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ASUS A7V600-X MotherboardThe ASUS A7V600 motherboard is loaded with the most advanced technologies to deliver the maximum performance for socket A processors. Based...
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The ASUS A7V600 motherboard is loaded with the most advanced technologies to deliver the maximum performance for socket A processors. Based on the advanced VIA KT600 chipset with FSB 400 and DDR 400 support the ASUS A7V600 also features AGP8X, serial ATA, USB 2.0 as well as 6-channel audio and Gigabit LAN. Unique ASUS features such as ASUS C.O.P, C.P.R., and more are included to ensure the best user experience and value in a motherboard.
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3 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Loaded with features, and a few quirks.
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Features, relative ease of installation, mostly good manual.
Cons: Possible incompatibilities, quirks, ASUS tech support.
The Bottom Line:
The quirks are slightly worrisome, but they may not affect your setup. ASUS support is awful. Nonetheless, a good board with great features.
[ The purchase ]
I purchased an ASUS A7V600-X board on 11/1/2004 to support my new processor. My choice was based on a mostly pleasant experience with my previous board, an ASUS P3V4X. The detailed and easy to understand manual (which I downloaded prior to my purchase) was also a factor, considering this was my first time installing a motherboard.
[ Documentation ]
Things were a little different when actually installing the board. For the most part, manual was easy to understand and detailed, but it lacked certain information. It does not mention how to connect the floppy cable. This caused me to connect it the wrong way, since it needed to be connected with the red stripe facing the case--unlike the hard disk, CD and DVD drives. I also ended up connecting the power LED and HDD LED cables the wrong way, since the manual tells you WHERE to insert them, but not WHICH WAY.
[ Installation ]
To install the board, the manual instructs you to use 9 screws. Unfortunately, none are included with the board. There is also only one IDE cable (and one floppy cable). Installation is simple, the only tricky part being the rear ports. They're in an unusual configuration that doesn't match most cases, so ASUS included a rear panel to match them. Installing it is a pain, having to bend its many metal protuberances away from the port holes. You must also remember (I didn't) to slide it in the case before securing the board in place.
[ Operation ]
- My AMD Sempron 2400+ processor was incorrectly identified as an AMD Athlon(TM) XP 1500+ running at 1333 MHz, despite having the latest BIOS revision. ASUS tech support ignored this issue, while AMD tech support replied within 24 hours with the solution.
- My IBM Deskstar 75GXP HDD (an ATA100 drive) can no longer boot Windows 98 or XP when set as Primary Master.
- Each time a device is added or removed and the system is powered up, the ASUS V9250 Magic graphics card would stop working. Shutting down and powering up a few more times solves this for whatever reason.
[ Tech support ]
I detailed my 5 problems in an easy to understand, bulleted message. At the top was being unable to install Windows. The reply from tech support ignored the last 4 problems, simply saying "You will have to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows." I don't know if the language was a problem (support representative was from China), but such a reply is inexcusable.
At the time of my support request, the ASUS user forum was offline.
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