Motherboard: Asus A7V266-E :: Features

Specs

• Chipset: VIA KT266A
• FSB: 200/266MHz
• Memory: 3 DIMM slots, up to 3GB of PC1600/PC2100/PC2400 DDR SDRAM
• PCI Slots: Five 2.2 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots
• AGP: 4X (1.5V Only) 3.3V not recommended
• CNR: No
• ACR: yes
• On-board Video: No
• On-board Sound: AC97 Codec W/C-Media chipset
• On-board Network: No
• IDE Channels: Two ATA 66/100 Compliant IDE controllers
• RAID: Promise ATA100 RAID 0-1
• Power Requirements: 300W 12V
• BIOS: 2MB Award
• Hardware Monitoring: Yes
• WOL (Wake On LAN): Yes
• WOK (Wake On Keyboard): Yes
• WOM (Wake On Mouse): No
• USB: (1.1) 6 total available (2 Rear I/O) (4 By cable)

CPU Support

• AMD Duron/Athlon 200/266MHz FSB
• MP/XP

The Asus A7V266-E is a Socket A or ZIF Socket 462 motherboard based around the VIA KT266A chipset that supports the latest PC2100/2400 DDR SDRAM. The new A7V266-E is a standard size ATX motherboard that sizes in at 9.6" x 12.0" (24.5cm x 30.5cm) so it should have no problem in fitting in any standard size ATX case, this can be a help at upgrade time. The power requirements are high on all Athlon system boards so a 300W or better power supply will be needed for optimal stability with the A7V266-E.

Featuring five PCI slots that do not block the RAM slots(FIGURE 1) even when fully opened is an added feature on the A7V266-E, as many boards are not designed in this fashion and receive criticism from reviewer's worldwide on this point. The overall layout of the board is also done with the user in mind as everything is ergonomically laid out for ease of use. All the IDE controllers are off to on side as not to have a cable tango going on inside of your PC. This as well as clearly labeled diagrams showing where the system wiring connects and what jumpers are what is a nice little bonus on this board.

Figure 1

You should have ample room for drive expansion with the K7V266-E as you get both dual ATA 66/100 IDE controllers and dual RAID controllers via the onboard Promise ATA100 RAID controller(FIGURE 2). The Promise controller offers the user two forms of RAID array, you can configure two exact drives to be one independent drive in the RAID 0 or striping mode or have two exact drives containing the same information for backup purposes in the RAID one or mirroring mode. The Promise RAID controller can also be used as standard ATA100 IDE controller giving the user support for up to eight IDE devices available in their configuration.

Figure 2

I still scratch my head and wonder why in the heck these guys put a more than useless ACR slot on this motherboard. I have yet to even see or hear of a market ready ACR slot product available so this is wasted real estate and should have been the home of a sixth PCI slot. This is something that should be addressed and maybe come to light in the possible K7V266-F model. Asus should have paid better attention to detail and came out with a better-engineered board than one with a backward PCI slot in the name of ACR.

There are no onboard video features but audio is included in the form of the C-Media CMI-8738 (Hardware Audio Controller) chipset that works in conjunction with the AC97 audio Codec and offers six channel digital sound when used with the optional add on card, which was not included with this board. You still do however get the performance of the C-Media chipset that offers 2.1 analog sound without over taxing the CPU. This is a good sound solution and is the same chipset that is being used currently in the Hercules line of sound products. This is well rounded out board that doesn't have everything but pulls ahead where it counts and comes out looking good in the long run.

Contents

Included Software

• Trend Micro PC-cillin 2000 Retail anti-virus program
• ASUS PC Health Monitoring and ASUS PC Probe
• Cyberlink PowerPlayer SE, Video Live Mail Retail version