Author: Tom Karpik
Editor: Howard Ha
Publish Date: Monday, January 17th, 2005
Originally Published on Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com)
Article Link: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/slk8tpro939/
Copyright Neo Era Media, Inc. - please do not redistribute or use for commercial purposes.
The initial release of the Athlon 64 was met with great enthusiasm, but also some confusion as Socket 754 decided to forego a dual-channel DDR memory controller. For those wanting a dual-channel DDR system, the only choice was an Athlon 64 FX and registered DDR on Socket 940, which was also shared with the Opteron. To further compound the issue, it was fairly common knowledge that AMD was indeed planning on a dual channel memory processor that would not require registered memory with Socket 939. Despite relatively minor performance benefits, dual channel memory has been a buzz word since it was introduced with the nForce 2 on the Socket A side and consumers have come to expect it. The knowledge of an upcoming socket type that would replace socket 754 could not have helped AMD in their cause to win over consumers.
Today Socket 939 is indeed the mainstream Athlon 64 socket and it supports dual-channel DDR with non-registered DIMM modules. Socket 940 has been left purely for the Opteron, and Socket 754 for the budget sector. Up for review today is the Soltek SL-K8TPro-939, a Socket 939 board utilizing VIA's K8T800 Pro chipset, a AGP-based solution. Soltek has made a name for itself with their highly-affordable, yet impressively-performing components. For the most part, Soltek has not yet penetrated the inner enthusiast circles where the likes of Asus, Abit, and MSI are a staple, but they are definitely on the way there with their excellent offerings. Soltek is definitely a company to be on the lookout for both in the present and in the future.
Features
There certainly isn't a shortage of features on the SL-K8Pro-939. Five PCI slots, eight USB ports, and two Firewire ports ought to be enough expansion capability for almost everyone. The board also sports three ATA133 ports (supporting a total of 6 IDE devices), and four SATA ports. Two of those ATA133 ports are provided through the VIA south bridge, and the last one through a Promise-based RAID-capable controller. There are a total of 4 SATA ports; two are provided by the VIA south bridge, and the other two by the Promise controller. Gigabit Ethernet having made its rounds through the high end is provided through the VIA southbridge and is now considered to be a mainstream feature checkbox though it is likely to be overkill for most.
Everyone seems to have a fancy name for their overclocking features and Soltek is no different with what they have dubbed RedStorm2 Overclocking. Soltek has taken a page from the more performance oriented board makers and allows for voltage adjustments on the AGP slot, RAM, CPU, and even the south bridge, as well as adjusting the HT bus, multipliers, and memory dividers. Four DIMM slots, allowing you to use up to 4 GB of RAM, are also nothing to scoff at.
Lastly, we have the on-board 8-channel audio solution, providing both analog outputs and S/PDIF optical input and output. Optical in and out is a nice touch for those who plan to run their sound through their home theater.
Specifications
Soltek's raw specifications are as follows:
| Chipset | VIA K8T800 Pro + VT8237 south bridge |
|---|---|
| Processor | Socket 939 |
| Front Side Bus | HyperTransport @ 1 GHz |
| Memory | - 4x 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets - Supports unregistered non-ECC DDR 400/333/266 DRAM up to 4 GB - Supports Dual Channel |
| Expansion Slots | - 1x AGP 8x/4x slot - 5x PCI slots |
| On-Board EIDE | - 2x ATA133/100/66 IDE connectors supporting up to 4 IDE devices - 1x ATA133/100 IDE connector supporting up to 2 IDE devices through Promise PDC20579 |
| On-Board SATA | - 2x Serial ATA connectors supporting 2 Serial ATA devices (through VT8237) - 2x Serial ATA connectors supporting 2 Serial ATA devices (through Promise PDC20579) |
| Integrated Super I/O | - 1x AGP 8x/4x slot - 1x Floppy port - 1x PS/2 Mouse port - 1x PS/2 Keyboard port - 1x Parallel port (via optional cable) - 1x Serial port - 8x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 integrated, 4 via optional cable) |
| RAID | - 2x Serial ATA connectors supported by VT8237 (RAID 0,1) - 2x Serial ATA connectors and 1x ATA133/RAID IDE port supported by Promise PDC20579 (RAID 0,1,0+1) |
| IEEE1394 | - 2x IEEE1394 Ports |
| Audio | - 8-Channel AC'97 audio - 1x S/PDIF In port - 1x S/PDIF Out port |
| LAN | - 1x Gigabit LAN port (supporting 10/100/1000 Mbps) |
| BIOS | - Award BIOS - Flash memory for easy upgrade |
| Form Factor | - ATX Form Factor (245 mm x 305 mm) |
| Other Features | - BIOS FSB setting - BIOS Write protection - BIOS AGP, DIMM, and CPU voltage settings - BIOS South Bridge chipset voltage setting - RedStorm2 Overclocking Technology (optional) - Soltek H/W monitor - STR function (optional) - Debug LED on-board |
What stood out right away about the bundle with the K8TPro-939 was the sheer amount of various drive connector cables included: We found four SATA cables, three Soltek-purple 80-conductor IDE cables, one rounded Soltek-purple 80-conductor IDE cable, and one rounded floppy cable. That is a total of eight drive connectors and one floppy connector. Along with the ginormous amount of drive cabling provided, Soltek has also included two SATA power adapter cables, with two plugs each, allowing you to make use of up to four SATA hard drives if your power supply isn't already SATA-compatible.
