One of the better Slot A mobos out there
Written: Aug 31 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Four USB ports, AGP 4x, CPU PnP, support for up to 1.5GB of memory
Cons: CPU obstructs power supply connector, AMR slot, reliability issues. Overclockers may have trouble
The Bottom Line: The SY-K7VIA is a good Slot A motherboard, with features such as AGP 4x. Overclockers may have problems because of CPU plug and play
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| WillMontu's Full Review: Soyo Slot A SY-K7VIA Motherboard |
Back in January, I cam across a deal on TigerDirect.com for a motherboard/CPU combo upgrade kit. It included an AMD Athlon 950 CPU, SY-K7VIA mobo, and a dual cooling fan. This cost about $200 for everything, which was a really good deal at the time.
The SY-K7VIA is a standard sized ATX motherboard with onboard audio. The box included standard items such as IDE cables, CPU brackets, and a driver CD. Installing the CPU on the motherboard takes a bit of effort. The first step is to install a bracket onto the motherboard to support the heat sink for the processor. After installing the bracket, the CPU (and cooling system) can be seated on the motherboard. This may take a bit of effort, and more than once I have attempted to install the CPU and it hadn’t seated properly, causing the PC to simply not start up. Installing the CPU fans was not as much of a problem, as the motherboard has two CPU fan power connectors.
After putting the computer together, the motherboard would configure itself. It would automatically detect the CPU type and speed (I don’t know about over-clocking, as I have never done so). The motherboard has good memory support as well. I have been able to install various PC133 chips into the mobo’s three memory slots. Based on the specs, it also appears to support high capacity 512 MB chips, allowing a maximum of 1.5 gigabytes of memory. I did have some stability problems with mixing PC100 and PC133 chips, so this is an issue to consider when buying memory, unless you think that blue screens look pretty.
The system BIOS is better than many others I have used. On boot up, it displays a fancy title screen displaying CPU info, memory, etc, but it still allows the user to jump to setup by pressing Delete and viewing more advanced information by hitting a shortcut key.
I have many different devices plugged into my SY-K7VIA. Unfortunately, the SY-K7VIA “only” had five PCI slots, sacrificing the sixth for an Audio-Modem-Riser (AMR) slot. The AMR slot is only useful for expensive hard-to-find modems. Modems are becoming obsolete, and if I wanted a modem, I would use a PCI slot or get a USB modem. I would rather have had a PCI (or even an ISA) slot in place of the AMR slot. The other PCI slots on my motherboard are filled with a sound card (the onboard sound can be easily disabled), a network card, a SCSI controller, and a RAID controller, leaving one extra slot for additional upgrades. The motherboard also includes an ISA slot, for modems and other legacy devices. Under Windows 2000 (which can be installed by simply by setting the CD-ROM drive as a boot device, and then inserting the CD), I haven’t had many problems with all of these hardware devices working. Most of them run off a single IRQ, thanks to ACPI, which is also standard in this and other motherboards.
One of the nice features of the motherboard is the addition of extra USB ports. In addition to the two ports on the back panel, there is a header on the motherboard for two additional ports (on a separate controller). The motherboard does not come with a riser card, so one must either get a case with front panel USB connectors or a USB/ATX riser card. The header is a standard five-pin connector, but it is located so if one wants to connect the second USB controller to the back panel, a long cable is provided. It also supports AGP 4X, which is good for high-speed video controllers.
I have had a few problems with this motherboard. One is the design of the power supply connector. It is a standard ATX connector, but it is located so that it is difficult to plug the power supply into it, as the CPU gets in the way. The only solution I had was to bend the clip on the power supply connector, so it wouldn’t get in the way. I also had some problems with the system running erratically. It appeared that one of the chips on the motherboard had become detached. I was able to get the motherboard sent back for repairs with only the cost of shipping, as it was still covered under warranty.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $200 w/ CPU
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Epinions.com ID:
WillMontu
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Location: Gainesville, FL, USA
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Former UF student with degree in Computer Engineering
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