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We see a lot of hardware come through the Hot Hardware labs.
Every once in a while a piece comes along that stands out
from the rest, making a lasting impression. A few
recent items that come to mind is the Hercules Game Theater
XP, The Visiontek Ti Series video cards, and the Shuttle
AK35GTR motherboard.
The AK35GTR
was a real champ. Built around the KT266A chipset,
this board didn't have the flash and pizzazz of other
high-end motherboards, but it delivered where it mattered
most, in quality, performance and, of course, overclocking.
In fact, if you were to search out the web for reviews of
the AK35GTR, you'd be hard pressed to find a negative
review.
Not long
after we completed our review back in February, the VIA
KT333 chipset was released. People were eager to hear
how VIA improved upon the already popular KT266A, hoping for
some astounding performance gains. At first I will
admit that I was cautious. A lot of us can remember
the memory issues that were a major problem with the KT266
when it first came out. This required VIA to make some
changes to the design of the chipset, giving rise to the
updated, and now very popular, KT266A. Although the
KT333 hasn't been plagued by any major design flaws or
stability issues, it hasn't exactly blown us away with its
performance either. The most significant change is the
added support for 333MHz.(DDR) memory speeds, USB 2.0 and
support for ATA133.
In the
beginning, there were few companies that were quick to jump
on the KT333 bandwagon. Some companies, like MSI, were
swift to start adding motherboards to their product line
that were built around the new chipset, while others, like
Soyo, chose the "wait and watch" mentality to be sure there
were no major problems with the new design. Shuttle
definitely falls closer to MSI than Soyo in the big picture,
waiting a short while before taking the plunge into
uncharted territory. One sure way to insure that the
transition was a smooth one was to improve on the already
proven design of the AK35GTR. And so the AK35GT2/R was
born.
So let's
take a look at the AK35GT2/R in all its glory, then we'll
put this board to the test and see if the new chipset is
really "all that."
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Specifications of the Shuttle AK35GT2/R
Motherboard |
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Plain and Simple |
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CPU Support: Socket A CPU
AMD Duron CPU with 200MHz FSB
AMD Athlon CPU with 200 / 266MHz FSB
AMD Athlon XP CPU with 266MHz FSB
ChipsetsVIA KT333
(North) VIA VT8367
High Performance Athlon CPU Interface
Integrated full featured Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
controller
Integrated high bandwidth 266MB/S 8-bit Vlink Host
controller
Integrated advanced high performance DDR DRAM
controller to support DDR 333 SDRAM
(South) VIA VT8233A
Built in high bandwidth 266MB/S 8-bit V-link Host
controller
Integrated USB controller with two root hub and four
function ports
Integrated dual channel UDMA 33/66/100/133 master
mode EIDE controller
LPC interface for Low Pin Count interface to
Super-I/O or ROM
Integrated Keyboard Controller with PS2 mouse
support
Integrated DS12885-style Real Time Clock with
extended 256 byte CMOS RAM and Day/Month Alarm for
ACPI
System Management Bus Interface
Sophisticated PC99-Compatible Mobile Power
Management
Integrated Plug and Play Controller
Front Side Bus
Including 200/266 MHz (BIOS
step-less adjustable)
Form Factor
ATX
Multiplier
Jumper-less (BIOS
adjustable)
Memory: 4 x 184-pin DIMM
Supports 6 banks up to 3 GB
DRAMs (512Mb x8/x16 DRAM technology) for un-buffered
DDR SDRAM module
Supports 8 banks up to 4 GB DRAMs (512Mb x8/x16 DRAM
technology) for register DDR SDRAM module
No ECC function support
H/W Audio: C-Media 8738
Support 5.1 speakers, C3DX
positional audio in 6 CH speaker mode
HRTF-3D positional audio, supporting Direct Sound 3D
and A3D interface
Legacy SBPRO compatible
USB Hub: Built in VT8233A
Integrated USB Controller