Soltek has definitely not skimped in the documentation department when it comes to this package, either. Provided are the following:
The five bundled applications are as follows:
A rear USB faceplate with two ports is also provided. An impressive bundle, especially for those of us that like to read manuals from cover to cover.
Layout
The general layout of the Soltek K8TPro-939 is the regular reference ATX layout we are all used to seeing. The four memory slots to the right of the CPU socket, perpendicular to the AGP/PCI slots. These slots are positioned high enough on the board so that even the longest of AGP video cards will not obstruct the installation or removal of memory.
Personally, I like the positioning of the ATX connector. It is situated in the far upper-right of the board, away from the CPU socket. I tend to bundle up all of the cabling coming out of my power supplies into the empty 5-1/4" bays or above the top-most optical device in my chassis, and this kind of positioning works well for me, because I can keep the ATX cable bundled up with the rest and have it peek out just enough to connect to the board. Things like this, of course, are personal preference. A pet peeve of mine, however, is to have the +12V connector way on the opposite side of the board, which is what Soltek did with this board. The +12V cable then drapes across the CPU socket and fan, unless you manage to tie it down elsewhere.
The VIA north bridge chip, situated below-left the CPU socket, is passively cooled by a silver Soltek-branded heatsink. The VIA south bridge, situated beside PCI slots 2 and 3, does not have any form of cooling.
On the far right side of the board, just below the AGP slot, is the first of three IDE connectors. The two purple connectors utilize the VIA-integrated IDE controller, while the single yellow connector makes use of the Promise PDC20579 chip. The floppy connector is located at the very bottom of the board, beginning where the AGP slot would end if it were at the bottom.
The four SATA connectors have an unusual grouping. The two VIA-provided connectors sit directly below the yellow IDE connector, to the left. The Promise-powered SATA connectors are split up. One is in line with the VIA connectors, but the other one is on the other side of the Promise chip, rotated 90 degrees. We can't find an explanation for why this lone connector has been separated from the others.
There are 5 PCI slots in addition to the mandatory AGP slot, with no extra spacing between the first PCI slot and the AGP slot, as is present on some boards.
Optional expansion includes an IEEE1394 (Firewire) port header, two more USB headers (providing 4 USB ports), and an LPT (parallel) port header.
The back panel for the K8TPro-939 features relatively more than a basic board, such as the Soltek K8AN2E-GR we reviewed in August. Present are the two PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, but only one serial port and no parallel port (it is provided through the use of an optional cable connected to the LPT pin header). The space of the second serial port is taken up by input/output optical S/PDIF connectors. Four USB 2.0 ports are present, as well as another IEEE1394 port. Gigabit Ethernet is almost a standard nowadays, and is also included on the K8TPro-939. Lastly, we have the 8-channel analog audio connectors.
The entire board is in Soltek's trademark purple and black color scheme, which isn't bad looking - but this reviewer would prefer something spicier.
