ASUS A7V Motherboard

How do you improve upon a design that's already great? ASUS has done just that with their latest Socket A board, which offers much more than ever before. Based on the VIA KT-133 chipset, the A7V provides the best quality Socket A motherboard currently available. Since its release, ASUS's Athlon designs have proven to be both fast and reliable. The A7V is no exception, with its impressive array of options, rock hard stability, and great performance.

VIA KT-133 Chipset

The VIA KT-133 chipset provides several advanced options. AGP support extends to 4x transfers rates, sidebanding, and fast writes. Unlike earlier VIA chipsets, memory throughput is optimized for maximum performance. Options such as four-way memory interleaving really aid throughput values. Also supported is PC133 VCM, better known as Virtual Channel Memory. VCM is a newly optimized SDRAM memory format, which offers up to 15 percent better performance by incorporating a series of high speed data buffers into the memory pipeline. Standard IDE support is available, with the onboard Southbridge offering two ATA/66 ports. As an extra option (not available on all boards), the KT-133 includes built-in AC-97 audio. The A7V design is effective, as even the chipset has a decent sized heatsink attached for better stability. ASUS chose well when deciding to implement the VIA KT-133 chipset with the A7V motherboard.

AGP Pro

The A7V includes the industry standard AGP Pro graphics slot. The AGP Pro interface is essentially an AGP 4x compatible slot, but includes an extra series of connectors, which allow true AGP Pro video cards to use more wattage than the standard AGP slot can provide. Many industry leading professional graphics cards are now using the AGP Pro interface, especially since video chipsets have ever increasing power demands.

CPU Power Supply Riser Board

Instead of a bulky stack of capacitors surrounding the CPU socket, ASUS has created a vertically mounted board to house all the needed electronics. The extra board is located far from the CPU, so more extensive cooling solutions can be used without having to reposition critical board level devices. The riser board is perpendicular to the motherboard, thus freeing up valuable space and allowing for slightly improved cooling.

by-http://www.sysopt.com