IntroductionWhen information leaked that nVidia was going to be producing a motherboard chipset for the Athlon platform, rumors regarding possible performance and specifications were rampant. The nForce was one of the most anticipated motherboard chipsets ever, and due to the hype that surrounded its release, many consumers were expecting to see mind blowing performance, unlike anything we have ever seen from an integrated chipset. While this is partly true, when nForce was finally released, many of us couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Although its performance was on par with VIA's KT266A chipset, all the hype that preceeded its release led people to believe that the nForce would perform much better than it did.
That said, the nForce chipset is a big step forward as far as technology is concerned, being the first chipset to support HyperTransport Technology and 128-bit DDR SDRAM. Also, the nForce's array of integrated components are of much higher quality than that of competing integrated chipsets, which is ideal for those that are looking at building a low-cost Athlon-based system.
We are taking a look at one of Abit's motherboards, based on the nForce 415 chipset; the NV7-133R. The nForce 415 is basically the same as the older 420D chipset, however, it does not include the integrated GeForce2 MX GPU.
Abit are known for releasing their motherboards a few months later than the other Taiwan-based manufacturers, such as MSI, EPoX, etc. The reason for this is that they like to thoroughly test and tweak their boards before releasing them to the public. This, in many cases, results in a much higher quality, and most importantly, stable motherboard. Can the same be said for the NV7-133R? Read on to find out!
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