The Soltek K8TPro-939 makes use of a standard Award BIOS, with a touch of overclocking features thrown in. In a day and age where it seems that BIOSes come with everything and the kitchen sink, the Soltek BIOS looks somewhat basic, but by no means disappointing. In addition to the staple options present in every BIOS, the K8TPro-939 BIOS features SmartDoc Anti-Burn Shield and Frequency/Voltage Control.
What Soltek dubs the "SmartDoc Anti-Burn Shield" is merely a hardware information screen, showing you the various voltage, temperature, and RPM readings from the motherboard.
Soltek has provided us with a good amount of control over the CPU and bus clocks, allowing us to change the CPU multiplier, HT bus, Vcore, AGP voltage, DIMM voltage, northbridge voltage, and lock state of the AGP/PCI buses. In the "LDT and PCI Bus Control" setup page under "Advanced Chipset Features", we are able to change the upstream/downstream HT bus width as well as the HT bus multiplier.
On the memory tweaking front, we would have liked to see some finer-grained control. The K8TPro-939 only provides us with options for the memory divider ratio, 1T/2T timing, and CAS latency - not too impressive if you want to squeeze every last bit of juice out of your memory.
Adjustable ranges for the various overclocking options are as follows:
In general, this BIOS should allow you to push your CPU as far or close to as it will go, but you will probably need higher-quality RAM to make up for the fact that many RAM-related tweaks are missing. Whether the board itself will allow us to push high FSBs remains to be seen.
Some of the remaining unvisited options:
Installation
Installation of the Soltek K8TPro-939 was relatively painless (as far as motherboards go, of course). The most troublesome parts of any motherboard installation are usually the routing and tucking away of cables, as well as the connection of the front panel buttons and LEDs - both of which were completely scot-free.
As mentioned, the main ATX power connector is located in the far upper-right-hand corner of the board, allowing for the hiding of the fat ATX cable. The front panel pin headers were simple and very clearly labeled, avoiding the need to look in the manual for the correct pin-out.
There is over an inch of room available between the clips of the DIMM slots and the AGP card, allowing for completely effortless removal and addition of RAM.
Soltek's Pro lineup of motherboards also includes a LED counter that spits out a diagnostic code in the event that there is a problem. The back of the motherboard manual gives a long list of codes and associated problems. We would encourage Soltek to expand upon some of the explanations in the manual though as some of the error descriptions are not the most intuitive. However, the numeric code approach is much better than the traditional LED pattern or beep codes used by most other boards.
Benchmark Setup
Our benchmark system consisted of the following:
* For reference
Drivers used for testing included Forceware 66.93 and VIA Hyperion 4.55vp1.
A list of benchmarks performed follows:
Business Winstone 2004
Nothing exciting to see here - both the K8TPro-939 and QBIC 3901a score identically, when allowing for the margin of error.
HDTach
Once again, nothing particularly exciting in these benchmark results. IDE performance between the two boards is identical. SATA performance is just a smidgen better on the QBIC 3901a with the burst read being 800 KB/sec better and the CPU utilization half of what the K8TPro-939 uses. USB is also identical, though the QBIC 3901a manages to squeeze by with 1% less CPU utilization.
NTTCP
Gigabit performance on the two boards is a mixed bag - the K8TPro-939 scores about 120 Mbits/sec faster than the Soltek 3901a, but at a cost of about 7.5% higher CPU usage. In general, 82% efficiency with Gigabit Ethernet is nothing to scoff at.
LAME MP3
Soltek's K8TPro-939 manages to edge out the QBIC 3901a by about 17 seconds in this benchmark. Over the course of about 15 minutes this gives the K8T800Pro an edge that is only a couple percent higher than the 3901a.
Rightmark Audio
Finally a benchmark where there's a notable difference between these two boards! In Rightmark's 2D audio tests, the K8TPro-939 uses less than one-third the CPU power that the QBIC 3901a uses, half the CPU power in 3D audio tests, and about two-thirds the CPU power in 3D EAX audio tests.
SiSoft Sandra
In SiSoftware's Sandra memory bandwidth test, the K8TPro-939 scores approximately 125 MB/sec better than the QBIC 3901a on average, attaining 5308/5235 MB/sec.
Comanche 4
Interestingly enough, the QBIC 3901a cuts in line here, edging out the K8TPro-939 by a little over 2.5 FPS.
