Introduction

If the chip is the heart of the system, the motherboard is the body. Now we all know if you have a bad body it doesn’t matter how good your heart is – whoops, sorry for that callous analogy. However in the computer world this is very true and when choosing a motherboard choose very carefully. The way your system interacts with components, (i.e. video card, sound, et cetera) it is crucial to have a motherboard that can handle all the action. When I look at motherboards and test them the only one’s I have true confidence in are ASUS and ABIT motherboards. ASUS has been known to have amazing stability and great reliability while ABIT is well known for it’s jumperless motherboards and overclocking ease. So with that said I will begin the review for the ASUS A7V333:




General Info

The motherboard is crafted with meticulous planning – everything is placed in great spots. The PCI and AGP slots are perfect as to not hit the power supply in an ATX case. If you need an ISA slot you will be out of luck. At 9.6"x12," this motherboard will fit nicely in any system.

Sound

This motherboard has onboard sound through the Cirrus codec but as you may know, this isn’t exactly soundblaster quality. But this can be easily remedied by disabling the onboard sound and slapping in a soundblaster sound card. Typically I don’t care much for my sound and the clarity is great for mp3s and any other typical listening. I mention this because many people are wary of onboard sound.

USB

The AV7 has the perfect combination for USB. Two typical USB slots but also supports any expansions you may wish to add. As a matter of fact the built in hub can support up to 7 USB connections if you have that many.

Layout

The board is perfect in my opinion. Clean and easy to work with. I’m sure many people that do not deal with motherboards could careless about the internal qualities of their computer but this is a big blessing. ASUS has done an amazing job again.

Promise ATA/100

For all you fast hounds around. Essentially this allows peripheral throughput at much more efficient rates. ASUS has taken it upon them to place this in. Believe me, you’ll need this if you have big harddrives that need fast data thru-put without risking a bottleneck.

Memory

1.5GB!!! Most CPUs are capped at 512MBs so this is a nice feature. Maybe you’ll use this if you are a graphic artist or video editor. The VIA chipset should handle this so it’s a nice feature.

The Bios

Although the claim is to be jumperless there are certain gimmicks. The board isn’t completely jumperless but it is a very good bios program. Award v.6 BIOS is the version and this isn’t as good as the ABIT boards but it’s good enough

Specifications
Processor
· Socket A for AMD Thunderbird/Duron 550MHz ~ 1GHz CPU
Chipset
· VIA VT8363 (KT133) AGPset supports 200MHz FSB and 3.3V PC133 SDRAM & VC133 VCM (Virtual Channel Memory)
· VIA 82C686A South Bridge & Super I/O to Support ACPI, SMBus, and
· Integrated AC ' 97 Compliant Audio Controller
· Onboard Promise PCI-ATA100 Controller
System Memory
· 3x 168-Pin DIMM Socket to Support Max. 1.5GB PC133 SDRAM & VC133
Expansion Slots
· 1 x AGP Pro / AGP 4X Slot
· 4 x PCI
· 1 x PCI/AMR Shared
IDE Ports
· 2 x Ultra DMA/100 & 2 x DMA/66 EIDE Ports
· Support CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, ZIP and LS-120 Drives
AC ' 97 Audio Ready
· AC ' 97 Compliant 3D Audio Controller
· Crystal 4299 CrystalClear, SoundFusion Audio Codec
Special Features
· Power Loss Recovery, ASUS JumperFree, CPU Throttle, STR (Suspend-to-RAM), SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection)
Back Panel I/O Ports
· 2 x USB Ports
· 1 x Parallel Port (EPP, ECP) and 2 x Serial Ports
· 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port, 1 x PS/2 Mouse Port
· 1 x GAME/MIDI and Audio Line-In/Line-Out/MIC-In Ports
Onboard I/O Interface
· 3-Headers to Support Optional 5 USB Ports
· 20-pin ASUS Panel
· SIR (Integrated Serial Infrared)
· Headphone
· MIC
· CD/Video/AUX/Modem Audio in
· CPU/Power Supply/Chassis Fan
· ATX Power
· IDE LED
BIOS
· 2Mbit Award BIOS with Full ACPI, DMI, Green, Boot Block, PnP, SM BIOS 2.3, Trend ChipAway Virus (TCAV) & Symbios SCSI BIOS
Board Size
· ATX Form Factor: 24.5cm x 30.5cm (9.6" x 12.0")




Pros

ASUS is great – what can I say. As a computer enthusiast they make some of the best motherboards on the market. You’ll have to pay a little more but believe me your system will thank you for it. Overall this motherboard will take care of all your Athlon needs.

Cons

Jumperless wasn’t really the case – if you want to modify certain things the dip switches had to be changed, (like for FSB). But typically it comes set up standard and you won’t have to mess with it. Very minor inconvenience.

Conclusion

This board is a must have. Unsurpassed quality and stability. The board has all the features that any great motherboard needs. I have my faith in Intel but any ASUS and ABIT board gets my vote and this one in particular. AMD has an important niche in the CPU market and it’s great to see a great motherboard company, ASUS taking suit and creating great motherboards for the chips.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 110