ASUS A7V600: Feature-Laden – Value-Priced
by Wesley Fink on August 17, 2003 10:27 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
If your goal is top-notch Athlon performance, you should not be looking at the ASUS A7V600 or any KT600 board that we have tested. However, if you are looking for a solid and reliable Athlon board with the latest features, then the ASUS A7V600 should definitely be on your shopping list. There is no doubt that the KT600 boards, in general, and the ASUS A7V600, in particular, bring great value to the mix.Boards based on the single-channel nForce2 400 chipset cost about the same and perform much better than the KT600. Our concern with the nForce2 400, however, is that it is only available from a few manufacturers. It is also stripped of features when compared to most KT600 boards. Perhaps this is where the KT600 scores a win, because the feature set of the KT600 is even better and more contemporary than the top-of-the-line nForce2 Ultra 400 boards that we have evaluated.
There is also the nagging question of what VIA is thinking these days. With almost a year to bring a competent top-performing Athlon chipset to market, we are shocked to see that VIA is now the only chipset manufacturer refusing to implement a PCI/AGP frequency lock option in their designs. NVIDIA, SiS, and Intel all provide this option in their current chipsets. If VIA plans to continue marketing AMD and Intel chipsets in the future, they will have to add the AGP/PCI lock feature to be competitive with other chipset manufacturers. In addition, it is perplexing at the very least that almost a year after the nForce2 introduction, VIA is still not able to produce a board that performs as well. We can only hope that VIA has some major surprises in the works for Athlon64 and Intel Prescott, or we will see the VIA name relegated to the bargain basement.
The ASUS A7V600 is feature-laden, and an excellent value at its selling price. It is the only KT600 board that we have tested to provide Gigabit LAN and a slot for a wireless transmitter. It is not a blistering performer, even compared to other KT600 boards, but it is a solid and trouble-free motherboard, and one of the best overclockers among the KT600 boards. If your needs are best served by the latest top-notch features in a solid, reliable board from a top-tier manufacturer, then the ASUS A7V600 is your choice. Did we also say it’s available at a bargain price?
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Wesley Fink - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
#6 My parents resisted naming me Rat. I'm grateful! My ancestors apparently were very proud of the last name since they did not change it to the literal translation of Finch. The only advantage I've found is it's hard to forget.Jeff7181 - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
Does anybody actually own these motherboards that are being tested? I don't know anybody with any of these. As I say is never AMD motherboard review... where are the boards that everybody knows? The A7N8X Deluxe, 8RDA+, etc... I want to see how the KT600 compares to THOSE.sprockkets - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
I don't use flash due to the stupid ads it brings. Other than that, it's a nice board. A bit slower but has SATA. Wish someone on the AMD side would release a uATX SATA board built on the southbridge.Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
Wesley Fink, what a weasel name. I bet ur a slimy and sleezy as they come! Either way nice review :P.Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
A nice review on overall. But I would hope that Anandtech looks into the use of exaggerations when using words like 'mediocre' or 'shocked' at rather inappropriate times. I know, it's a problem with the use of the english language in general these days as we are suffering from some news headline syndrom. Just try to not to go with the flow. Since I'm nitpicking I would like to point out that a few percentages of practical performance certainly isn't 'much' either.Can't wait for your Abit KV7 review. :)
Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
I'm beginning to think that the resources of these chipset companies are being spread too thin. Intel only builds for Intel processors (obviously) and NVIDIA only builds for AMD processors (at the moment). Each company is focusing their chipset development on one platform, optimizing it, and consequently delivering top performance for those platforms. VIA, SIS, and ALI are trying to develop chipsets for both platforms. Their Intel chipsets usually share common technology with their AMD chipsets such as memory controllers and southbridges. While this is more cost effective for these companies, it may explain the lower performance of those chipsets because they are not being specifically designed for one platform.Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
AAAAAAAAH damn... caught my own spelling mistake... abomination :(Adi
Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
"The ASUS A7V600 fortunately provides six IDE slots for expansion cards."Hahahahha ! Plase correct this abomication...
Adi
Anonymous User - Monday, August 18, 2003 - link
Nice Review,but is the Flash Hell here to stay ?Anandtech always had the best print layout,
why ruin it ? :(
ruxandy - Sunday, August 23, 2020 - link
Well, hello from the future! As it turns out, in 2020, this board is EXTRAORDINARY and nobody really cares about nForce boards anymore :-) Because, even though VIA is 5% slower on average, it more than makes up for this in features and compatibility (ehem, DOS sound, CPU speed throttling, etc).