Athlon Motherboard Roundup - March 2000

Conclusion

The basic conclusion of this roundup is obviously that a motherboard based on the AMD 750 platform, regardless of how attractive a solution, wouldn’t be as wise of an investment as a newer KX133 motherboard, especially since there are good KX133 based solutions out there. 

If you are looking for an AMD 750 based motherboard, virtually all of the newer AMD 750 based motherboards are viable solutions, although we are partial to the Microstar MS-6195 K7Pro because of its more cost effective 4-layer PCB design and its overclocked FSB settings.

The PC133 SDRAM support of the KX133 chipset can come in handy in quite a few situations as have been described by our extensive coverage of the chipset and its performance in our KX133 reviews (Part 1 & Part 2). 

As far as KX133 motherboards go, the pick out of this roundup goes to the ASUS K7V-RM because of its superior stability and quality when compared to the rest of the KX133 motherboards.  Unfortunately, for most users, having 3 PCI slots simply isn’t enough.  Provided that the K7V, the standard ATX version of the K7V-RM, performs identically to its microATX sibling in all areas, then that would be the board to get.  But since we have yet to test it first hand, we cannot make the hands down recommendation, but if you’re willing to take the risk, our money is on the K7V. 

With newer KX133 motherboards on the way from FIC and Gigabyte, to name just a few, it seems like the industry is finally beginning to take the Athlon seriously.