SOYO-KT600 DRAGON Ultra Motherboard (Platinum Edition)
Today we take a look at one of the newest KT600 based boards to enter the market by SOYO, namely the KT600 Dragon Ultra. SOYO has gained much reputation over their Dragon Ultra series of boards in the past, so lets see what this board has in store for us.
Specifications
(Directly taken from SOYO website)
| Chipset Type
* VIA KT600 Certification |
Features * Anti Burn Regulator to prevent system from overheating CPU core voltage, FSB & multiplier adjustable via BIOS setup via DIP switch *Serial ATA *RAID 0/ RAID 1 capability *Adjustable DIMM voltage *Adjustable AGP Voltage *Flexible PCI Divider and APIC/IRQ Sharing Options *Supports High-speed USB 2.0 ports *Supports IEEE 1394 *Supports Smart Card Reader Connector *Supports Wake On LAN (WOL) function to simplify network management *SOYO Wizard On Hand II Function: CPU FSB Frequency can be setup by 1 MHz increment via DIP switch *Suspend to RAM, Suspend to Disk *Supports Gigabyte LAN *Front panel CMOS reset button *Multi-flash memory card reader Package Content *BayOne AVI PLUS 6-in-1 memory flash reader with CMOS reset button, two USB 2.0 and two IEEE 1394 ports. |
Before we get into the details, let me go through the package consists.
1) The SY KT600 board
2) E-Box which includes a Flash memory card slot for smart media, memory sticks etc, Flash memory card slot for CF type I/II, IBM Micro drive, 2 x USB ports, 2 x IEEE 1394 (Firewire) port.
3) SPDIF Audio Connector
4) All cables required for the E-box
5) Software bundle
This total package is definitely a lot better than what SOYO used to ship out in their past packages. They even include white, silver and black faceplates for the E-Box which allows you to customize it so that it’ll blend in with your case. Furthermore it’s likely that you’ll have to change the back panel of your case to accommodate the increased ports in the back of the mainboard. This is also included in the package, so it’s just a matter of taking off the existing panel on your case. The E-box consists of two USB ports, 2 IEEE 1394 ports, and two Flash Memory card slots. All cables required for the box is included and the cables are color coded for easy installation.
Another very sensible feature SOYO has included in the E_box is a CMOS clear button. You no longer have to creep inside your casing each time you need to reset the CMOS, it can simply be done by pressing the button on the E-Box. I don’t know why most others haven’t thought of this simple feature, which definitely is a lifesaver if you’re experimenting with overclocking.
The board itself is very feature rich, keeping in line with the dragon series. SOYO seems to have made full use of all the functionality offered by the new chipset. The board consists of four SATA controller ports as seen in the picture.
The SATA 1 & 2 ports are controlled by the 8237 South Bridge and SATA 3 & 4 are controlled by a Silicon Image Sil3112 controller.
In total this board can support up to 8 hard drives. We unfortunately didn’t have a SATA supporting hard drive with us to test the onboard controller’s performance. If you want to make use of this new technology and don’t have a SATA supporting Hard drive, SOYO provides a S-Serial ATA Kit which allows you to use your existing ATA HDD in Serial mode. At the time of writing this review we were trying to source one of these kits; in the event we’re successful it’ll show up in our tests. If you want to use the RAID functionality the board supports RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1.
