ASUS A7V133 Socket-A KT133A ATX

Introduction

The KT133A market is currently one of the most hotly discussed topics in the computer market.  With DDR motherboards evolving slowly, the Pentium III sticking to either the Intel i815E or VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipsets, and the Pentium IV not being able to draw much attention, the recent migration from the KT133 to KT133A proves to be the most exciting thing going on right now for hardware enthusiasts. 

Over the past two weeks we have looked at KT133A solutions from ABIT, EPoX, and MSI.  There is no doubt that they  are all good solutions, each with their own unique features, and all of them with impressive performance and stability.  One of the reasons for their successes is that the KT133A chipset is extremely similar to the good old KT133 chipset, which is itself virtually identical to the KX133.  The result of this heritage is that it has had time to mature and most manufacturers are quite familiar with it by now.

ASUS is the latest manufacturer to bring a KT133A candidate to the AnandTech labs.  ASUS has always been one of the most solid and well-respected motherboard manufacturers in the industry, providing high performance, and most importantly, high quality motherboards for all users.  One of their more recent successes was the CUSL2, a Socket-370 motherboard that simply stood out from the rest of the crowd with its myriad of features, excellent performance, and rock solid stability..

ASUS’s KT133 solution, the A7V, was quite also an impressive one.  With its unique design, the board delivers decent performance and great stability.  Although the board didn’t have as many features as some of the other contestants in our last Socket-A motherboard roundup, the A7V was still high on many buyer’s list. 

Instead of sitting back and raking in the sales, they decided to learn from others and listen to users to make their next generation board even better.     The result is the A7V133.  Without further ado, let’s see what ASUS has done and whether this board can stand out from the others.