While the board has full duplex 6 channel audio through the Realtek ALC650 chip, it doesnt have any digital SPDIF in or out ports. And one thing struck us as really odd: there were only 3 audio plugs on the board, and there was no expansion audio bracket like you would find on other motherboards with 5.1 support.
  |
| Audio Console & Onboard Chip |
The 3 onboard audio plugs use the standard colour coding identifying them as the Front Speaker Out, Line In and Microphone In jacks, but it turns out that the Line In and Microphone In jacks serve as software toggled Rear Speaker and Center/Sub channel jacks as well. This means if you want 5.1 audio, you cant have a Line In jack or a Microphone jack. And of course, the colours of the jacks remain unchanged, which defeats the usefulness of colour-coded identification.
Final Thoughts
With the KT400 not living up to its initial expectations, KT333 boards are still a very viable choice for most of us. When compared to the MSI KT4 Ultras limited overclocking capabilities for instance, the 8K5A2+ is a much better option for overclockers, though it still misses a sorely needed manual PCI divider control and 1/6 clock divider, or else the ability to lock the PCI/AGP clock completely irrespective of the core clock. Features wise the board has everything you want, including integrated LAN and 5.1 audio. Theres the option for Bluetooth support too, for those who want it.
Pricewise, the board is very evenly matched with other boards that have these features (in fact, our price check shows that both the KT3 Ultra 2 and Epox 8K5A2+ are priced around $109 each). This is definitely a good board for someone looking to get something while the KT400 is refined.
Overall Score: 82%
Pros
6 PCI slots
6 USB 2.0 ports
A wealth of Vcore and core clock speed options
Integrated LAN/Audio
Cons:
Lacks a 1/6 PCI clock divider
Clock divider cannot be controlled manually
No SPDIF audio in or out ports
Not enough audio jacks for true 5.1 Audio while using Line In and Microphone jacks
forums
send article 
hardware newsletter 
article comments (3)
Digg this!
del.icio.us