Doom 3
In Doom 3, the tables turn and the K8TPro-939 beats the QBIC 3901a by 2 FPS. It's important to remember that these variations of 2-4 FPS are well within the margin of testing error, and should be disregarded. For all intents and purposes we can say that these two products score identically in these tests.
Halo
Once again, a minor win for the K8TPro-939 by 3 FPS in Halo.
Half-Life 2
Here is another win for the K8TPro-939, this time in Half-Life 2 by 2 FPS. Must we repeat "margin of error" once more? ;-)
Call of Duty
In Call of Duty, the K8TPro-939 scores 1 FPS higher than the QBIC 3901a when making use of low sound quality. Upon the activation of EAX, both the K8TPro-939's and QBIC 3901a's scores drop to 57 FPS. This kind of test is useful in determining the impact on performance that enabling high-end audio options has in games. In this case, the drop is just under 20 FPS - not exactly minimal.
Unreal Tournament 2004
There is less than a 1 FPS difference between these two products in Unreal Tournament 2004. These benchmark results sure have been exciting.
X2 Rolling Demo
If it smells the same, looks the same, and feels the same ...
That's right, once again, the differences here are so negligible that they may be ignored.
Overclocking
We managed to overclock the Soltek K8TPro-939 to a maximum stable speed of 255 MHz on the HT bus, with a memory divider of 1:1, HT multiplier of 4x, and CPU multiplier of 9x. These settings resulted in a total CPU clock of 2295 MHz, memory clock of 255 MHz, and HT bus clock of 1020 MHz. Unlike the 3901a, the SATA port on this particular board is locked and we experienced no problems with data integrity
Raising the FSB to 256 MHz caused instability very shortly after the initiation of any high-end test. An HT/FSB setting of 255 seems to be all that this board can take - impressive, considering the low price of the board.
Here are the SiSoft Sandra and Half-Life 2 results at our overclocked settings:
Overclocking the memory and CPU yielded an increase of approximately 1300 MB/sec in SiSoft Sandra's memory bandwidth benchmark. We used very high-end memory in order to attain a 255 MHz HT bus setting at a 1:1 memory divider. The memory itself is guaranteed to run at up to 263 MHz, but as we mentioned, the board was limited to 255 MHz. Most people would probably have to increase the memory divider in order to achieve even 255 MHz anyway, and thus would not see much benefit in memory bandwidth tests.
Half-Life 2, being an extremely CPU-dependant benchmark, gained almost 18 FPS when the CPU was running at 255 * 9, proving that the game thrives on raw CPU power. Had we run this benchmark at resolutions of 1024x768 and higher (we run all games at 640x480 to test CPU performance), there would have been less of a bump.
Conclusion
Soltek's K8TPro-939 was an absolute pleasure to work with. It manages to come in at a low price point (around 100$ US based on a 120$ Canadian price) yet offer a full feature set that rivals high end boards of many other companies. The K8TPro-939 was a snap to set up, performed admirably, was entirely stable all throughout testing, and the overclocking ability was not too shabby either allowing for the FSB to hit 255.
Soltek has struck a very good balance between affordability and features. Don't get us wrong, though - this board certainly does not lack features. Expansion will never be a problem with the SL-K8TPro-939, nor will CPU or RAM upgrades: four SATA ports, three IDE ports, two Firewire ports, eight USB ports, five PCI slots, and four DIMM slots are about as much as anyone can possibly need. With the future-proof Socket 939, you can rest assured that the very same board will be good for Athlon 64s yet to be made.
The K8TPro-939's BIOS is fairly robust, giving you a wide variety of control over the voltages, buses, and multipliers/dividers of the entire platform. One thing we'd like to see improved is the amount of control over the RAM. The BIOS as it is right now only allows tuning of the CAS latency, divider, and 1T/2T timing. We were able to stably reach an FSB of 255 MHz with a memory divider of 1:1, memory timing of 1T, and CPU multiplier of 9x, giving us a total clock speed of 2295 MHz.
Overall, Soltek has put together a very nice and affordable board. It is highly recommended that you look into this product if you're in the market for a Socket 939 system, but don't want to break the bank on the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink motherboards out there while still opening the door for future upgrades and a bit of overclocking.
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