Socket-A VIA KT133 Motherboard Roundup - November 2000

Chaintech 7AIV2

Chaintech CT-7AIV2
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CPU Interface	Socket-A
Chipset	VIA KT133
Form Factor	micro-ATX
Bus Speeds	100 / 102 / 103 / 107 / 110 / 113 / 117 / 120 MHz
Voltages Supported	Auto Detect
Memory Slots	2 168-pin DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots	0 AGP Slots 4 PCI Slots (2 Full Length) 0 CNR Slots 0 ISA Slots
On-board Audio	C-Media CMI-8738 3D 4.1 Hardware Sound
On-board Video	NVidia TNT2 M64 32MB
BIOS	Award Modular BIOS 6.00PG

The Chaintech 7AIV2 probably is not a board that most AnandTech readers will be interested in.  However, it is a pioneer in providing a solution for the high demand for value priced AMD systems.

Currently most of the KT133 motherboards are priced at around $110 (USD).  However, most Duron chips are available for less than $100, which means that users would be paying more for the motherboard than for the CPU.  Once you add in the price of a graphics card, it becomes very difficult to find the Duron in a sub-$600 system from an OEM or system integrator.

What the 7AIV2 brought us is a cheap micro-ATX solution with on-board video.  The VIA KT133 chipset itself does not have an integrated video core, but Chaintech was able to incorporate NVIDIA’s TNT2 M64 chip on the motherboard with a 32MB on-board frame buffer (64-bit). 

Performance-wise the 7AIV2 is definitely not the best, especially in 3D gaming performance.  However, for low-end market, where most users don’t care too much about 3D gaming performance, this board may be just what the doctor ordered.  Together with its on-board sound controller, this board can really lower the total cost of a Socket-A AMD system.

However, a lot of users have been complaining that this board can’t be found anywhere.  One of the reasons is that the VIA KM133 and VIA KL133 chipsets are on the horizon.  Those chipsets will have integrated S3 Savage 4 video, which will probably lower the price of the motherboard even more.  However, before we see boards using those chipsets, users will either have to wait or stick with the 7AIV2.