Introduction.

As a reviewer of PC motherboards it can become very easy to get accustomed to seeing high-end and feature packed products on a regular basis. As motherboard reviewing is a rather subjective process (anyone who says it is objective is wrong, and I certainly have never read an objective board review!), the choice of boards can further skew the opinions of the reviewer. This of course can have the effect of good products only receiving faint praise and some very good products on occasions being over-hyped (the AMD-761 chipset springs to mind).

As a slight change to the normal motherboard review process here at Processor Emporium we were pleasantly surprised to see an entry level, MicroATX, Socket A board in the shape of the CT-7AIA5 turn up from Chaintech to be put through its paces in our test lab. This board marks another departure for us here at Processor Emporium as it is the first MicroATX board which we have had submitted for review.

The CT-7AIA5 is based upon the VIA KT133A chipset and so does not support DDR SDRAM as is becoming increasingly popular. Instead here is a board which supports PC-133 SDRAM which is still the dominant memory technology in the market, but is now being rapidly eclipsed by PC-2100 DDR SDRAM.

The KT133A chipset is one which is held in high regard by us here at Processor Emporium, having won first place in last years PC-133 Chipset round up. Now we get the opportunity to see how the KT133A stacks up with AMD’s Athlon XP processor and what difference there is between it and the myriad of DDR SDRAM chipsets which are currently on the market.

To see how the little (it is MicroATX) CT-7AIA5 fared, read on...

VIA KT266.

The KT133A is the later revision of the original Socket A KT133 chipset which we saw in the Aopen AK33 and Ak73 reviews. The main addition with the KT133A is the support for AMD’s latest Athlon processors which make use of the new 266 MHz Front Side Bus (133 MHz DDR). Like the older KT133, the KT133A still features support for now standard features such as PC-133 SDRAM, AGP 4X and U/DMA 66/100 Hard Drives.

Like recent KT133 boards, all KT133A boards make use of the new VT82C686B South Bridge controller which features support for U/DMA 100 Hard Drive support and also support for up to 4 USB devices to be attached. The 686B also provides support for an AC97 audio codec, a feature which is becoming increasingly popular with many new motherboard designs.

Specifications.