Next Generation Motherboard Platforms - Part 1: The Athlon Craze

The release of the AMD Athlon came with a very disappointing lack of support from motherboard manufacturers, especially from those brand names that we're used to hearing from. At the processor's release not a single motherboard was available for sale, and a couple of weeks later three motherboards were thrust into the lime light, not because they were extraordinary products, but because they were the only Athlon motherboards available at the time.

"Available" is an interesting word to use for Athlon motherboards, simple because the term didn't mean that the boards themselves were ready for sale but they were available for order on vendor's pages. Only recently did vendors begin shipping FIC's SD11 to their customers, and we've had reports that the Gigabyte and MSI boards have been making their way into the hands of lucky Athlon owners from smaller vendors across the nation.

The first thing that must be mentioned now is that if you currently have an Athlon motherboard, consider yourself a beta tester, not only for the company that made your board, but for other companies considering producing Athlon motherboards. The first Athlon boards are truly a joke, they were obviously released to have "something" out at the launch of the Athlon processor and there is no denying that. Approach any of the Athlon motherboard manufacturers and ask them if their Athlon board is up to par with their usual standards and you can bet that you won't get a honest "yes" out of FIC, Gigabyte, or MSI.

There is some good that came of all this, because the boards that were released do work and they get the basic job done, they run the Athlon. But when you're spending $250 - $600 on a processor, and $160 - $200 on a motherboard, you expect your system to do a little more than just work fast. We'll be taking a close look at three Athlon motherboards, the FIC SD11, the Gigabyte GA-7IX, and the reference AMD Athlon motherboard dubbed the Fester. This will be done with the intent of figuring out what would go into producing a high quality Athlon motherboard and whether any of these three contenders even begin to fit that description. So, we will start off with what AMD supplied all reviewers with, their Fester motherboard.

We'll start out with descriptions of the three boards themselves and will then move into a section on things to demand and things to simply look for when you're making that Athlon motherboard purchase.