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  • The FIC KA11 uses the new VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset, which consists of the VT82C694X North Bridge Controller and the VT82C596B South Bridge Controller. Its feature set is truly impressive with support for AGP 4X, a true 133 FSB, PC133 memory, and ATA-66. In addition, the VT82C596B South Bridge also supports up to four USB ports (two through an external pin-out), AC97 audio and MC 97 modem functionality (through AMR). Other than the addition of AGP 4X, these features are identical to VIA's earlier Apollo Pro 133 chipset, which was used on popular motherboards like the Soyo SY-6VBA, AOpen AX63Pro and Iwill VD133. As a side note, the KA11 is the first VIA Apollo Pro 133 or 133A motherboard that I've seen that ships without a chipset heatsink.

    FIC has also gone back to the popular three fan header motherboard design, offering one for the CPU fan, and two for front and back mounted case fans. While including three fan headers is a great feature, the one meant for a front-mounted fan sits very high on the board (near the IDE connectors) and might be a difficult install for some shorter fan cords. FIC has also incorporated color-coded connections for all ports (PS/2, serial, LPT, etc.) on the board's ATX backplate. This coding is becoming more commonplace and it can really help in finding the correct connection, especially when you're not yet familiar with the motherboard. Unlike the SD11 Athlon board, the external ATX I/O panel of the KA11 is a standard ATX design.





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