- Additional Board Features

Since the board uses the VIA KT266A chipset, DDR memory is a must. One nice thing, though, is that the 7VTXE board will be able to handle up to 3GB of the stuff! Most boards will only allow for 1.5GB at the top end, but not this one. This will give you a little extra flexibility in the event that you want to run a server type system, or are big into high-end graphics programs. Even PhotoShop will use any amount of memory thrown at it, so the added limits should come in handy.

Shown above is the thermal probe that is used on the motherboard. It's basically a probe like you would find on a CompuNurse, but it's encased in a plastic housing that is bent to allow for it to make contact with the bottom of the processor. While not as high-tech as other probes that I've seen, it was certainly effective and managed to give reasonably accurate results as well.

Here is one of my gripes for this board...These two fan headers above are located on the very edge of the board beyond the memory slots. They are also the only two fan headers that the board has. While the quantity of the headers isn't that bad, the location is. Here's what I'm talking about…

How many hardcore overclockers have a chipset cooler installed on their video cards? I know that I do, and since it is a reasonably powerful one, I don't plug it into the video card. I take the power cable and hook it into a spare fan header on the motherboard. The only problem is that with the location of the only available headers being so far away, the cable wouldn't reach. I was forced to use a 4-pin Molex converter to hook into a spare lead coming from the PSU.

Here's something nice to see on a motherboard...Only one jumper to be found on the entire thing! Very simple choice to determine how your board will recognize the processor, and that's all. All other settings available to the board are taken care of within the BIOS.

If you're the type of person who enjoys packing up the box and heading off to that weekend LAN event, then you'll appreciate this feature. It is a very simple AGP retention clip. The knob on the back-end of the port hooks into the slot that is on the video card itself. This will help ensure that your video card remains firmly seated within the AGP slot. However, if you don't usually move your system around a lot, it can be a bit of a hassle. Knock this one up to personal preference.

- The Future?

Is Gigabyte already thinking of the future?

This is printed on the board just above the DDR memory slots. Take note of the FSB speeds in comparison to the AGP and PCI speeds. Notice the entry that states 200MHz? It still maintains a 66MHz AGP speed and a 33MHz PCI speed. Hmmmm…