| | Board Specifications |
| Form Factor | ATX |
| Interface | Socket-A, 462-pin |
| Chipset | VIA KT266A, KT266A & VT8233 |
| Memory | 3 x 168-pin 2.5V DDR SDRAM (PC2100/PC1600) |
| Graphics | Off-board, 1 x AGP 2X/4X, 3.3V/1.5V |
| Expansion | 5 x 32-bit/33MHz PCI |
| I/O | 2 x ATA100 IDE Channels, 2 x ATA100 IDE RAID Channels (SR version only) |
| Audio | None (SR version) |
| Bus Speeds | 100-250 MHz (1MHz increments) |
| VCore Range | 1.500V-1.850V (0.025V increments) |
| BIOS | Award 6.00PG |
There are two versions of the AD70 in shipping, the AD70-SR, and the AD70-SC. The former includes on-board ATA-100 RAID, and no on-board sound, while the latter includes on-board sound, lacks IDE RAID, and offers a CNR slot. Clearly the AD70-SR is geared more toward the power user, while the AD70-SC is targeted at more mainstream users (although on-board IDE RAID is becoming just about as mainstream as on-board sound nowadays).
The board we’ll be testing today is the SR version. As a result, our board came packaged with a Driver CD (motherboard) and diskette (RAID drivers), and two ATA-100 IDE cables. A User’s Manual for the board is included, as well as a separate manual for the RAID controller. Curiously, we did not get a floppy drive cable with our board -- we assume this to be a packaging oversight.
The User’s Manual is brief, at best, but to DFI’s credit, is written in four languages (English, French, German, Spanish). The manual discusses only hardware setup and installation of the board. BIOS settings are pictured, but not explained.
Hardware and software installation of the board did not result in any unexpected surprises. Remember to install the latest 4-in-1 drivers from VIA’s website prior to installing any other drivers.
