Abit’s KV8 Pro motherboard

At first glance, our $500 bundle looks like a much better deal. After all, even slower Athlon 64s perform quite well, and the Sonata is simply gorgeous. But what about the KV8 Pro? Is it really worthy a worthy addition to our little all-star bundle?

Yes. And then some. With competitive performance, a working AGP/PCI lock, the most feature-rich BIOS I’ve ever seen, and the ability to lower the CPU multiplier, the KV8 Pro could very well be the best Athlon 64 platform for budget-conscious enthusiasts and MHz-starved overclockers. Read on for a detailed look at the KV8 Pro’s features, performance, and intriguing overclocking potential.

The specs
Before diving into a tour of the KV8 Pro’s layout, let’s have a quick look at the spec sheet.

All the usual suspects, almost. The KV8 Pro has everything you’d expect from an enthusiast-oriented motherboard, including six-channel audio, Serial ATA RAID, and loads of BIOS goodies, but the board curiously lacks integrated Firewire support. Also missing is a secondary IDE or Serial ATA RAID option, which may or may not handicap the board, depending on how many drives and arrays you want to run.

Board layout
Without extras like Firewire and a secondary RAID chip, the KV8 Pro’s layout is relatively sparse. Check it out:

The board is dressed in an orangey-red hue that has quickly become an Abit trademark. A couple of blue accents complement the KV8 Pro’s aesthetic, but unless you’ve got a case window, the board’s color scheme shouldn’t matter.

What will matter, however, is the location of the KV8 Pro’s power connectors. Bad placement can create all sorts of cable clutter within a system while good locations can make it much easier to keep things neat and tidy. The KV8 Pro’s power locations are somewhere between the two; its four-pin power connector is close to the top of the board and far enough away from the CPU socket to make cable routing easy, but the primary power connector is a little too far from the top edge of the board for my liking.

Abit keeps the area around the KV8 Pro’s CPU socket nice and open, leaving loads of room for larger and more exotic heat sinks. The board also ships with a standard Athlon 64 heat sink retention bracket.

In addition to a wide open socket area, there’s also plenty of clearance around the KV8 Pro’s AGP slot. Memory modules can easily be removed when an AGP card is installed, a capability that is surprisingly rare these days. Unfortunately, having a longer AGP card installed can make getting at the KV8 Pro’s CMOS reset jumper a bit of a pain, especially if you have stubby fingers.

If the KV8 Pro has a glaring shortcoming, it’s the fact that there are only two DIMM slots. The board supports up to 2GB of DDR400 memory, but you’ll need to buy pricey 1GB DIMMs to hit that maximum. Fortunately, the 754-pin Athlon 64’s single-channel memory controller doesn’t need a pair of matched DIMMs for optimal performance.

Moving to storage, Abit neatly arranges the board’s IDE and Serial ATA ports at the bottom of the KV8 Pro. The IDE ports are cocked at 90 degrees along the edge of the board, which makes it a little easier to cleanly route IDE ribbons and rounded cables.

Finally, we have the KV8 Pro’s port cluster, which comes loaded with a standard array of PS2, serial and parallel, Ethernet, and USB ports. The cluster also contains an impressive assortment of audio ports, including analog jacks for front, rear, and center output channels, and line and mic input channels. Abit even serves up a couple of S/PDIF ports for digital audio input and output.

Although you can’t get at them from the port cluster, the KV8 Pro actually supports an extra four USB ports via a pair of on-board expansion headers. Unfortunately, Abit doesn’t ship the KV8 Pro with any hardware to take advantage of these connectors.

The BIOS
Abit has a long history of loading its motherboard BIOSes with all sorts of tweaking and overclocking features and the KV8 Pro is no exception. In fact, the board has the most complete array of tweaking, overclocking, and monitoring features I’ve ever seen.

Kicking things off with memory, the KV8 Pro’s BIOS offers control over just about every timing option imaginable. The only thing missing would be a memory bus lock that would keep DIMMs running in spec with an overclocked CPU bus.

Moving to HyperTransport, the KV8 Pro’s BIOS lets users manipulate the width and speed of the board’s processor interconnect. The BIOS doesn’t offer HT options beyond 1GHz/16-bit, but slower HT bus speeds and narrower bus widths are available for those who want to experiment.

