Any sign of a KM400 mobo yet?

[Praxis]

I'm looking for a Socket A mobo with integrated 2D video. I want something that can support 333 FSB but run cheapo DDR. In my (very limited) experience, Nforce2 mobos seem a bit pickier about RAM than VIA chipset boards (does this comport with others' experiences?). The KM266 is two years old and doesn't really support 333 FSB or DDR 400 (not the proper divisors, I gather, insofar as it is based on the KT266A chipset).

Anywho, I understand that in April VIA announced that it is coming out with a new KM400 chipset and the boards are supposed to be in the pipeline, but I haven't seen anything (after an admittedly somewhat cursory search) & I was wondering if any of you compulsive-obsessive types might have heard anything specific?

 

[Vette73]

You can get a nForce2 IGP board for less than $99 now. The Shuttle one is a good one as it is $90 at newegg.com and has the MCP-T southbridge.

I am running Geil ram on my nForce2 board and it works fine. The only ram that I have seen have a problem is/was crucial, but I think that has been fixed now.

So I would go nForce2 IGP board. Just get some cheap, NOT generic, PC3200 ram and run your chip at what you want.

 

[Praxis]

I already have a several sticks of cheap Kingston & PNY PC2100 & PC2700 and don't fancy shoveling out for better RAM. I had a Nforce FIC AU 13 that wouldn't light up for several different sticks of this stuff even running a retail XP2200+ at default 133 FSB, though it did fine with some Corsair PC2700 back at the shop where I bought it (Fry's). I really don't see why the board didn't fly with PNY or Kingston PC2700, even though they had Spectek chips, but that was the case, so I returned it. These sticks have no trouble at all with my VIA chipset KT266A Epox EP-8KHA+ or my KM266 Biostar M7VIG Pro.

While there is no doubt that the Nforce2's onboard GF4 level IGP GPU kicks the Savage stuff on the KM266 in 3D, I'm not a gamer, so that's pretty much completely irrelevant to me. I simply don't need 3D performance, just decent quality 2D.

But I'm in possession of a couple of T-Bred B XP1700s that run like champs on my KT266A board at 166 FSB. I'm hesitant to run them at that speed long term because I'm afraid of HD corruptions because I'm running my PCI & AGP busses out of spec, since (though this is a matter of some controversy) I've concluded that the chipset probably doesn't have a 5/1 166 FSB divisor. Certainly neither of those boards are rated to work at 166 FSB. I'd like to drop the hammer on a new mobo that supports 166 FSB and runs with my chips. Right now I'm considering a cheap KT400 board (either the Epox 8K9AI for $61 or the Biostar M7VIT Pro for $58, but that means buying a graphics adapter, so if KM400 were likely to appear within the next month or maybe tow, I'd rather wait a bit.

 

[bambam]

I have been wondering about it too. The projected release date was to be June or July so here we are .

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Praxis
I already have a several sticks of cheap Kingston & PNY PC2100 & PC2700 and don't fancy shoveling out for better RAM. I had a Nforce FIC AU 13 that wouldn't light up for several different sticks of this stuff even running a retail XP2200+ at default 133 FSB, though it did fine with some Corsair PC2700 back at the shop where I bought it (Fry's). I really don't see why the board didn't fly with PNY or Kingston PC2700, even though they had Spectek chips, but that was the case, so I returned it. These sticks have no trouble at all with my VIA chipset KT266A Epox EP-8KHA+ or my KM266 Biostar M7VIG Pro.

While there is no doubt that the Nforce2's onboard GF4 level IGP GPU kicks the Savage stuff on the KM266 in 3D, I'm not a gamer, so that's pretty much completely irrelevant to me. I simply don't need 3D performance, just decent quality 2D.

But I'm in possession of a couple of T-Bred B XP1700s that run like champs on my KT266A board at 166 FSB. I'm hesitant to run them at that speed long term because I'm afraid of HD corruptions because I'm running my PCI & AGP busses out of spec, since (though this is a matter of some controversy) I've concluded that the chipset probably doesn't have a 5/1 166 FSB divisor. Certainly neither of those boards are rated to work at 166 FSB. I'd like to drop the hammer on a new mobo that supports 166 FSB and runs with my chips. Right now I'm considering a cheap KT400 board (either the Epox 8K9AI for $61 or the Biostar M7VIT Pro for $58, but that means buying a graphics adapter, so if KM400 were likely to appear within the next month or maybe tow, I'd rather wait a bit.

Kingston will work fine on nForce2 boards.

But the price of the KM400 will be almost as high as a nForce2 IGP when it FIRST comes out, maybe a little less but NOT the $50-60 range. And it will not have savage graphics, it will have the unichrome video. I think it is similiar or the same as what comes on teh new M10000 board. So the KM400 is a well needed upgrade from the KM266. That and I think it should have the new VIA AC97 sound chip.

