Asus A7V333 SHWEET!!!!
Written: Aug 12 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Performance, stability, ASUS support and Warrenty, nice features!!!!
Cons: A tad expensive when it first came out, No onboard LAN/Nick...
The Bottom Line: I recommend it, Kudos to ASUS....
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| tf0r1's Full Review: ASUS VIA KT333 Chipset A7V333 (A7V333/PA/RAID/U2/1... |
Fist off, I must mention that this board (A7V333) comes in two flavors, the Raid/Fire wire version, and the slightly cheaper Non-raid/Non-Firewire version..I have several builds with both boards with the Athlon XP 2100+ and both are truely awesome.. Today my review will lean more towards the more expensive board supporting the RAID/FIREWIRE options.....These boards support: AMDŽ socket A processors (Athlon/XP/Thoroughbred) classes and high-bandwidth PC2700 DDR (double data rate) memory. Loaded with additional features such as: ATA 133 RAID, USB 2.0 and 1394 ports(Firewire), 6-channel hardware audio, as well as innovative ASUS thermal protection technologies; The Asus COP (Cpu Overheating Protection) feature is very cool and truely functional when used with the XP/Throughbred CPU's, I hope other mobo. companys take a page from Asus on this one, Also its nice to be able to protect your CPU investment especially considering that the Athlons run pretty HOT. These boards also have: 5 PCI slots (Industry standard PCI 2.2), 3 DDR DIMM Sockets that support a max of 3 GB unbuffered PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC SDRAM Memory, 1 AGP PRO slot, a Promise ATA 133 RAID Controller and a Ultra DMA 133 Hard disk controller built in. 4 USB slots with an option for 4 additional USB's for a total of 8 USB slots that support both 1.1 and tomorrows 2.0 USB technologies. I must note that this motherboard is the popular ATX form factor and matches up nicely with ATX cases. Also another Cool feature is the ASUS POST REPORTER, instead of hearing a series of beeps on the boot up, a nice female voice will tell you of any problems, or simply assure you that all is well, its kinda neat.... The retail motherboard package came complete with all cables: 2 Ultra DMA 133 / 100 / 66 cable, FDD cable, 2-port USB bracket, I/O shield, USB 2.0 cable, Game port cable,1394 cable (optional)but was included in my retail package. Although I dont use the SMART CARD option, The Smart Card Reader was also included in the package.
Installation was a breeze..There are two ways to configure this board, either by setting ALL the jumpers manually or simply opting the ASUS JumperFree mode, that allows you to make changes in the bios instead of on the physical board. Ive used both and prefer the jumper free option, simply put, its easier and seems to make no differance as far as I can tell. One thing that I really like about the A7V333 is that this board dosent seem to be too picky about the RAM memory types it will accept...I used on one build some older Crucial DDR 2100, and on another build some no name (Older) 2100 DDR both with varying DIMM sizes, 256, 128, and 512 without any problems, no hickups or anything..I do know that this board will NOT function with ECC (Error correcting) RAM, so stay away from that! Obviously the PC 2700 DDR ram is optimal, but if you dont have it, not to worry and it makes a nice future upgrade...I run Windows XP PRO, and a home network (ICS) and its rock solid, it also turns heads with its respectable benchmark scores..I cant say enough about this Motherboard, its worth every cent, and I mean that..And no you dont have to be a PC-god to build or configure it...Its also nice to know that ASUS award winning support team is there just incase....I saw a review for this Motherboard and someone said there is no support for this board, I m not sure who they called but Ive called Asus and to date they have always been there and helpful as well...The only let down for this board is that there is no built in (onboard) ethernet/nick, which when you figure all the options this board does have, is a surprise. So I did have to buy one, but no biggie.... I like it, its easy fast and most important stable...
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 169.99
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Epinions.com ID:
tf0r1
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Location: NJ/PA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). A+, Net+ certified.
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