Navigate: 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 Search Prices:

As the smoke clears from the launch of one of the most successful boards in recent history (we are talking about the ECS K7S5A), ECS is promoting its VIA KT266A-based K7VTA3 Rev. 2.0. The board in question is basically an OEM board with relatively few options but an exceptionally low price. The lavender-colored PCB distinguishes the K7VTA3 from its competitors, otherwise, the board is solid but offers only moderate performance and only a barebone minimum of features and close to no tweaking options. For the record, the K7VTA3 is very stable and not geared towards the overclocking or enthusiast market but rather towards the budget oriented consumer who looks for a trouble-free board even if it means not to be able to squeeze out the last bit of performance. The OEM legacy is also visible in the additional proprietary headers that appear somewhat redundant for a retail board. Nonetheless, the price / performance ratio is right.

VIA's introduction of the KT266A chipset caused an almost complete changing of the guards, meaning that by now basically none of the original KT266 chipset-based mainboards are left on the shelves. Replacing a rather complex IC (North Bridge) with a pin-compatible unit still doesn't really mean that there aren't any problems associated with the swap. Many manufacturers were rushing to get the next revision out fast and ECS is rather late in the game with the K7VTA3 v2.x. Very often a delay is time well spent making the board as problem-free as possible and while this rule holds for the most part, there are still some blemishes.

To understand where ECS is coming from or going to, ECS is the EliteGroup of PCChips, a multi-brand conglomerate with a rather shady reputation but comprising brand names from Acorp and Alton (never again!) to some highly reputable divisions that don't really want to be mentioned in this context. To make one thing clear, a Pinto is also made by the same parent company as a Lincoln. Where does ECS stand in the internal hierarchy, though? Probably the most fitting analogy would be the Mercury, take it any way you want it, belly and suspender image or Cougar. ECS has never really concentrated on the enthusiast market, but instead more on making stable and very affordable boards, mainly for the OEM market. Along these lines, for about $70+ shipping, the ECS is currently the least expensive KT266A board you can get but is it really cheap as in too cheap to be good?

next page:    => At One Glance =>