Gigabyte GA-7ZXR ( rev 2.2 ) is simply the best Skt A......

[bluewest11]

This is just a posting to assist anyone who is considering a new socket a MB with SDRAM.

I have tried the Abit KT7A-RAID, Asus A7A 266 Ali1 and Gigabyte GA-7ZXR (rev 2.2) and I have to say the Gigabyte beats the pants off the other two boards in terms of quality, performance and features, dual bios, bios update via Windows etc. This board is also a breeze to install and configure. Do not be put off by the dip switch and jumper setup as the manual is brilliant and is a breeze to follow and explains everything. Plenty of room for even the largest HS/F.

Please feel free to comment on the above statement.

Gigabyte GA-7ZXR (rev 2.2) IS THE BEST!!!

[NDD]

7ZXR is really nice, I keep working with it (selling to our customers), and have no problems at all. But ... since I got myself KT7A, can't agree it got beated "in terms of quality, performance and features". I'm aware of tonz of posts blaiming ABIT of poor quality control, and specifically KT7A for one of the worst mobos around, but I seem to have pretty stable board (3 times knock on the wood http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ), and let's just say I had 7ZXR while waiting for KT7A, and just before I swapped the board, I ran few bench within Sisoft Sandra, before and after, and KT7A appears to be slightly faster, in memory and HD benchs. Besides, KT7A can tweak almost everything, and it's SOFTMENU III is the greatest tool I've ever seen, and I've seen a few http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Agree about A7A, never liked ALi chipsets, slow and buggy, even with DDR memory ...

Best Regards ...

[Dave_Whittle]

Ive just brought a Gigabyte GA7 with an athlon chipset its realy good and doesn't have a horrible VIA chipset (horray!) bit picky on the memory though!

[bluewest11]

ND,

I didn't quite understand which of the motherboards you say is the best quality, The Abit KT7A-RAID or the Gigabyte GA-7ZXR?

I was also wondering if the Gigabyte boards you are dealing with and have used yourself are the GA-7ZXR or the GA-7ZXR (rev 2.2) boards. The latter being far superior and also a lot better for overclockers. If you have not yet had the opportunity to try GA-7ZXR (rev 2.2) then you are in for a treat when you do.


Thanks

[NDD]

I'm for the Abit KT7A-RAID, sorry http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

As for your question, since Gigabyte has more or less stable boards (althought they're quite expensive) and I have bad memories with previous Aopen's, and stability is important to us, since we do not want our customers back with all kinds of complaints, we sell GA-7ZX (r5.0) (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/7zx_5.htm) to basic clients, and GA-7ZXR (r2.2) (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/7zxr_2.htm) to more advanced. They both use 686B bridge, which gives us ATA100, but 7ZXR R2.2 also comes with KT133A chipset, and this is for 133 MHz FSB Thunderbirds, coz some of the clients are quite aware of the difference and want as powerful as they can. Of coz, then I propose them the KT7A (with all the warnings http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ) and some of they dare to take the Abit.

Best Regards ...