 

[Praxis]

"Kingston will work fine on nForce2 boards. "

You may be right there, now that I think about it the memory I tried was PNY, Centron & KByte. I get the feeling that Kingston is not only better about rebates than PNY, but of somewhat higher quality.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Praxis
"Kingston will work fine on nForce2 boards. "

You may be right there, now that I think about it the memory I tried was PNY, Centron & KByte. I get the feeling that Kingston is not only better about rebates than PNY, but of somewhat higher quality.

Well I said that as I have used Kingston, with different name chips, on nForce 1 and 2 boards and had no problem. So yea I have never had a problem with them and I have heard they have pretty good support even for a Ram maker.

 

[Zepper]

The only thing I've heard about the KM400 is that the MSI Mega 400 AMD system is supposed to be based on that chipset.
. But all I've seen of the Mega in the channels is the Intel version...
.bh.
:moon:

 

[Praxis]

The first of these boards seem to be hitting the European market, if we're to judge by this blurb in the Dutch Epox site about the new EP-8KMM3I. Then again, the links to the BIOS & drivers pages don't seem to list links for the board yet. "Onboard sound, 6 channel Realtek ALC655" sounds good.

Though the VIA reference to the new chipset seems effusive, I've read that the UniChrome GPU was nothing to write home about (on the EPIA-M10000 "Simple full-screen visualizations will run with detail levels turned all the way down.") As long as it will play DIVXs and DVDs well I'd be happy with it.

Maybe the newer VIA KM400A chipset will offer better performance.
Sampling Q2 03 - Mass production Q3 03, External TV-out & LCD monitor interface,
Integrated UniChrome 128-bit 2D/3D Graphics
? 1 Pixel pipe, 2 texture units
? 8MB to 64MB SMA frame buffer

Anyway, I'm not sure I agree with Marlin1975's assertion that the price will be almost as high as the NForce2's when it is first introduced. The whole rationale for this chipset is to crank out budget boards with acceptable performance, but I don't really feel like waiting around to find out. It sounds to me like these boards will all top out at 2 DIMM slots and I'd really prefer 3, since I have a small stack of cheesy FAR DDR for which I want to find a home.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Praxis
The first of these boards seem to be hitting the European market, if we're to judge by this blurb in the Dutch Epox site about the new EP-8KMM3I. Then again, the links to the BIOS & drivers pages don't seem to list links for the board yet. "Onboard sound, 6 channel Realtek ALC655" sounds good.

Though the VIA reference to the new chipset seems effusive, I've read that the UniChrome GPU was nothing to write home about (on the EPIA-M10000 "Simple full-screen visualizations will run with detail levels turned all the way down.") As long as it will play DIVXs and DVDs well I'd be happy with it.

Maybe the newer VIA KM400A chipset will offer better performance.
Sampling Q2 03 - Mass production Q3 03, External TV-out & LCD monitor interface,
Integrated UniChrome 128-bit 2D/3D Graphics
? 1 Pixel pipe, 2 texture units
? 8MB to 64MB SMA frame buffer

Anyway, I'm not sure I agree with Marlin1975's assertion that the price will be almost as high as the NForce2's when it is first introduced. The whole rationale for this chipset is to crank out budget boards with acceptable performance, but I don't really feel like waiting around to find out. It sounds to me like these boards will all top out at 2 DIMM slots and I'd really prefer 3, since I have a small stack of cheesy FAR DDR for which I want to find a home.

Well the price will be high when it FIRST comes out just like any chipset. It will not be the $50-60 range like the KM266/ But yes after a month or two then it will drop. But a nForce2 IGP board can be had for less than $90 now.

But I am also waiting to see what the KM400 has also, esp the video.

 

[Boonesmi]

im also waiting for the km400 boards to show up

i really liked working with the km266 (probably built 50 or more systems on that platform)
they are cheap, easy to setup, and very stable

 

[Praxis]

Looks like Asus has hit the market with the KM400 A7V8X-MX. Their web site lists a cross sections of drivers & a BIOS for the board. It appears to be available for $68.99 with free shipping from Eebuy.com in California. I think I may give it a shop.

 

[yodayoda]

why would you want a via integrated video board when a classic nforce can be had for $70 shipped free or an nForce2 for $100 shipped free? for an entry level system, the Asus nForce is awesome: dolby sound, Geforce2 MX graphics, 6 USB ports, and a uATX board. if you need 166/200 FSB and dual channel, you can get a nForce2 board from newegg for $100. via video sucks ass--i have worked with KM133, KM266, and Via Eden board and have been disappointed each time. if i see a mini-ITX board with an nForce chipset, it would block the Eden out of the water.

 

[Praxis]

As I said, yoda2, I'm not a gamer, so I'm only interested in good quality 2D video which can play DIVXs and DVDs. It simply isn't worth $20 to me to buy a cheap IGP Nforce2 to have MUCH better 3D & in my admittedly somewhat limited experience VIA chipsets seem a bit less picky about low quality DDR than the Nforce2.

