Shuttle AK11 KT133A Based Motherboard


The Shuttle AK11 KT133A Based Motherboard - Page 2

The Shuttle AK11 KT133A Based Motherboard
Too bad this isn't a DDR board!

By, Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta
July 19, 2001

THE BIOS:

        

        

The Shuttle AK11's BIOS is based on the very common Award 6.00PG revision, found on many Athlon motherboards.  The AK11's BIOS is relatively complete.  Users can tweak memory settings, adjust FSBs in 1MHz increments up to 166MHz and CPU core voltage can be adjusted in .025v increments.  The only notable exception is CPU multiplier control.  To alter the processor multiplier, you'll have to set a bank of jumpers.

Layout and Quality
Some good stuff...

THE LAYOUT:

We gave the Shuttle AK11 a thorough physical inspection before installing it and running our benchmark suite...

                        

The first thing we'd like to point out is that Shuttle chose to actively cool the VIA Northbridge with a decent heatsink and fan from Aavid.  The KT133A does not produce excessive amounts of heat, so active cooling is not a necessity, but it is a welcome addition nonetheless.

Active cooling is useless if the heatsink and chip don' t make proper contact.  When we removed the heatsink, we were pleased to find thermal paste, but as you can see in the above photo, there wasn't enough applied to make proper contact.

                        

The AK11 has our favorite slot configuration, 1 AGP, 6 PCI and 1 CNR slot.  A configuration like this allows for a maximum number of expansion possibilities.  The AK11 is also equipped with on-board AC-97 compliant audio.

   

As we continued our tour around the Shuttle AK11, we found quite a few things we liked about it's layout.  All of the connectors are placed in excellent locations, spread around the far edges of the board.  The case connectors are clearly labeled, the audio connectors are out of the way, and the IDE connectors are mounted parallel to the edge of the board.

                        

Even the ATX power connector is well placed, and shouldn't get in the way of your CPU cooler. There is also plenty of room around the socket A to accommodate a large cooler, we had no problem mounting our GlobalWin WBK38.  Notice the large power capacitors around the CPU socket and power array as well. These caps "filter" the current eliminating spikes and valleys that hinder stability.  Also worth mentioning is that the Shuttle AK11 utilizes a 3-Phase power array.  3-Phase power spreads the load across 6 M.O.S.F.E.T.s (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) to insure clean power and long life. 

The Shuttle AK11 has four strategically placed fan headers spread across the board.  We especially liked the one directly between the AGP and first PCI slots..

Time For Some Numbers...

 

Tags:  Shuttle, Motherboard, T1, sed, k11, board, AR, K1, K

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