Asus has created a great motherboard out of the A7V. I found the
board very stable for overclocking; one of the most stable motherboards out
there. The performance was also top notch. The layout is good with the only bad
thing being the placement of the power supply connector.
This motherboard is just packed with features. The only thing
it's really missing is built in RAID support, which is available in the Abit
KT7-RAID.
The lack of an ISA slot is not missed. I haven't had an ISA
device since my Gravis Ultrasound sound card. However, I would have thought Asus
would have given six PCI slot since they remove the ISA slot. Instead Asus chose
to put the modem riser card in the spot where the ISA would normally go. Still
five PCI slots should be more than enough for the needs for most users,
especially since you will not get to an ATA100 controller for your hard drive,
as that is built in.
There really isn't much to dislike about this Asus motherboard.
The only improvement I can think of would be better placement of the power
supply connector. Asus has always priced their boards higher than the
competition and the A7V continues that tradition. $175 is higher than most
motherboard, but online vendors are already selling them for
as low as $130.
It's good that the A7V is selling in the $130 range because I
wouldn't be able to recommend it otherwise. At $175, the Asus loses out to the
Abit's excellent KT7-RAID. The Abit has all the features of the A7V plus
software FSB and multiplier adjustments plus you get built in RAID support.
If you're in the market for a Socket A Duron or T Bird system,
then the Asus A7V should go on your list of motherboards to check out. With its
excellent performance and well thought out layout and feature set, it's sure to
get the most out of your AMD CPU.
The Goods
The Bads
Rating: 8.5/10
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