Why does only the KT7A(-RAID) version 1.3 support the AthlonXP processor?
There has been much heated discussion about the failure of early KT7A motherboard revisions to support the AthlonXP and Duron (Morgan core) processors. These discussions have also been confused by incorrect statements on the ABIT (China) website, suggesting that the 64 BIOS release provided support for these processors. This is not true, and the issue is more complicated. The difference between the earlier Athlon processors and the new AthlonXP processor lies in the processor boot process. You can see the relevant boot timing diagrams on page 35, figure 10 of the Athlon Model 4 Data Sheet (for the older Athlons) and page 43, figure 12 of the Athlon Model 6 Data Sheet (for the Athlon XP). During the boot process, the motherboard must sample three data lines called FID(0:3) in order to determine the CPU multiplier setting. In the new AthlonXP processor, the timing requirements for this sampling has changed, and these lines only become valid 100ns after the Power OK (PWROK) signal is asserted.
In practice, this change is very subtle. Many AthlonXP processors will work fine on earlier motherboard revisions. Others will work fine for some percentage of the time, but will require a hard reset during boot if this timing assertion is violated. However, only revision 1.3 of the motherboard contains the necessary hardware modifications to fully support AMD's revised timing specification. This is why ABIT cannot officially support the AthlonXP processor on earlier motherboard revisions - although if you can live with the occasional hard reset you may be lucky. Furthermore, ABIT have made attempts to improve the timing compatibility with the 64 BIOS release, but still cannot officially support the processor on these revisions.
No BIOS release will allow ABIT to properly support the AthlonXP on motherboard versions prior to v1.3. However, in practice, the timing difference is sufficiently subtle that many processors will work fine, and others will simply require the occasional reset during boot. Once the processor has booted, the stability should be the same on all motherboards.
van
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