Introduction
Date 2002-10-16
Provider: Soyo
Author: BigMan
Editor: Princess Ammie
Introduction
Soyo SY-KT400 DRAGON Ultra (Platinum Edition),just the Platinum name makes this board really sweet 
The platinum color gives the board a luxury look, and all the extras in the box makes it really a luxury. I just picked up the manual and it’s like twice the size a normal one… I got in contact with Soyo first time when theKT333 chipset one came out- I was really close to ordering that and at this point I wish I would have because my Soltek DRV5 didn’t live up to my expectations. Soyo isn’t big here in Sweden but I know it is in USA. And I hope that with time it will start selling more here in Sweden. This new KT400 card comes with USB 2,0, 6 channel audio support and AGP 8X etc etc
Here is a pic of the new KT400 chipset
Closer look
Date 2002-10-16
Provider: Soyo
Author: BigMan
Editor: Princess Ammie
SY-KT400 DRAGON Ultra (Platinum Edition)
AMD Socket-A AthlonXP, Athlon & Duron Based VIA KT400 Chipset ATX Motherboard With Platinum PCB Finish Supporting DDR400/333, 8X AGP Pro, and Optional Serial ATA
D: DDR400/333/266 Memory
R: Optional Serial ATA / Embedded Hipoint IDE-RAID chip, providing ATA-133 IDE-RAID 0,1,and 0+1
A: 5.1 Digital Audio and 24-Bit SPDIF Audio Connector for Ultimate Audio Experience
G: Universal 8X AGP Pro With Adjustable Voltage, Enabling Computer Graphics At Its Best
O: Smart Overclocking Options Including Adjustable CPU, DIMM and AGP Pro Voltages, Higher PCI Divider and Flexible IRQ Sharing
N: Integrated 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, High-Speed Internet Ready
Ultra: On-board USB 2.0 Interface
Platinum Edition: Special PCB Finish Featuring A Unique Color to Show Off!
Processor
Supports AMD Socket-A type processors, including AthlonXP, Athlon and Duron (up to 2600+; 2700+/2800+ ready)
Chipset Type
VIA KT400
Chipset Description
VIA KT400 / 8235 chipset
Supports 200/266 MHz FSB
Graphics Info
AGP Pro slot supporting 8X AGP
Form Factor
ATX
Memory Type
DDR400/333 SDRAM
Memory Description
Three DDR 2.5V DIMM sockets support up to 3GB (DDR 333/266/200, 2GB for DDR 400)
184-pin PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC, unbuffered DDR SDRAM memory
Expansion Slots
Five 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (V2.2 compliant)
One Universal 8X AGP Pro slot (supports 8x/4x modes)
Expansion Slot Types
Five 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI
DE Type
UDMA 66/100/133
IDE Description
Optional serial ATA support (rated at 150 MB/sec) through the use of riser cards
Four independent channels for 8 IDE devices (2 for RAID)
Supports up to PIO mode 5 & Ultra DMA 66/100/133
Two PCI bus mastering ATA E-IDE ports
Audio Description
On board CMI 8738 audio chip providing 6-channel audio solution
Supports optical output & SPDIF output
IO Port Description
Two RS-232 serial ports (16550 UART compatible)
One parallel printer port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
One FDD port (supports 3 modes, 1.2/1.44/2.88MB FDD)
Provides IrDA with optional cable for transceiver
Provides 6 USB 2.0 ports (2* rear, 4*front)
IO Connection Description
PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports
Two USB 2.0 ports
One RJ45 connector
Two D-Sub 9-pin male serial ports
One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
Audio I/O: LINE-OUT x 1, LINE-IN x 1, MIC JACK x 1
One game port
BIOS Description
Award PCI BIOS with ACPI function
Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE / SCSI / CD-ROM / FDD / LS120 / ZIP
2 Mbyte Flash ROM
Health Monitoring Description
On board voltage monitors
CPU fan speed monitor
CPU fan speed monitor
CPU temperature monitoring through flexible thermal sensor
CPU overheating protection
Dimension Description
Four layers, 30.5 cm x 24.5 cm (12″ x 9.6″)
ATX form factor
ertification
FCC Class B & CE EMI Regulation Compliant. PC99 Compliant
Compatibilities
WinXP / Win2000 / WinNT / WinME / Win98SE / Linux / FreeBSD
Warranty
All SOYO products are designed to offer stability and flexibility, and are tested to ensure highest reliability. We offer a 1 year limited warranty on this SOYO product.
