| In
the "Athlon Community", there was much
anticipation for a chipset that would really let
the performance of AMD's new flagship processor
stand out.
The original Iron-Gate chipset was marred
with a few minor glitches that disappointed many
power users.
Not being able to run their new high-end
graphics card at AGP 2X or constantly having to
upgrade chipset drivers only to have a new
incompatibility arise was a real turn off.
Enter VIA
Technologies.
With Intel floundering after the launch of
the i820, VIA had a string of success with their
Apollo Pro series of chipsets. The Apollo 133a was released at the perfect moment, offering
AGP4X, UDMA/66 and true 133MHz FSB support.
At the time, the Apollo 133a was arguably
the best all around platform for Intel Coppermine
processors; it had more features than the BX
chipset and all of the features of the i820
without having to sell a limb to buy RDRAM. So,
why not bring all of these features to the AMD
platform? Well, VIA did just that with the KX133
Chipset and the AMD -vs.- Intel battle raged on.
Today we'll be
taking a look at one of Gigabyte's KX133 Athlon
motherboards, the GA-7VX.
Gigabyte is well known for building
top-shelf, well rounded products and the GA-7VX is
just that. Here's
a quick rundown of what the GA-7VX brings to the
table...
 |
| Specifications
of the Gigabyte GA-7VX |
| Slot
A with features to spare... |
|
Gigabyte's
GA-7VX Specifications
|
PROCESSOR
CHIPSET
MEMORY
-
32MB
to 1.5GB memory size
-
3
x DIMM sockets
-
Supports
32/64/128/256/512 MB SDRAM DIMM module
-
Supports
ECC type DIMM module (72bits)
SLOTS
-
1
x AMR (Audio Modem Riser) slot
-
1
x AGP slot supports 2X/4X mode
-
5
x PCI slot supports 33MHz & PCI
2.2 compliant
-
1
x ISA slot
I/O
-
2
x Ultra DMA 33/66 Bus Master IDE ports
on board
-
1
x FDD, 2 x COM, 1 x LPT, PS/2
Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse on board
-
1
x Joystick, 1 x Line-in, 1 x Line-out,
1 x MIC on board
-
2
x USB ports on board
-
2
x USB ports by cable (optional
accessory)
-
IrDA
TX / RX Header Ready
DRIVER
| |
