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Date |
:
Jul 24th, 2001 |
| Category |
:
Motherboards |
| Manufacturer |
:
ECS |
| Author |
:
Jin-Wei Tioh |
|
There is a darker side to the K7AMA :
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Overclocking is virtually non-existant. There are no options for setting the CPU clock multiplier, FSB speed nor the CPU core voltage.
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Expansion slot configuration of 1/4/0/1 (AGP/PCI/ISA/AMR). While being beneficial to OEMs, the lack of AMR peripherals virtually renders the slot a waste of space. ECS should have included an ISA slot or another PCI slot instead. While 4 PCI slots is sufficient for most users (considering that 10/100 LAN is already integrated), 5 would be even better.
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Integrated AC'97 audio. While offering acceptable audio quality for casual usage, most users will end up disabling it in favor of a true hardware-based audio solution. Removing the AC'97 CODEC and other associated audio hardware might have reduced the cost of the motherboard.
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Average layout. All PCI slots are non-capable of accommodating full-length cards due to the bad placement of the IDE and floppy headers, DIMM slots are a little too close to the AGP slot which makes DIMM installation / removal more inconvenient. However, the ATX power header is placed nicely and there are allowances (though admittedly marginal) for more powerful cooling solutions, such as the Blue Orb.
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Memory interleaving is absent. This hurts memory bandwidth scores, which is already trailing a tweaked KT133A by a slight margin.
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