SOYO Dragon KT400 Ultra Defect?

[npcom]

I have issues with a new SOYO Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition KT400 (recently reviewed on Anandtech http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1714&p=2 )

I purchased this board for the features listed on this site, the High Point RAID (allowing usable RAID 0+1) and the Sigma box (USB & card slots) and the silver look does look great in its LianLi chassis (CompUSA Label 3-window Silver).

First is my ?mini review?: The ATX power connector is in a bad spot, higher up would have been good. For an expensive board, an ATX locking latch should have been included. Considering the space of this large board, the FD connector is at the RAID location (instead of the primary IDE) which isn?t too much of a big deal ? bit there should be a spot for another screw to mount the Mobo to the chassis (front, center position) so when unplugging IDE cables, the Mobo bows upwards. Another screw standoff mount (between the RAM & CPU) is not ?centered? perfectly (An Asus board fit perfectly in the same chassis).

ASUS & MSI include light or message codes for errors. None on this expensive board. Unlike those two, SOYO is still using the very functional AWARD BIOS that more Mobo makers should return to.

The issues I have:

A ? The POWER LED on my case is about 1 / 4th the brightness it used to be with the ASUS or any other system board I have ever worked with. The HD and the onboard power light (can only bee seen from inside the case) are normal brightness. I plugged another PSU to the unit, same results. I plugged another LED to the SOYO and it too was also very dim. So it means the issue is with the SOYO... This is dim enough to make the machine look like its not powered up.

This LED issue may NOT be a big deal, but it is in the sense that ?What ELSE MAYBE WRONG? with this board?? I have installed all the drivers (Win98se) and Windows reports NO PROBLEMS with anything. The card reader works fine. But I wish its little green light would NOT shine constantly when there is NOTHING plugged in (is this normal?)! During the install of these drivers, I have had some freezes in which I had to reset the machine and try again.

Overall, the machine boots up very fast (about 20 seconds)? Another nag is that unlike my ASUS A7V8X (KT400), the LAN light is dim-lit when the system is off and there isn?t anything plugged into it. (ASUS, there is a bright light when a cable is plugged in- system power off).

I?ve build systems for a living, but tend to use only ASUS & MSI boards. I am also new to ATA RAID as well, as it?s starting to look more attractive.

I called SOYO in which I called at their ?lunchtime? and got the message ?we are closed? (not good). I left a message, no return call. I called about 2~3pm (their time) and was in a holding pattern for about 45mins!! The ?tech?, after conferring with someone else, told me that the reason the power light was so DIM was because it was a 2volt Power LED connector, instead of a 5volt, which he said was ?PC98? standard.

I told him that it doesn?t make ANY since to do that! No other board, even my new ASUS KT400 use a so-called 2volt power LED connectors. It would make boards incompatible with all these hundreds of cases! Also, if a case HAD these so-called 2volt LEDs, then plugging a 5volt connector to an LED would blow it out! And of course, there is NO mention of this in the SOYO Dragon manual.

I need to trust the Motherboard, does ANYONE else have a SOYO dragon Kt400?

B ? RAID: I?m setting up a RAID 0+1 setup (4xWD-JB120s)? I?ve read time and time again that the Promise FASTTRAK RAID wasn?t a first choice here as it doesn?t have the stripping options, nor support for RAID 0+1. What is the best Strip size? Default is 64K but I have the options of going higher and lower.


Thank you for your time.


:disgust:

 

[ChemMan]

Hehe, it's funny you brought up the led issue. I have a bright blue led which used to be blinding when plugged into my abit kt7a, but now it's almost hard to see. Apparently it didn't bother me enough to call soyo though, I just checked the connections to make sure something wasn't loose. Guess I'll look into a blue 2v led to replace it because it looks really out of place next to my bright white hard drive light.
I agree that the board looks really nice, but I replaced the stock northbridge cooler with a copper one from vantec. The polished copper looks great against the silver board. Eventually I'll get a window in my case(a heavy-ass antec SOHO case) to show it off.
I have a couple trivial gripes with the bios. First off, it goes through the bios screen so fast on boot-up that you have to be on your toes to get into the bios options. It seriously must take no more than 2 seconds to post! Second, the bios does not state the multiplier and fsb you are running at unless you set them manually. I installed an unlocked 1600+ into the board and, as I found out later, the board set the processor speed correctly, but with a 100mhz fsb and a 14x multiplier! I was slightly puzzled as to why the board was falling behind in benchmarks, and setting the fsb and multiplier explicitly in the bios solved the problem. The good thing about that is I know I was successful unlocking the processor.
Overall, I think this board is great. I'm currently have raid and lan deactivated in the bios because I have no need for them so far. I am running the onboard sound because my Acoustic Edge has constant driver problems(do your self a favor and never buy a philips sound card). The sound positioning is not quite as nice as an add in card, but for the most part you can't tell the difference. Not too bad overall. Total stability, and not one problem with having the usb activated like the older via boards.
One more thing, this board has just enough room to accept an alpha pal 8045, so my processor is nice and cool and somewhat quiet as well.

 

[npcom]

So the DIM LED for Power is N O R M A L??? Like I said, it strange since ALL other lights (HD, Sleep, Mobo power next to Slot5) are normal bright.

If so, I'd put it on the STUPID scale of 10 to SOYO. Because WHY do such an ODD-ball thing?! Its things like this that makes me not trust SOYO... which I don't anymore.

I only use Creative Labs or On-board audio. They tend to always work.

Going to be getting the Audigy 2 Platinum later in the week.

Also, inside this LianLi case, All the ROUND IDE cables (4 sets) and Round Floppy are clear plastic with silver shielding inside, eveything is all shiny inside - with the blue light

 

[ChemMan]

Eh, I wouldn't be so bothered about the power led. Every motherboard has something that could be considered stupid. Personally I'd rather it be a dim power led then something that would affect stabilty. One other thing that you mentioned and I forgot to respond to. I agree about the floppy connector's location. It is a bit too low. Fortunately my case has the floppy at the bottom, so the distance isn't a problem. But I could just imagine some poor SOB with a floppy drive all the way at the top of the case.

 

[npcom]

Well... on this LianLi, it had a pretty BLUE light (heheh) which I have a photo to prove it looked good. I've seen the Logitech speakers with that problem... brighter than the sun. A case is okay if its off the side of your monitor or floor. Speakers are nar the monitor so it was a mistake on Logitech's part.

Anyhow, do you know what the preference for RAID Stipping should be, is 64K optimal?

And yes, every Mobo has its quirks... but I was always quite happy with QDI boards from the 90s.

MSI has the latch for the CPU cooler to close to the top edge of the board - with the In-WIN cases I use, I have to REMOVE the PSU to remove the HSF from the CPU. Its BIOS is a bit odd to work with, but overall - every MSI board has worked very well for me. (replaced one so far). The ASUS version of the Award bios (Setup like the intel/Phenoix style) is the most horrible junk I ever worked with (I LOVE the OLD standard AWARD BIOS) as its designed to be complicated and clumsy. Yeah, we don't spend our lives in BIOS - but I really do like to get in there, do my settings (not spend minutes hunting for them) and boot it up.

Also, it would be NICE if all BIOS main screens had a BIOS version # displayed! Its a real pain trying to READ the BIOS version on POST (I usually set a fake HD in BIOS to halt the system). as it flies off in seconds. Why not get ridf of the silly VOICE talking BIOS and put in something more useful? ASUS is a bit jumper happy still, as you have to PULL a jumper to have keyboard power up & set it in BIOS.

Nite nite