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Abit KR7A (VIA KT266A) Motherboard Review
Performance
Test system configuration:
- AMD Athlon 1 GHz processor (266 MHz FSB);
- Suma nVidia GeForce2 GTS 32Mb video card (NVIDIA Detonator v6.31);
- Genius Live 5.1 sound card;
- IBM DTLA 307030 HDD, 30Gb;
- 256 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM, Samsung;
- PowerMan 250W power unit;
- OS Windows 2000 English SP1.
Test results of the business applications:
(seconds)
The games show the higher performance level as well:
So, the board shows a performance typical of the KT266A based boards.
Summary
First of all, I must say that the price is quite high, but fair: an overclocker gets an excellent board with rich capabilities (and good results!) for overclocking. The board can please performance-aware people as well, because it outscores its competitors at the same frequencies.
Besides, the board will be an excellent choice for a workstation with large volumes of RAM and strict requirements to stability. At last, it can be used as a base for an entry-level server (for example, for a home network) because it is very stable and because there is a version with the integrated RAID controller.
So, the board is good, but remember that it is more expensive than other similar models (Epox, Gigabyte, Soltek) or than boards like EliteGroup K7VTA3 Ver 2. The price difference must be sufficient for a more powerful processor or for more memory. Well, this is for you to decide :).
Conclusion
Highs:
- Excellent stability;
- Excellent performance;
- Wide overclocking capabilities;
- High overclocking results.
Lows:
- Some flaws in the BIOS;
- Lack of an external thermo sensor;
- Overpriced.
Addition
Here is the Abit KR7A-RAID mainboard:
Unfortunately, I failed to get the KR7A-133 board with the VT8233A south bridge. This board is packed in the super-box with a handle and a transparent window. Besides, it comes with IDE cables with the Abit's logo.
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