Soyo SY-K7V Dragon Review

The SOYO SY-K7V Dragon is a Socket-A board based on the VIA KT266. This board is geared toward the overclocking market with plenty of features which we will explore later in this review. One thing to note about this board is that it used VIA’s KT266 chipset which is competitive slower against AMD 760/1 and SiS 735 chipsets.

Epox 8K7A Socket A Motherboard Review

Epox is not one of the better-known motherboard manufacturers out there, but this board certainly moves them in the right direction. Using a DDR supported hybrid chipset combination of the AMD 761 North Bridge and the much talked about VIA VT82686B South Bridge, this board is more about setting up a machine from scratch than upgrading from a previous setup.

AOpen AK73 - 1394 Socket A Motherboard Review

Even though the updated version of the VIA KT133 chipset, the KT133A, was released a number of months ago AOpen choose to use the older version for their AK73-Pro and AK73-1394 motherboards. The only tangible drawback of this for end users is the lack of support for the 133 MHz DDR FSB Athlon CPUs; however, this could be a key feature for some people’s system plans. The upside is that using the older chipset will reduce the cost of the board and money saved is always a good thing.

Iwill DVD266-R Dual Socket 370 Motherboard Review

We don’t get too many dual mobos coming through these parts, but when we do I am always slightly more giddy than usual. There is something about being at the helm of two phat CPUs that I find most excellent, which you already know if you’ve read our last dual mobo review, that of the EPoX D3VA.

Soyo SY-7VDA Socket 370 Motherboard Review

The Apollo Pro 266 chipset is VIA’s latest offering for the Intel Pentium III processor. As the successor to the Apollo Pro 133A, the 266 is a significant release on several fronts, the reasons for which we will take a look at in a moment. The 266 is comprised of the VT8633 V-Link Host North Bridge and the VT8233 V-Link Client South Bridge (V-Link is one of the significant improvements). The South Bridge is quite similar to the 686B except the 8233 contains the PCI bus interface, it can support up to 6 USB ports, and it has an integrated 10/100 Ethernet controller.

Soyo K7VTA-B Socket A Motherboard Review

The Soyo K7VTA-B is an updated version of the K7VTA which was released back in November 2000. The major differences are the newer 82C686B south bridge (up from the 82C686A) and better overclocking support (namely in the way of an added clock multiplier setting). Since both boards make use of the aging VIA KT133 chipset, Soyo has also released the K7VTA Pro which uses the updated KT133A. Here is a terse comparison table between the three.

Gigabyte GA-7ZXR Rev2.1 Socket A Motherboard Review

Another forerunner, the original GA-7ZX was one of the first Socket-A motherboards available based on VIA’s KT133 chipset, although it wasn’t anything special. Over time Gigabyte has continued to develop the board and the latest version is the GA-7ZXR rev2.1 which is very much improved mobo.

Soyo 7IS2 Socket 370 Motherboard Review

The SY-7IS2 is a Socket370 motherboard based on the Intel i815EP chipset. The i815E introduced ATA100 and a second USB controller to the i815 chipset and the only major difference with the i815EP is the removal of onboard video.

Epox 8KTA3 Socket A Motherboard Review

EPoX has it’s own trick up its sleeve and it’s called the 8KTA3. This mobo is quite a departure from the previous 8KTAx boards with not only a newer chipset, but a drastically different layout as well. The most likely reason for this is because the older design couldn’t handle the faster FSB speeds that the KT133A sports. The benefit for end users is greater stability which is always a welcome improvement.

Shuttle AV32 Socket 370 Motherboard Review

The coolest feature on the AV32 is the support for both DDR and SDR SDRAM which is ideal for people who already own PC100 / PC133 RAM. Despite this, having the ability to use either type of SDRAM is extremely useful and will save you a fair chunk of change if you already own SDR SDRAM. If you don’t already own that RAM, there is much less of a reason to purchase this board because having the two types of DIMM slots on the board increases its price.

FIC AZ11E Socket A Motherboard Review

FIC has been very quick at the gate when it comes to AMD-based motherboards. Their Slot A based SD11 was one of the first available for the Athlon when it debuted in the summer of 1999. At that time, most motherboard manufacturers shied away from supporting AMD’s newest chip. MSI, Gigabyte, and FIC, on the other hand, took the Athlon and ran with it – much to their benefit. As time passed, more and more manufacturers realized what that the Athlon was in fact a contender in the CPU arena and support for it grew quickly.

Epox 3SPA3 Review

The Epox 3SPA3 is equipped with a newer version of the i815 chipset, referred to as the i815EP (Intel sure loves adding letters onto their product codes, don’t they?). Before this version came the i815E which introduced a second USB controller as well as support for ATA 100. The major difference with the i815EP is the removal of the on-board video (hallelujah!) which both the original i815 and i815E feature.

Epox D3VA Review

A common denominator between most computer enthusiasts is the wish list. These lists are usually comprised of either really expensive or really extravagant items that hold only a faint hope of ever being purchased. One item that shows up more often than any other (for the power users anyway) is a dual processor system. Up until recently, SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) based systems were privy solely to the high-workstation and server markets, well out of the price range for the majority of consumers. Thankfully, things have changed.

Epox 3VCA2+ Review

The Epox 3VCA2+ is an updated version of the 3VCA2 model, which itself is an updated model of the original 3VCA that was released about 8 months ago. Some of the issues regarding the original board, such as a lack of CPU core voltage configuration, have been ironed out in these newer models, making this board a much more attractive solution to overclockers.

Epox Socket A 8KTA2 Review

First came the Epox 8KTA. Then, the 8KTA+. And now... it's the 8KTA2! The differences between the three boards are subtle because they all are based on the VIA KT133 ATX Chipset. Within this subtlety, however, lie some sweet improvements. The most significant differences were introduced by the 8KTA+ which greatly improved the board's overclocking capabilities – most visibly striking was the addition of a heatsink to the VT8363 NorthBridge Controller.