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The Chaintech 7VJL is definitely one of
the best features board you can find in the market right now. Featuring one of
the best design not only in packaging but also on its overclockability.
Currently no package in the market comes with Free rounded cables - Chaintech is
the first. Being on the pioneer to incorporate so many interesting software like
the free Linux distribution, it makes it a definite choice for users who needs a
complete gaming solution.
Although the board has all the necessary
features, the performance seems to be lacking behind by just a bit when it is
compared to the other boards. As performance can normally be tuned up in future
BIOS releases, there is definitely room for improvement.
Installation is easy. One thing we did notice
is that the North Bridge heatsink was not attached with a fan. There is also no
thermal conductive tape/compound attaching the heatsink and the chipset. We used
arctic silver to "glue" them together to ensure better heat
dissipation.
Despite a number of reviews that claims that
this board cannot overclock above 150Mhz, I suppose they did not use an unlocked
processor. In our tests, we were able to even run it steadily way above 200Mhz
FSB at 7 x
200Mhz FSB easily on a AthlonMP 1.2G. The settings are done based on DDR266, SPD
settings and this is done at default voltages. Despite the lower performance,
you should be able to offset that if you overclock your machines with stability.
Although it is easy to set most of the features from the BIOS, there are still
some jumpers that you need to change depending on whether you are using a 200 or
266 based Athlon.
In conclusion, it is a well packaged product
featuring the latest in a stylish layout. Pricing information : USD 115.00 or
approx SGD 200 (based on 1.73 for exchange rate) which will worth every cent
spent. We award it our Silver Award.
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