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March 18 2001
Summary
The A7A266 is ASUS' first approach of the ALi MAGiK1 chipset. Featuring both DDR and SDRAM slots, as well as the possibility to run the memory bus in 4/3 mode, the A7A266 promises a very cost effective and flexible backbone for any system builder. High quality components used in the manufacturing of the boards, though, cannot cover the weaknesses of the current revision. Marginally acceptable performance paired with sub-par stability and compatibility problems with most current SDRAM DIMMs are reason enough to wait whether ASUS will be able to weed out these issues. Some of these issues may be BIOS related, others appear to be inherent design problems that will be harder to correct.
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Since coming into existence, ASUS has set one milestone after the other in terms of mainboard technology and maintaining quality standards, which after some time, earned them the position of the undisputedly largest mainboard manufacturer in the world. If that is not enough, the reputation of ASUS has penetrated the channel market as well to mean that if you buy any ASUS product, it means worry-free sailing. Nobody is perfect, though, and it is just a matter of time until a flop happens, no matter of how good the machinery is oiled.
ASUS and the DDR market
The DDR platform is still young and vulnerable and far from perfect. Despite the fact that there is no real doubt in the industry that DDR will take over within the next year, good DDR boards are still hard to come by. In fact, there is only a handful of boards that are even worth the consideration, if one excludes those built for the PIII, and which are a strange paradox anyway. This leaves boards geared towards the AMD Athlon with its DDR front side bus as the main DDR memory target group but where are the chipsets?
The AMD 761 North Bridge, though working beautifully in the correct implementation, is somewhat expensive and requires even more expensive components for noise filtering and, once again, we see ASUS heralding the field with the immaculate A7M266. A cheaper solution is the ALi MAGiK1 chipset but as we have seen in the past, there are a few problems with getting it to work properly. Nonetheless, some of the features as running the memory bus in ¾ and 1/1 mode as well as simultaneous support for SDRAM and DDR, at least according to the marketing people make it worth to use the ALi chipset and to come out with a one size fits all solution that still will give you the real feel of speed at an incredibly competitive price, including an AMR.
Since the most ancient of times, the quest for the Holy Grail followed by the search for Phlogeston and the Blue Flower as the unique remedy for all worries has resulted in nothing but frustration (besides some romanticism). However, times are a'changing and maybe the combined expertise of the ASUS engineers has been able to square the circle. At least that's what it sounded like when the ASUS A7A266 was announced.
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