with three root hubs and six function ports
USB v.1.1 and Intel Universal HCI v.1.1 compatible
Support up to 6 ports
Expansion Slot:
AGP: 1 AGP slot
Support AGP 2.0 compliant, 1X, 2X, 4X AGP device
Support both 1.5V / 3.3V AGP electrical device
Supports SideBand Addressing (SBA) mode
(non-multiplexed address / data)
PCI: 6 PCI slots, PCI 2.2 compliant
Support 32 bit PCI master mode device
133 Mbyte/sec Maximum Throughput
I/O: Winboad 83697HF
Meet LPC Spec. 1.01
Integrate Hardware Monitor functions
Support up to four 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch floppy disk
drives
Two high-speed 16550 compatible UARTs
Support IrDA version 1.0 SIR, SHARP ASK-IR Consumer
IR with Wake-Up function
Support PS/2 compatible bi-directional parallel port
Support Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) - Compatible
with IEEE 1284 specification
Support Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) -
Compatible with IEEE 1284 specification
Game Port
MIDI Port |
IDE interface: Built in VT8233A
2 x UltraDMA/100/133 Bus
Master IDE from VT8233A
2 x UltraDMA/133 Bus Master IDE from High Point 372
to support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID0+1 function
80-pin Cable Backward Compatible Legacy ATAPI
Devices
ATAPI IDE CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, and LS-120 Supports
support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID0+1 function (AK35GTR
only)
H/W Monitoring: Built in Winbond 83697HF
2 thermal inputs from CPU and
system temperature sensor
6 positive voltage inputs (+12V, -12V, +5V, -5V,
+3.3V, Vcore)
2 intrinsic voltage monitoring (Vbat, +5VSB)
Build in Case open detection circuit
Programmable hysteresis and setting points for all
monitored items
Over temperature indicate output
Automatic Power On voltage detection Beep
Issue SMI#, IRQ, OVT# to activate system protection
Winbond Hardware Doctor
Support Intel LDCM TM / Acer ADM compatible
Power Management
ACPI v1.0 Compliant
APM v1.2 Compliant
Supports multiple system suspend types: power-on
suspends with flexible CPU/PCI bus reset options,
suspend to DRAM, and suspend to disk (soft-off), all
with hardware automatic wake-up
Multiple suspend power plane controls and suspend
status indicators
lThermal alarm on either external temperature
sensing circuits
Support Power Fail Resume function
Bios: Award PnP BIOS
Built in 2MB Flash ROM
DMI 2.3
BIOS FSB step-less setting from 100MHz to 200MHz
BIOS Multiplier setting from 5X to 14X
CPU core voltage setting from +0.025V ~ +0.20V
Support IRQ manual assign table
On Board Ports / Connectors / Jumpers / Headers
(front/back panel)
Back Panel:
2 Serial Ports
1 Parallel Port (SPP, EPP, ECP)
1 PS/2 Keyboard Port
1 PS/2 Mouse Port
2 USB Ports
1x Game / MIDI Port
1x Line in, 1x Line out, 1x Mic
Connectors:
1 x ATX power connector
4 x Fan Power connectors (one for system chipset
fan)
4 x UltraDMA/100/133 Bus Master IDE
1 x Floppy
Jumpers:
Clear CMOS
BIOS boot block protection
Headers:
1 set of 2 x5 pin Front Panel USB header
Mini CD Audio in
TAD in
CD Audio in
Other Features:
Suspend switch and LED
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We did not receive a full retail package for review,
however it did come with most of the items included in the
retail version.
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CD-ROM Disk:
VIA 4-1 driver
High Point IDE driver
C-Media Audio driver
User manual in PDF file
IDE Cable:
2x UDMA 66/100/133 cable
Floppy Cable:
1 x Floppy Cable |
USB cable:
1 x USB cable with bracket for header
(optional)
Audio Cable:
1 x Audio Cable for Central and Bass out
User manual:
1 x print user manual
1 x Heat Sink and fan attached on North Bridge chipset
1 x AGP RM |
The AK35GT2/R is
a fairly complete package. Everything is included to
help get the board installed, as well as giving the user the
ability to take advantage of its extra features, like the
additional USB header. Now we'll take a closer look at
the AK35GT2/R and see what it's made of.
Setup and the BIOS
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