|
Advice Beginners BIOS Guide CPUs Links Mainboards Memory Network Storage Video/Sound Cards Contact Forum SiteMap Sponsors WebNews Home |
. | . |
|
Prices: CPU Intel P4 2.4C-800 P4 2.6C-800 P4 2.8C-800 P4 3.0-800 P4 3.2-800 AMD AthlonXP XP 1700+ XP 2000+ XP 2400+ XP 2500+ XP 2700+ XP 3000+ XP 3200+ Athlon64 Athlon64 3200+ Athlon64 FX-51 Opteron Opteron 240 Opteron 242 Opteron 244 Opteron 246 Memory Corsair Crucial Kingston Mushkin OCZ |
LOSTCIRCUITS |
|
|
| ASUS A7V266-E (VIA KT266A chipset) A Raw Diamond | ||
| (Review by MS, 11/2001) |
Conclusion
Quite possibly the ASUS A7V266-E is the best VIA KT266A-based mainboard currently available. Performance is not the only criterion where the A7V266 excels, rather, it is the incredible stability that allows to push the CPU to levels that cannot be reached with other mainboards, at least none that I have tried here.
Still, it would be far from the truth to claim that the A7V266-E is perfect, there are too many rough edges on the board, forgotten jumper pins, mis-worded BIOS explanations, missing or nonsense settings in the BIOS are just some of the issues here. Some of the criticism here addresses redundant features, at least that's what they appear to us like the Palomino vs. TBird jumper block that did not appear to make any difference, at least with the Palomino used. If it turns out that this is correct and there is really no use for this header and ASUS can save 2 pennies on every board they make and give me 50% of the savings ...... Now, if I only knew how to say Hint, hint in Chinese.
Jokes aside, there has been quite a bit of criticism in this review, none of this really impinges on the overall verdict that if ASUS could polish the A7V266-E just a little bit more it would be incredibly hard to beat. Imperfections are nice and part of personalities but in the computer business, they can develop into problems.
Regarding features, ASUS is certainly going a different route than MSI and it is a matter of taste whether one prefers USB 2.0 or a Smart Card Reader and onboard 6 channel sound with a decent quality. The consumer is the one who has the choice.
next page: => more =>