In the AGP department, the BIOS offers all the usual suspects.

But the real story for AGP is the BIOS’s fixed AGP/PCI, which locks at 66/33MHz regardless of the CPU bus speed. If a fixed bus isn’t your style, the BIOS also offers 6:2:1, 7:2:1, and 8:2:1 CPU:AGP:PCI dividers.

Abit complements the K8T800 Pro’s fixed AGP/PCI bus with CPU bus speed options between 200 and 300MHz in 1MHz increments. Also available are a host of voltage options for the system’s processor, AGP card, memory, north and south bridge chips, and even HyperTransport link. CPU voltages top out at 1.85V, which should be enough for all but the most extreme overclocking. Interestingly enough, voltage options aren’t offered below 1.5V. However, if you’re into underclocking to reduce power consumption and noise levels, it’s probably best to rely on the KV8 Pro’s Cool’n’Quiet support.

Although it’s greyed-out in the picture above, the latest KV8 Pro alpha BIOS gives users limited control over the CPU multiplier. You won’t be able to increase a CPU’s multiplier, but lowering it should be no problem. We’ll explore the alpha BIOS’s multiplier options a little later in the overclocking section.

In addition to a wide range of tweaking and overclocking options, the KV8 Pro’s BIOS also has a healthy serving of fan speed options. Users can set temperature thresholds and fan voltages for a system’s processor, north bridge, and system fan. Since the KV8 Pro doesn’t have a north bridge fan, its north bridge fan header could be used to power a secondary system fan.

So far, the KV8 Pro’s BIOS looks pretty loaded, but the BIOS’s monitoring features are really something else:

Users can easily set warning and shutdown thresholds for fan speeds, temperatures, and even voltages. This level of monitoring functionality was previously only available with Abit’s uGuru Windows software, but the KV8 Pro integrates all these features into the BIOS.

uGuru
Speaking of uGuru, Abit has updated its software suite for the KV8 Pro. Enthusiasts will be particularly interested in the AbitEQ and OCGuru utilities, which let users manipulate and monitor a host of BIOS-level features from within Windows.

The AbitEQ control panel is a little big, but it effectively tracks voltages, fan speeds, and system temperatures.

AbitEQ can also be used to set alarm and shutdown thresholds for the temperature, fan speed, and voltages.

For those who prefer to overclock from Windows rather than the BIOS, OCGuru delivers a wide range of bus speed and voltage options.

OCGuru lets users choose from a number of preset system configurations or create their own. However, the utility’s monitoring capabilities could use a little work. OCGuru’s reported AGP and PCI bus speeds were way off the 66 and 33MHz reported by PC Wizard 2004, and OCGuru also incorrectly reported that the system’s CPU fan was disabled.

Our testing methods
All tests were run three times, and their results were averaged, using the following test systems.

Today we’ll be testing the KV8 Pro’s performance against a handful of Socket 754 boards. Each major Athlon 64 chipset is represented, too.

By default, the KV8 Pro actually runs with a 204MHz CPU bus, putting our Athlon 64 3200+ 40MHz above stock. Abit claims that the board is totally stable with this minor overclock, and I’m inclined to agree. However, since overclocking can void processor warranties, I’d prefer to see the KV8 Pro default to a 200MHz CPU bus. Even if the board is completely stable at 204MHz, running system components out of spec should be something that users opt into, not something that’s forced upon them.

To keep all of our test systems running the Athlon 64 3200+ processor in-spec, I tested the KV8 Pro with a 200MHz CPU bus for our standard benchmarks. We went well beyond 204MHz in our overclocking tests, though.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

• SiSoft Sandra Standard 2003
• ZD Media Business Winstone 2002 1.0.1
• TCD Labs HD Tach v2.61
• Futuremark 3DMark03 Patch 340
• Quake III Arena v1.31
• Unreal Tournament 2003 demo
• RightMark Audio Analyzer 5.3
• RightMark 3D Sound 1.01
• NTttcp
• Cinebench 2003
• Sphinx 3.3

The test systems’ Windows desktop was set at 1024×768 in 32-bit color at a 75Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests. Most of the 3D gaming tests used the high detail image quality settings, with the exception that the resolution was set to 640×480 in 32-bit color.

