit's KT7A board (along with an AMD 1GHz Thunderbird). I see from previous there are a few problems with ATA-100 and Win 2000 with this board.
I'm looking to get a new motherboard, and I have my eye on Abit's KT7A board (along with an AMD 1GHz Thunderbird). I see from previous there are a few problems with ATA-100 and Win 2000 with this board. Do those problems extend to other UDMA modes? I have two Maxtor hard drives, one UDMA/33 and one UDMA/66, I will be using. Are there any other problems? And, will larger CPU cooling fans fit?
If you have this board and love it (or at least have no problems with it), please let me know that, too. Thanks.
If you have this board and love it (or at least have no problems with it), please let me know that, too. Thanks.
Participate on our website and join the conversation
This topic is archived. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast.
Responses to this topic
Well, I am two IBM Ultra ATA-100 hard drives and they are running fine at Ultra ATA-100 mode. I think the problem you see on this board is about Ultra ATA-100 hard drives not running at Ultra ATA-100 mode in Win2k. And I don't know if this is true or not but I don't see any performance gain from installing the patch.
As for the motherboard, I am going to be building Athlon/Thunderbird 800 system using Abit KT7A also so hopefully, there won't be any problems with it in Win2k. My PIII-933 system right now is using Abit SA6R motherboard and it is running really well and I don't have any problem with it so I am buying Abit motherboard for my new Athlon system. I guess alternative choice would be to go with Asus board.
As for the motherboard, I am going to be building Athlon/Thunderbird 800 system using Abit KT7A also so hopefully, there won't be any problems with it in Win2k. My PIII-933 system right now is using Abit SA6R motherboard and it is running really well and I don't have any problem with it so I am buying Abit motherboard for my new Athlon system. I guess alternative choice would be to go with Asus board.
I have only built one PC with the Abit KT7A but I can say as far as a good platform for a speedy AMD CPU, you probably won't get much better. It has been 100% stable (after all the required patches were installed!!)
The only thing that I didn't like about the final setup was that Windows 2000 would not run the 20Gb WD ATA-100 IDE hard drive (attached to the VIA ATA-100 IDE-1) in Ultra DMA mode. It would only run (and is still running)in PIO mode. If we installed the VIA BM IDE drivers with 4.28a, the Panasonic DVD-ROM (connected to IDE-2) would disappear - ie no CD/DVD-ROM = BAD! I guess PIO mode will use more CPU but theres not much we can do about it at the moment, until VIA release new 4in1 drivers which actually work properly!
Personally I think the VIA 4in1 4.28a drivers are ok but I'd skip the IDE BM driver install part as they seem to do more harm than good. My PC (MSI694D with dual PIII 733's) uses a LS-120 HD FDD, and when I install the IDE BM drivers from 4in1 ver 4.28a my A: drive shifts to E: and theres nothing I can do to make it an A: again until I remove the VIA BM drivers.
Who else likes (or hates) the Abit KT7A over other KT133A solutions?
The only thing that I didn't like about the final setup was that Windows 2000 would not run the 20Gb WD ATA-100 IDE hard drive (attached to the VIA ATA-100 IDE-1) in Ultra DMA mode. It would only run (and is still running)in PIO mode. If we installed the VIA BM IDE drivers with 4.28a, the Panasonic DVD-ROM (connected to IDE-2) would disappear - ie no CD/DVD-ROM = BAD! I guess PIO mode will use more CPU but theres not much we can do about it at the moment, until VIA release new 4in1 drivers which actually work properly!
Personally I think the VIA 4in1 4.28a drivers are ok but I'd skip the IDE BM driver install part as they seem to do more harm than good. My PC (MSI694D with dual PIII 733's) uses a LS-120 HD FDD, and when I install the IDE BM drivers from 4in1 ver 4.28a my A: drive shifts to E: and theres nothing I can do to make it an A: again until I remove the VIA BM drivers.
Who else likes (or hates) the Abit KT7A over other KT133A solutions?
