Asus VIA VT8237 Computer Hardware User Manual


 
1-2
Chapter 1: Product introduction
1.1 Welcome!
Thank you for buying the ASUS
®
K8V-FSC motherboard!
The ASUS K8V-F motherboard delivers a host of new features and latest
technologies making it another standout in the long line of ASUS quality motherboards!
1.2 Special features!
1.2.1 Product highlights
AMD Athlon™ 64 processor support
The K8V-F motherboard comes with a 754-pin surface mount, Zero Insertion Force
(ZIF) socket that supports the AMD Athlon™ 64 processor. With an integrated
lowlatency high-bandwidth memory controller and a highly-scalable HyperTransport™
technology-based system bus, K8V-F provides a powerful platform for your diverse
computing needs. HyperTransport™ features a 16-bit/1.6GHz data transfer rate
between the processor and the K8V-F chipset for a total 6.4 GB/s bandwidth. This
speeds up the link between computer peripherals and optimizes over-all system
performance. See page 1-8.
VIA K8T800 and VT8237 chipset
Embedded in the K8V-F motherboard is the VIA K8T800 and VT8237 chipset. The VIA
K8T800 northbridge is a 64-bit processor controller that utilizes the HyperTransport™
bus link to interconnect with the AMD 64 processor. K8T800
supports AGP 8X and communicates with the southbridge chip using the VIA
proprietary V-Link interface. The VT8237 southbridge employs the VIA DriveStation™
Controller Suite that enables multiple drive configuration through native Serial ATA,
RAID, and Parallel ATA133 support. This chip also supports USB 2.0, IEEE 1394,
MC97, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI and LPC interfaces and allows 6 and 7.1-channel audio
through the VIA Vinyl Audio technology.
DDR400 support
The K8V-F features a single memory architecture for up to 2GB system memory. Two
184-pin DIMM sockets are available for installation of unbuffered non-ECC PC3200/
2700/2100 DDR DIMMs.See page 1-10.
Serial ATA solution
The motherboard supports two Serial ATA (SATA) interface, a revolutionary
replacement of the Parallel ATA storage interface. The Serial ATA specification allows
for thinner, more flexible cables with lower pin count, reduced voltage requirement, up
to 150 MB/s data transfer rate. See page 1-21.