Three motherboards arrived in the AnandTech lab shortly after the release of the VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset, the Tyan Trinity 400, the AOpen MX64 and the FIC KA-11. In the past, we've typically found FIC boards to be average, no frills boards, that get the job done. The last FIC motherboard to pass through the AnandTech lab was the Slot-A SD-11. Initially, we had quite a bit of trouble with this board, but after a couple of revisions from FIC, it's currently a decent choice for an Athlon motherboard.

The SD-11 was also the first Athlon board with a hybrid AMD/VIA chipset solution by mixing the AMD 751 North Bridge with the VIA 686A Super South Bridge. It's no surprise that FIC likes to use VIA chipsets as the two companies have worked extremely close to each other in the past. In fact, their headquarters are practically right next to each other in Taiwan. When Intel picked a motherboard manufacturer to sue for using VIA chipsets, it was FIC. Thus, it's no surprise that FIC was also one of the first on the market with a VIA Apollo Pro 133A solution.

New Anand Tech Report Card Rating
84/B-

The Good

The first two Apollo Pro 133A boards AnandTech looked at, the Tyan Trinity 400 and the AOpen MX64, both featured very unique configurations - Slot-1 and Socket-370 CPU interfaces in the case of the Trinity 400 and a microATX form factor in the case of the MX64. FIC's KA-11, however, is a much more conventional board with a Slot-1 interface and a regular ATX form factor.

Expansion is covered by a 5/2/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP) slot configuration and 4 DIMM slots for memory. FIC carefully laid out the board to allow full length cards to sit in any of those expansion slots. On the other hand, the DIMM slots are sandwiched right up next to the 694X North Bridge and may prevent the use of some extremely large heatsinks. The VIA 596B Mobile South Bridge handles Ultra ATA 66 duties.

Otherwise, the layout of the FIC KA-11 follows the ATX specification closely with all FDD, HDD, and ATX power connectors are all located at the front of the board, right in front of the DIMM slots. FIC has also implemented an optional 6-pin ATX power connector that offers power supply fan speed monitoring and control for power supplies that offer such capabilities. While this may not seem like the most useful feature, it is unique nonetheless.

Despite being rated to run at 133 MHz, with the option of overclocking it to 150 MHz, the 694X chip was not covered with a heatsink. Fortunately, we did not notice any heat related issues in our evaluation sample. Creative Labs CT5880 sound is optionally integrated on the motherboard and provides a basic PCI audio solution for those that don't need some of the more advanced features available with dedicated PCI sound cards. Of course this is a much better solution than the software based AC97 CODEC's that most boards seem to be using these days.

Ten 1500uF capacitors promised high stability marks, but rather proved that lots of large valued capacitors does not automatically translate into high stability. Our KA-11 sample's stability was still a bit below average in both overclocked and non-overclocked situations. To help overclockers, a set of 5 jumpers at the front of the board allow for voltage tweaks. It would be nice to have seen this as a part of the BIOS setup, but support for this feature in any form can be a major boon for overclockers were a little boost in voltage can be the difference between success and failure. Options range from 1.3V - 2.1V in 0.05V increments and 2.2V - 3.5V in 0.1V increments. These settings are independent of the CPU installed, so users should be careful when playing with these settings, especially when upgrading their CPU.

The 4 DIMM slot statistic is actually quite interesting. The VIA 694X North Bridge supports 8 memory address lines, which is sufficient for 4 DIMM slots and a theoretical total of 2GB. This is, of course, what FIC has implemented on the KA-11. However, the PC133 specification recommends a maximum of 3 DIMM's for a total of 1.5GB.

Thanks to the Apollo Pro 133A's flexible memory configuration, you can use your old PC100 SDRAM with a newer 133 MHz FSB CPU. Alternatively, you can run your memory at 133 MHz, while the CPU plugs along with a 100 MHz FSB. This is all configured in the Award 4.51PG BIOS where the memory can be set to run at the FSB speed or FSB +/- 33 MHz.

That BIOS is highly customized by FIC with a feature called BIOS Guardian. During POST, a couple hot keys are listed that give you access to fail safe defaults, performance defaults, clock speed configuration, and even the Award BIOS Flash program that is built into the BIOS. FSB options include 66 / 75 / 83 / 100 / 103 / 112 / 124 / 133 / 140 / 150 and are available in the BIOS under Chipset Features Setup. If you do overclock too much, the KA-11 offers a recovery mode - simply hold down insert as the system boots and the default CPU speed will be auto detected. Clock multiplier is set via a DIP switch block. Trend Chip Away Anti-Virus is also integrated into the BIOS, as with many other FIC boards.

