Soltek K8TPro-939: Moving A64 to 939

Final Words

It is really good to see more Socket 939 motherboards appearing in the market just in time to house the new, lower-priced 90nm 939 processors. The recently reviewed Epox 9NDA3+ and this Soltek K8TPro-939 both add new 939 choices and good value to those new choices. This Soltek board costs about the same as the value 939 boards, but it offers a full set of features that compares well to any Socket 939 board. It is also a very fast performer at stock speeds, performing as well or better than any VIA K8T800 Pro motherboard that we have tested.

However, the broken PCI/AGP frequency lock on the Soltek makes it a poor choice to get the most from the new 3000+, 3200+, or 3500+ Socket 939 processors. We saw in our recent review of the new 90nm processors that most could reach 2.6GHz with not much effort. With 2.6GHz as a target, it is easy to see that we would need a 289 setting for the 3500+, 260 for the 3200+, and 236 for the 3500+. With the AMD + Series locked at the top, the only 90nm that could come close to 2.6GHz on the Soltek would be the 3500+, which, at 228 x11, could reach 2.51 Ghz. There is no such issue with the FX processors, since they are unlocked up or down, but frankly, they are very expensive and the end-user is not likely to be looking for a value Soltek to use with an $800 CPU.

The other issue with the Soltek is that 4 double-sided DIMMs will not run at DDR400, as the Soltek resets the memory speed to DDR333 at 2T. If you need to use 4 DIMMs at DDR400, then look elsewhere until Soltek fixes this problem.

Both of these issues are very disturbing with the Soltek board because it is full of features and a great performer at stock speeds. It does not suffer from any reboot issues and is exceptionally stable at stock speeds and any setting up to 228. If Soltek can correct the broken lock and 4 DIMM problems with a BIOS update, the Soltek would be one of the fastest and most stable 939 boards that we have tested; but the warts are too large with the current BIOS to recommend, if you require 4 DIMMs or robust overclocking.

The Soltek is a fast, stable 939 board at stock speeds with 2 DIMMs. If that is what you are looking for, the Soltek is a great value. We hope that Soltek will fix the issues in the current BIOS. If they do, we will report that here in an update. To Soltek, we would say, fix the BIOS and this board will be a winner. An excellent alternative with the same K8T800 Pro chipset, a working PCI/AGP lock, top performance with 4 DIMMs, and similar price is the Abit AV8. It is not as full-featured as the Soltek, but everything works as it should. We found that the working AGP/PCI lock allowed us to reach a clock frequency of 280 in our Abit AV8 overclocking tests. At a higher price, the Asus A8V is also an excellent choice based on the same VIA chipset that reached 289 in our overclocking test bed.