Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
Gaming
Quake 3
The 7VT600 does very well in Quake 3, standing way out in the crowd
Unreal Tournament
Again the 7VT600 does really well against all the boards here.
Comanche
Round three goes to the 7VT600 once again
Gigabytes board certainly won out here; gamers should love this board to be sure.
Conclusion
Writing this conclusion is a bit difficult for me because I have a half full and half empty feeling about this board. To that end I'm going to break my conclusion doing into two parts that look at the GA-7VT600 and the KT600 separately.
While the GA-7VT600 could use some work in the layout department it certainly doesn't need work in the performance department. The GA-7VT600 out performs most boards in its class and will certainly please people looking for a motherboard solution that is a good stable performer. Also I want to point out how much I like the fool proof audio inputs; I really hate squinting to see tiny color coded inputs in my half dark room. I'd like to see this become a standard item on all integrated audio systems.
So why do I feel that the glass is half empty? To be fair to Gigabyte my half empty feeling comes from the short comings of the KT600 chipset in the overclocking department. VIA's failure to include a lock for the AGP/PCI bus stopped the KT600 from being the giant killer, or at least lion tamer, to the Nforce2 chipset it could have been. Overclocking has moved more into the mainstream I don't think the masses will embrace even a good chipset that sets such limitations. If VIA thinks that it's lost market share is only because the Nforce2 out performed the the KT400 they should think again, they also wooed over the increasing overclocking crowd. If VIA wants to climb back into the chipset leader chair they are going to have to cover the whole market and not just a portion thereof.
Pros
Good performance
Integrated SATA RAID
fool proof audio inputs
Cons
Board layout needs work
Overclocking ability limited in the BIOS
Lack of AGP/PCI lock
Inability to change AGP/PCI dividers
Non-overclocker's score: 90%
Overclocker's score: 78%
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