Unfortunately for overclockers, the FIC appears to have the same problem as the Trinity 400 when it comes to overclocking the FSB in that the AGP ratio is not automatically set based on the FSB speed, but rather is just detected off the CPU. In other words, trying to push a 100 MHz FSB CPU to 133 MHz causes a lock up unless a Slocket is used that allows you to trick the motherboard into thinking that the default FSB speed is something else.

That BIOS will also provide a little bit of a surprise for those that have never used a VIA based board before, as there are a number of options not found on i440BX systems. The most obvious is the memory settings mentioned above. As with other VIA Apollo Pro 133A boards, the FIC offers the ability to enable or disable AGP 4X and AGP Fast Writes support from the Chipset Features Setup.

We found that the FIC KA-11 had no problem running an NVIDIA GeForce or TNT2 board in AGP 4X mode. Unfortunately, the ATI Rage Fury MAXX continues to pose a problem for the VIA Apollo Pro 133A and locks up immediately upon initialization of the Windows GUI. With AGP 4X disabled, all cards functioned just fine. Further, when AGP Fast Writes were enabled, the system could not even successfully complete POST. Fortunately, we've found in the past that AGP 4X and/or Fast Writes offer only minimal performance benefits.

We were able to push our testbed FC-PGA Pentium III 550E to 5.5 x 150 MHz = 825 MHz - faster than any production level Intel CPU at the time of publication - provided that we turned down the memory clock. For full details on overclocking the FC-PGA CPU's, read Part 1 and Part 2 of AnandTech's Overclocking the FC-PGA Coppermine article.

Ultra ATA 66 support is provided courtesy of the VIA 596B Mobile South Bridge. Like Tyan, FIC passed on the VIA 686A Super South Bridge, which would have added support for 2 additional USB ports, an AMR slot, and integrated hardware monitoring. However, unlike Tyan, FIC didn't bother to include another hardware monitoring chip to make up for the loss of that feature.

One feature that is included, but is still missing on some motherboards, is the ability to configure what the system will do when AC power is restored after a power outage. The system can either remain off, turn on, or resume last power state when power is restored. This is a feature often overlooked since ATX and soft power became available, but is critical for anyone using their system where it must be on 24/7 or as close as possible. It also allows for users to shut the system on and off from a surge protector.

FIC is one of those few companies that still includes a full paper manual, rather than just a quick install guide. Although lacking details on installing a motherboard, the manual is otherwise decent for the experienced user and includes detailed information on all connector pin outs as well as the various BIOS settings. The software bundle includes Norton Ghost, AntiVirus, and Virtual Drive. FIC's own driver CD also includes all the VIA and AMD patches you'll need to get your system running properly.

The Bad

Initially, our KA-11 sample could not even install Windows 98SE without crashing if the memory clock was set to 133 MHz. While there was a BIOS update from FIC to address such issues, we could not get the board to accept the flash. Fortunately, FIC got back to us and let us know that a "/F" switch on the Awdflash.exe command line would force the flash. This did in fact work for us and 133+ MHz FSB settings were just as stable as all other settings. Unfortuantely, the KA-11 was not the most stable board we've ever seen - overall slightly below average.

The low memory clock is further compounded by a fundamental problem with all VIA chipsets we've encountered - memory performance is sub par compared to the i440BX. The use of Virtual Channel Memory (VCM) is able to narrow the gap, but unfortunately VCM is not widely available at the moment.

Also mentioned previously, the KA-11 also lacks the ability to configure the AGP and PCI ratios, so overclocking can be a bit tricky. The best way to avoid this is with an FC-PGA CPU in a Slocket with jumpers for setting the FSB speed. From there, you can work with FIC's jumperless FSB settings.

Last, we'd like to see FIC include a jumper or BIOS option to disable the onboard sound. As it stands, if you decide not to use this feature after purchasing it, you'll have to disable it through Windows' Device Manager, which is not always as effective as physically disabling it in hardware.Along the same lines, there is no way to completely disable the BIOS Guardian feature. If "disabled" in the BIOS, a warning message still pops up at boot time forcing you to hit space to continue.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0

• Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

• USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes

Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: 1 x 64MB Mushkin SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man SEC Original PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin SEC Original PC133 SDRAM

SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Mushkin SEC Original PC133 SDRAM

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Website: http://www.mushkin.com

The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.

The Final Decision

With the QM413 BIOS update, the KA-11 has shown us that FIC still has what it takes to produce a quality motherboard. Compared to other VIA Apollo Pro 133A solutions, it offers some nice added features like core voltage adjustments, 4 DIMM slots, and (optional) true hardware PCI sound - all at a very reasonable price point just above $100.

How it Rates

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.