Introduction

We continue to maintain that the backbone of any good system is a reflection of the quality of motherboard installed. Make the wrong choice and the days of errors and hanging sensations return with a vengeance, and replacement becomes necessary almost immediately after having purchased the system. There are roadmaps (including one2surf) on various websites discussing new platforms being introduced by the end of Q'4 2000. This should not worry you unduly, as currently the VIA Apollo KT133 platform offers an excellent solution. The factor you should be concerned with is your specific requirements, and whether this solution will meet your requirements. Every motherboard has it's unique features, this being the case you will need to decide which features are best suited for your requirements, along with the service and support offered by the relevant manufacturers. We have investigated the support issues of each manufacturer for the motherboards on test, and how easy it is to get technical support for the relevant boards. Gone are the days of calling the relevant supplier for support (although this may become necessary from time to time), online support is not only a necessity but paramount in the make-up of any motherboard manufacturer providing a total solution, be it downloading the latest drivers or getting a reply to an email sent for technical assistance. Discussing motherboards can be a daunting task, and often then not, rather confusing, as these reviews are for you our readers, we assume little or no knowledge of computers. So we shall try not to blind you with science, but guide you through the jungle and concentrate only on relevant technical issues that matter.

How we carried out our tests

Our objective was to test the performance, implementation, stability, and compatibility of the KT7-Raid Motherboard. Additionally, we wanted to compare our results with the 1.1GHz review we recently carried out. We have also published a comparative 1GHz processor results we obtained from the KT7. To achieve our objective, we used 3DMARK 2000, Content Creation Winstone 2000 and BAPCo's SYSmark 2000.

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