All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.

Memory performance

Thanks to the Athlon 64’s integrated memory controller, the KV8 Pro’s available memory bandwidth is comparable other Athlon 64 boards. The KV8 Pro manages to work its way to the head of the class in Cachemem’s memory latency test, but only by a fraction of a nanosecond.

Disk controller performance
Our disk controller performance tests use a Maxtor 740X-6L 7,200RPM hard drive for “parallel” ATA (PATA) and a Western Digital Raptor WD360GD 10,000RPM hard drive for Serial ATA (SATA). Because we use different drives for PATA and SATA, scores aren’t comparable between the two. PATA scores should only be compared with each other. The same goes for SATA scores.

For kicks, I’ve tested the KV8 Pro with VIA’s IDE Filter driver, which comes standard with the Hyperion 4n1 4.51 drivers, and also with VIA’s IDE Miniport driver.

The default IDE Filter driver offers better “parallel” ATA performance than the Miniport driver, at least in Windows XP. As far as Serial ATA performance goes, the KV8 Pro lags the competition slightly. However, performance is comparable to the KV8-MAX3, which also uses VIA’s VT8237 south bridge.

There’s not much variation in disk access times between the KV8 Pro and other Athlon 64 boards, but CPU utilization is another story. The KV8 Pro’s Serial ATA CPU utilization is higher than its nForce3- and K8T800-based competition, and “parallel” ATA performance isn’t much different. But does this higher CPU utilization impact the KV8 Pro’s performance in real world applications?

Office productivity

Not in the Business Winstone benchmark, where the KV8 Pro leads the field. However, the board doesn’t fare quite as well in the Multimedia Content Creation test. Scores for both Winstones tests are very close, though.

Gaming

With the exception of Quake III Arena, scores in our gaming tests are quite close. NVIDIA’s nForce3 chipsets perform better than the competition in Quake III, but the KV8 Pro’s 273 frames per second should be more than acceptable for even the most picky gamers.

Cinebench rendering

Scores remain close in our rendering tests…

Sphinx speech recognition

And in Sphinx.

Audio performance

The KV8-MAX3 and KV8 Pro share the same VT8237 south bridge audio controller, so it’s no surprise that their CPU utilization during 2D and 3D audio playback is similar. Overall, the KV8 Pro is in the middle of the pack in terms of audio performance. The Zenith ZNF3-150’s integrated VIA Envy24PT audio controller manages lower CPU utilization than the KV8 Pro, but the performance differential isn’t huge.

Looking at the KV8 Pro’s audio performance, it’s worth highlighting the fact that the board supports DirectSound 3D hardware acceleration (although that hardware acceleration is emulated in software). Support for hardware 3D audio is notable because NVIDIA’s nForce3 chipsets only have basic AC’97 audio support.

Audio quality
For RightMark’s audio quality tests, I used a Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 for recording. Analog output ports were used on all systems. To keep things simple, I’ve translated RightMark’s word-based quality scale to numbers. Higher scores reflect better audio quality, and the scale tops out at 6, which corresponds to an “Excellent” rating in RightMark.

Because our nForce3 250Gb reference board is an engineering sample that may use a different codec and audio components than retail products, we’ve left it out of audio quality tests.

The KV8 Pro’s audio quality is quite good, for a motherboard. However, mobo audio quality is generally well below even mid-range audio cards. Thankfully, it’s easy to bypass the KV8 Pro’s integrated codec chip by using the board’s digital S/PDIF output port–just make sure you have a receiver or speakers that accept S/PDIF input.

USB performance
Our USB transfer speed tests were conducted with a USB 2.0/Firewire external hard drive enclosure connected to a 7200RPM Maxtor 740X-6L hard drive.

The KV8 Pro’s USB read and write speeds are competitive with the nForce3 250Gb, but a tad slower the KV8-MAX3.

Fortunately, the KV8 Pro manages the lowest USB CPU utilization of the lot, and by a healthy margin, too.

Ethernet performance
We evaluated Ethernet performance using the NTttcp tool from the Microsoft’s Windows DDK. The docs say this program “provides the customer with a multi-threaded, asynchronous performance benchmark for measuring achievable data transfer rate”. Sounds like what we’re after.

