FIC KA-11 VIA Apollo Pro 133A Slot-1 ATX

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.