The Good

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The GA-7ZM is Gigabyte's first Socket-A motherboard and, like Gigabyte's first KX133 board, arrives in microATX formfactor. Just like that GA-7VM KX133 board, the GA-7ZM will be followed by a nearly identical ATX version with more expansion slots and optional hardware sound.

With 3 PCI, 1 AGP, and 1 AMR slots, the GA-7ZM maximizes the use of the PCB space allotted by the microATX standard. A trend we're starting to see from more and more motherboard manufacturers is the shared AMR/PCI slot, like we have on the GA-7ZM. The AGP slot is a "universal AGP slot," which means it isn't keyed specifically for AGP 2X or AGP 4X cards, allowing the user to install virtually any currently available AGP card in the slot, whether it is an AGP 1X/2X or 4X card. Gigabyte adds a nice little feature to the AGP slot - an AGP retention mechanism. Apparently some OEM's were having trouble with AGP cards coming loose during shipping, so the retention mechanism serves to make sure this doesn't happen. An AGP retention mechanism is included by Gigabyte on the AGP slot.

Located between the Socket-A connector and the AGP slot is the KT133's North Bridge, which is covered by Gigabyte's classic orange heatsink. The 8373 North Bridge is nearly identical to the 8371 of the KX133 with a few timing changes to support AMD's Socket-A CPU's. That North Bridge provides all the features of the KT133, most importantly 133MHz memory bus and AGP 4X support. The beauty of the 8373's memory controller is that it can run your memory at either 133MHz or 100MHz using a multiplier of the FSB frequency. So those users with PC133 SDRAM can take advantage of the increased bandwidth (1.06GB/s vs. 800MB/s) over PC100 SDRAM, while allowing backwards compatibility with older PC100 SDRAM. Support for VC100/VC133 memory is still included, but availability is still weak and prices high.

The GA-7ZM, as is the case with most Athlon motherboards, features 3 DIMM slots capable of accepting PC100/PC133 or VC100/VC133 SDRAM running at either a 3:3 (1:1) ratio with the FSB (by default, 100MHz) or a 4:3 ratio with the FSB (133MHz by default). This is the recommended maximum for PC133 support according to VIA.

The VIA 686A Super South Bridge helps reduce costs by integrating a number of features into a single chip. The VIA 686A actually adds a number of features, including support for 4 USB ports, integrated hardware monitoring, and an AMR interface. Two of those USB ports are available via the standard ATX I/O panel, while the other two are only available with an optional cable that can run to the front or back of your case. The Analog Devices 1881A AC97 CODEC provides host-based audio support, but anyone that cares about their PC's sound will want to disable the onboard sound in favor of a true hardware-based solution.

Unlike just about every other manufacturer out there, Gigabyte still uses a DIP switch based CPU setup. Four dip switches control the FSB speed, which can be set to 95 / 100 / 105 / 110 / 113 / 115 / 117 / 133. Unfortunately, FSB speeds above 110 MHz have had little success on the EV6 bus. Although some KT133 boards that are on the way may allow unlocking the Athlon/Duron multiplier, but the GA-7ZM is not one of those boards.

In order to supply a stable signal to your shiny new Athlon or Duron CPU, Gigabyte outfitted the GA-7ZM with thirteen 1200uF capacitors next to the Socket-A connector. The stability of the GA-7ZM was comparable to the KX133-based GA-7VX, which was above average for a KX133 board, but not quite at the top of the pack.

Although the BIOS is technically the AMI Simple Setup 1.21, it looks exactly like the Award 4.51PG setup that we've come to know and love. All the tweaking options of the Award BIOS are still there, including control of the AGP transfer mode and the status of AGP fast writes, just like other VIA KT133/KX133 based boards. Readouts from the 686A hardware monitoring are available in the BIOS. Since all current AMD CPU's lack an on-die thermal diode, CPU temperature is read by a thermistor located in the center of the Socket-A connector.

The typical Gigabyte manual ships with the GA-7ZM, which means that it lacks details on installing a motherboard, but is otherwise pretty good for the experienced user, and includes information on all connector pin outs as well as the various BIOS settings.

The Bad

We've yet to see any KT133 boards available with the ability to unlock the multiplier of AMD's Socket-A CPU's, but if such a feature does come to market, it will be sorely missed on the GA-7ZM by all overclockers. However, the GA-7ZM, with its microATX form factor, probably won't appeal to most overclockers.

The second biggest complaint with the GA-7ZM, which is relatively minor overall, is the fact that Gigabyte continues to not include the header required to take advantage of the second set of USB ports.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

• USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes

Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: 1 x 128MB Corsair PC133 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin PC133 SDRAM

SDRAM Tested: 1 x 128MB Corsair PC133 SDRAM; 1 x 128MB Mushkin PC133 SDRAM

Manufacturer: Corsair
Purchase Website: http://www.corsairmicro.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Website: http://www.mushkin.com

The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.