Overclockers Australia - 3-way AMD 760 shoot-out

3-way AMD 760 shoot-out:
Asus A7M266 versus Epox EP-8K7A and Gigabyte GA-7DXR
06-Jun-01 - Article by: Chainbolt

The DDR technology has been pushed by AMD and parts of the memory industry as a cheaper and easier to produce alternative to RAMBUS (and P4). AMD itself designed and manufactured a chipset for DDR motherboards to kick-start this technology: the AMD 760 chipset comprising the 761 Northbridge and the 761 Southbridge. DDR came into life, when I WILL (ALi MAGiK chipset), Gigabyte and Asus (both with AMD 760 chipsets) launched the first DDR boards at the end of 2000. Since April 2001 we see VIA KT 266 chipset based boards namely from MSI, Gigabyte, and Soltek. The VIA KT266 chipset was expected to be the most potent DDR solution. The V-link architecture was supposed to make KT266 boards faster than their AMD 760 and ALi MAGiK based competitors. It was also said that KT266 boards would be much cheaper than AMD 760 boards and would therefore soon replace them. So far, these assumptions did not come true. Performance wise KT266 could not overtake AMD 760 and Ali Magic boards, and there was even some talk about certain design problems with the KT266 chipset. Some makers, like Asus and Abit, obviously delayed their KT266 boards to have a second look at their products. That has shifted the DDR focus back to AMD 760 boards, which are now widely available. With the ABIT KG7 coming soon, all major makers are now offering a AMD 760 based DDR board.

What we get with DDR memory (and what we don't get) has been shown in numerous tests and reviews, and we do not want to discuss this here again. PC2100 prices are down to PC133 level, DDR main boards are available in many flavors and DDR seems to become more popular by the day. A little survey among major PC vendors in Tokyo, where daily hundreds of main boards are sold over-the-counter, shows that DDR main-boards currently occupy a market share between 15% and 20% in the after-sales market. The DDR share in the OEM market is obviously much lower: the big OEM's serving pop and mom are naturally not much interested in high bandwidth and low latency.

The Asus A7M266 was together with the Gigabyte 7DX the first AMD 760 board in the market, later joined by the FIC AD11. The A7M266 immediately gained good reputation for performance and stability. It became the number 1 choice for the hardcore over clocker and is still regarded by many as a kind of DDR reference board. Most recently we see the 2nd generation of AMD 760 boards: the Chaintech 7KJD, the MSI K7 Master, the Epox EP-8K7A, and again Gigabyte with the GA 7DXR, soon to be joined by Abit's KG7. These newer AMD 760 boards offer more features: up to 4 DIMM sockets, more PCI slots, and a more sophisticated power supply. But are they also better performing? We would like to compare here the venerable A7M266, with the latest 2 entries: the Epox EP-8K7A and the Gigabyte GA-7DXR. How is the A7M266 fairing in features, performance and overclocking capability against these newcomers? Can he hold on, or is he dethroned?

First we will have a short look at the features of the 3 competitors. We will focus on the particularities and highlights of each product. A complete list with all features can be checked out at the manufacturers' websites:

Asus A7M266: http://www.asus.com/products/Motherboard/socketa/a7m266/spec.html
Epox EP-8K7A: http://www.epox.com/html/english/products/motherboard/ep-8k7a.htm
Gigabyte GA-7DXR: http://www.giga-byte.com/products/7dxr.htm

Asus A7M266 Features
The A7M266 is sporting the familiar Asus light brown PCB color. The board has a long list of features, but is lacking a few essential ones: it has only 2 DIMM sockets and is not available with RAID. The design of the board is good. Only the power connector is on the wrong place: It's between the CPU socket and the case side panel. The power cable is dangling around and over the CPU HSF and potentially reduces airflow. The board has an AGP Pro slot, but the power connector for the Pro is missing. There are 2 Dipswitch blocks: 1 for the CPU voltage setting, offering voltages up to 1.85 volts. When set to 1.85 volts, the BIOS reported an actual voltage of 1.87 volts. This DIPswitch block is most inconveniently placed close to a PCI slot. If this slot is filled, it's impossible to change the switches. Another Dipswitch is for a limited number of predefined FSB MHz settings. Jumpers are setting the DDR RAM voltage and the clock generator voltage. The default DDR voltage at the A7M266 is 2.6 volts, whereas DDR specifications are calling for 2.5 volts. At the A7M266 2.5 volts can be set by (an undocumented) taking-off the jumper. There was speculation among users that the A7M266 would run better with a DDR RAM voltage of 2.5 volts. After half a year of extensive testing this board with various memory brands, we cannot confirm this. The board runs most stable with the DDR voltage set to the maximum. The BIOS offers changing the FSB frequencies and 1 MHz increments. But it is not possible to key in directly the MHz value, it's going by "+" and "-" in single steps. For example to set 155 MHz, we have to hit the "+" key 22 times all the way up from 133. The A7M266 BIOS has the AMD 760 super-bypass function and also offers a "High Performance" setting. One additional feature is a header for an additional temperature sensor, which can be placed on any sensitive place of the mobo. That comes in quite handy for monitoring your precious components when overclocking. The cable is optional. The board has a header for the usual 2 additional 2 USB port. A rear side USB panel plus the necessary cable is provided in the package. The manual is complete and well written.

The A7M266, like other newer Asus boards, has a header for the connection of the optional Asus IPanel. It displays in large LED figures on the case front a wide range of information starting with the POST codes, then by push bottom various temperatures, the FSB MHz, CPU MHz, and the rpm of the 3 fans. It also has short keys to start applications by push bottom. That is a handy device, because you are always informed about the vital parameters of your machine. For example during gaming, you can see how the temps are moving. Asus has released numerous BIOS updates for the A7M266; the latest giving additional functions for the memory timing and apparently better performance. The main issue on the feature side is the missing multiplier switch. That was originally planned and even advertised by Asus, but the retail boards did not get it. It is possible to modify the A7M266 so that the multiplier can be changed, as described by us here. The tested board was modified in this way. For the comparison here we did not engage the soldered in multiplier dipswitch block, in order to keep the results representative for the actual retail board. With the missing multiplier setting, only 2 DIMM sockets and the lack of RAID, the Asus is a bit short on the feature side. The software bundle is the poorest of the 3 boards: it only contains the necessary drivers (all outdated) PC-cillin anti-virus software from TrendMicro, and that's it. It comes however with the well-made "Asus Probe" hardware monitoring utility. The A7M266 comes also with a utility to download and flash the latest BIOS from the Windows environment. The BIOS has the AMD 760 Super-bypass function and a "Turbo Mode" setting.

The Asus A7M266 (with a Blue Orb on the NB)

The Asus Ipanel at the front side of the LIAN LI PC 70 case

NEXT PAGE - The two newcomers..

Have you added your PC to the PC Database yet?