Features
Optional serial ATA support via riser cards
Anti Burn Regulator to prevent system from overheating
CPU core voltage, FSB & multiplier adjustable via BIOS setup
Adjustable DIMM voltage
Adjustable AGP Pro Voltage
Flexible PCI Divider and APIC/IRQ Sharing Options
Supports High-speed USB 2.0 ports
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
Suspend to RAM, Suspend to Disk
Testing
Date 2002-10-16
Provider: Soyo
Author: BigMan
Editor: Princess Ammie
Well it’s time to see the board itself I think! It came nicely packed in a HUGE box and I dont think there is any way it could break And as always Soyo threw in a bunch of extra stuff which I will show later…. So let’s get this party going
As I said the box is HUGE and it even has a handle so you can easily carry it around and look cool or hmm something…
The sweeeeet thing itself
Yes my finger got in the way and I noticed it to late :p As we see there is alot of extras. 3 IDE cables 1 Floppy cable. The standard E-box comes equipped with two USB ports and a smart card reader. The smart card reader is a good choice as it allows users to use their smart card memory without spending extra on a reader. Also drives, manual and 8 in 1 super pack with software like Norton Ghost and Norton Antivirus. I almost forgot- SOYO includes an audio header to make use of the 6-channel audio chip. This is something not many manufactures include along with the retail purchase of a mainboard, which is very handy to have.
Here we have the audio header
2 USB ports and the smartcard reader which you can connect to a empty 5,25 slot in the front of the case.
And here the baby is outside the anti-static bag,doesn’t the platinum color really look sweet?
Further Testing
Date 2002-10-16
Provider: Soyo
Author: BigMan
Editor: Princess Ammie
The board and all that it offers….
Overclockers have a look There is a bunch of space around the socket. I had no problems mounting my Maze3 onto this board. I really think even bigger coolers like Alpha and Swiftech ones fit really nicely
The little chipset fan and the heatsink. I think this little fan cools the chipset of good enough. But maybe I should remove it and put some Artic Silver 2 under it. Personally I think that Soyo could have added a led or two to this fan since its clear and leds are getting more and more popular all the time
2 ps2 ports ,1 ethernet card, 2 seriell ports, 1 LPT1 and internal sound any more you need?
What I wanted to show with this picture is that Soyo has made the jumpers bigger so they are really easy to remove now. And that gives this board a real plus, though they only have one or two jumpers but I mean… anyways
Final Testnig
Date 2002-10-16
Provider: Soyo
Author: BigMan
Editor: Princess Ammie
Installation
I had no problems at all installing this board. I left the spacers from my soltek board in and all of them fit perfectly.
Bios
To the bios Soyo has added a overlocker dream seciton CPU frequency can be incremented in 1MHz stepping, which ranges from 100MHz to 255MHz. Then they have that you can select how fast your PCI bus is going to go when you overclock, that is really good because it’s the PCI that makes the overclocking unstable usually….
CPU Ratio selection option allows us to select from 3x – 18x with .5x increments. And ofcourse there is CPU voltage, VCore voltage and even the AGP voltage you can choose to change.
In the PC Health Status menu we find a intresting thing called the Fan Off Control feature which means that if a fan is not connected the computer will turn itself of.
For you watercoolers out there i can say that push down INSERT while starting the comp then it skips the “FOC” and you can go into bios and turn it of. And ofcourse there is alot more that I can’t discuss during this review so buy one and try for yourself
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