I have a Asus A7N266-VM, & while its a great board with excellent sound, it doesn't support 166 FSB, unlike the KM400, nor does it have USB 2.0. Moreover, the new Asus KM400 board may have quite reasonable sound. From the Asus page:

SoundMAX Digital Audio System
The SoundMAX Digital Audio System is the industry's highest performance and most reliable audio solution for business professionals, audiophiles, musicians, and gamers. SoundMAX Digital Audio System can output 5.1 channel surround sound and features state-of-the-art DLS2 MIDI synthesizer with Yamaha DLSbyXG sound set, 5.1 Virtual Theater? and supports all major game audio technologies including Microsoft DirectX? 8.0, Microsoft DirectSound 3D?, A3D, MacroFX, ZoomFX, MultiDrive 5.1, A3D and EAX.

As a kicker, the new board has a couple of features that might come in handy:

ASUS C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection)
ASUS C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection) is a hardware protection circuit that automatically shuts down the system power before temperatures go high enough to permanently damage our CPU.

CrashFree BIOS
CrashFree BIOS allows users to restore BIOS data from a floppy diskette even when BIOS code and data are corrupted during upgrade or invaded by virus. Unlike other competing vendors' products, ASUS motherboards now enable users to enjoy this protection feature without the need to pay for an extra ROM.

 

[Vette73]

Also the KM400 has the new video card the Uni Chrome, something like that. Same Video as the new M10000.

 

[bambam]

I just ordered the Asus KM400 board from www.eebuy.com because it has not shown up at my usual suppliers Newegg or Googlegear yet . I wonder why www.eebuy.com has them and the other two big resellers don't ?

Edit -


I have no experience with eebuy.com and the reseller ratings posts are limited .


Boomsmi said - " hopefully they actually have it in stock and dont make you wait 3 weeks till they have one to ship "

 

[Boonesmi]

hopefully they actually have it in stock and dont make you wait 3 weeks till they have one to ship

 

[Praxis]

I ordered the Asus board from Eebuy on the 9th and emailed on the 13th when I hadn't heard anything but a confirmation email (I'd already received a mobo I'd ordered the same day from Z-Buy in N.Y.) The next morning I called and then called again after the person handling those affairs didn't seem to have called me back after she returned from lunch. I was about to cancel my order, but the she said they'd been temporarily out of stock and would be shipping the board that day (the 14th). Indeed, a couple of hours later I got a tracking number and the board should arrive today by 7 PM (but unfortunately I'm in El Lay until Saturday morning). So they are probably still in stock, but if you don't get a tracking number within a day or two, I'd advise calling to expedite matters (don't bother with the email form).

That said, Pricewatch no longer lists ANY motherboards with the KM400 chipset, though they'd had adduced an Epox board for about $81 last week, as well as this A7V8X-MX from Eebuy. Eebuy claims to be in stock, but with the following odd proviso:
Usually Ships: Within 2-3 Days. Any price change due to shortage will be notified.
So I guess shipping in 5 days was just unusual.

 

[Boonesmi]

the km400a shouldnt be to far away
since via already officially released the km400a i would imagine lots of board makers are just waiting for it instead of using the km400


i could be wrong, but i think the only difference between the km400 and the km400a is that the "a" version has official 200mhz fsb support (so it will support the newest athlonxp, and the km400 wont)

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
the km400a shouldnt be to far away
since via already officially released the km400a i would imagine lots of board makers are just waiting for it instead of using the km400


i could be wrong, but i think the only difference between the km400 and the km400a is that the "a" version has official 200mhz fsb support (so it will support the newest athlonxp, and the km400 wont)

Do you have a link or story for the KM400a, I have not heard that yet. But if it can do 400Mhz Athlons then it MIGHT have the KT600 core, NOT the KT400 core, with Uni-Chrome video


I went to Via.com.tw and they only list a KM400, No KM400a ??

 

[Boonesmi]

http://www.via.com.tw/en/Digital%20Library/PR030513AMD400FSB.jsp
you will need to scroll about half way down the page

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Digital%20Library/PR030513AMD400FSB.jsp
you will need to scroll about half way down the page

Ah, I guess it must be based off the KT600 core since they are coming at the same time. Also would explain why very few KM400 boards have come up.

Guess it is so new thay have not updated their main page.

 

[Remedy]

Shuttle supposed to be first out with KM400A in the SFF Cube sysems sometime in August.

 

[Praxis]

I received my Asus A7V8X-MX & it looks like a well laid-out board, complete with 4 USB 2.0 headers on the back. Maybe I'll have a chance to stoke it this weak end.

Pricewatch now has 4 listings for the KM400, two for this board (including a buck cheaper at $68 at Memorymedia in CA), the Epox EP-8KMM3I for $80.33 from Axion & a Gigabyte GA-7VM400M from Krex. Time will tell whether many KM400 boards get cranked out, but if the price falls to the mid fifties (like the KM266 is now) in short order, I think the chipset may have a healthy niche.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Post some benchies for that Asus if you get a chance, I'm curious how it's 3D performance is, thanks