ECS KV2 Extreme
| ECS KV2 Extreme | |
| CPU Support | All AMD Socket 939 processors |
| Northbridge | VIA K8T800 Pro |
| Memory Support | 4 slots, DDR, 4GB max, dual-channel |
| AGP | 8X |
| PEG16X | None |
| Southbridge | VIA VT8237 |
| Audio | Realtek ALC655 from VT8237 feed |
| Audio Connectivity | 6 channel backplane speaker, S/PDIF backplane optical output, coax digital output |
| PCI Conventional | 5 x 32-bit 33MHz PCI 2.3 slots |
| PCI Express | None |
| IDE | 2 ATA133 compliant port from VT8237, 1 ATA133 compliant port from SiS180 |
| IDE RAID | RAID0/1/0+1/ and JBOD on SiS180 port |
| SATA | 2 ports from VT8237, 2 ports from SiS180 |
| SATA RAID | RAID0/1/0+1 from VT8237 ports, RAID0/1/0+1/ and JBOD on SiS180 ports |
| Networking | Marvell Yukon 88E8001 Gigabit Ethernet Controller, 10/100/1000Mbit. VIA VT6103L Tahoe Ethernet PHY transceiver from VT8237, 10/100Mbit. |
| USB | VT8237, 4 x backplane USB2.0, 2 x I/O USB2.0 |
| FireWire | FireWire400, 1 unpowered backplane port, 1 x powered I/O port from VIA VT6307 OCHI controller |
| Other I/O | PS/2, Parallel, 1 x Serial |
While the KV2 isn't quite the feature-fest that defined the PF4 Extreme, it's close. The only things (besides the obvious difference in processor and memory types) that differ are SATA port count, where the PF4 supplies two more ports than the KV2 (ECS opted not to hookup a SATA PHY to the VT8237 for four ports), and that the KV2 doesn't ship with the USB WiFi networking device.
Other than that, the KV2 is pretty packed. Decent ATA support due to the SiS180's extra port, extra SATA from it too, plenty of USB2.0, powered and unpowered FireWire400 and dual wired Ethernet with one port GigE-capable.
None too shabby eh? However, features only appeal if they're packaged up correctly and they're easy to use, so let's check out the board and its layout.