We used the following command line options on the server machine:

ntttcps -m 4,0,192.168.1.25 -a

..and the same basic thing on each of our test systems acting as clients:

ntttcpr -m 4,0,192.168.1.25 -a

Our server was a Windows XP Pro system based on Chaintech’s Zenith 9CJS motherboard with a Pentium 4 2.4GHz (800MHz front-side bus, Hyper-Threading enabled) and CSA-attached Gigabit Ethernet. A crossover CAT6 cable was used to connect the server to each system.

Whoa. I certainly didn’t expect the KV8 Pro’s PCI-bound Gigabit Ethernet to achieve such high throughput, especially since our other PCI GigE implementations fail to eclipse 600MBps. The KV8 Pro can’t match the throughput the nForce3 250Gb’s on-chip GigE, though.

Update 6/13/2005 — We recently discovered that the ntttcp CPU utilization results included in this review were incorrect. The CPU utilization results have been removed, but they didn’t factor prominently into our overall conclusion, so that remains unchanged. A full explanation can be found here.

Overclocking
For overclockers, the KV8 Pro’s most intriguing feature is the multiplier control offered by the board’s latest alpha BIOS. With my Athlon 64 3200+, the BIOS made 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10x multipliers available, unlocking all sorts of CPU bus overclocking possibilities. This functionality is currently only available with an alpha BIOS, but Abit has assured me that the feature will make it into release-quality public BIOS.

The KV8 Pro’s ability to manipulate the Athlon 64’s multiplier is likely related to the board’s Cool’n’Quiet support. After all, Cool’n’Quiet reduces CPU clock speeds by lowering the chip’s multiplier. Cool’n’Quiet roots may also explain why the KV8 Pro only allows for multipliers lower than stock; multipliers above my 3200+’s default 10x were unavailable.

An Athlon 64 3200+ running with a 9x multiplier and 215MHz CPU bus

Coupled with a fixed AGP/PCI bus, the KV8 Pro’s ability to lower an Athlon 64’s multiplier brims with overclocking potential. With exotic memory, one could conceivably crank the CPU way up and lower the multiplier as needed. Unfortunately, my Corsair XMS3500C2 memory wasn’t stable with the CPU bus much higher than 215MHz, even with relaxed timings. I was able to confirm that the board’s AGP/PCI lock worked with a 215MHz CPU bus, though; PC Wizard 2004 reported consistent 66 and 33Mhz AGP and PCI clocks.

I’ve included overclocking performance scores for the KV8 Pro with the CPU running at 9 x 215MHz and 10 x 210MHz. Unfortunately, my 3200+ isn’t completely stable running at speeds above 2.1GHz, especially not as summer weather heats up the Benchmarking Sweatshop.

With 100MHz more to play with, the 10 x 210MHz configuration predictably leads the field. However, notice that the 9 x 215MHz configuration doesn’t trail as much as one might expect from a processor running 65MHz slower than stock.

Conclusions
For about $104 online, the KV8 Pro is one of the most inexpensive enthusiast-oriented Athlon 64 boards around. In some respects, you get what you pay for; the KV8 Pro’s two DIMM slots, lack of Firewire support, and single RAID option are hardly inspiring. However, the KV8 Pro’s overclocking potential and stunning array of BIOS options more than pick up the slack for enthusiasts looking to push a system to its limits.

When mixed with exotic PC3700, 4000, or even faster memory, the KV8 Pro’s lower processor multipliers should be music to the ears of overclocking enthusiasts with relatively affordable 754-pin Athlon 64s. Multiplier control is currently only available with an alpha BIOS, but Abit will apparently make this feature available in a public release, hopefully soon. Until then, enthusiasts can busy themselves with the current BIOS’s cornucopia of voltages, fan speeds, monitoring capabilities, and a working AGP/PCI bus lock.

If you absolutely must have dual-channel memory and a processor faster than 3400+, the KV8 Pro obviously won’t be an option. However, budget-conscious enthusiasts and overclockers who would rather not drop a minimum of $500 on a processor alone will be served well by the KV8 Pro and a 754-pin Athlon 64. Heck, I’d pick up the board for its BIOS options alone.