Although Gigabyte doesn't get the publicity of ABIT or ASUS, they've proven themselves time and time again in the AnandTech lab. Our testing has shown that Gigabyte provides some of the most stable boards out there that and they are also packed with features. In fact, we were so impressed with the GA-6VX-4X in our first VIA Apollo Pro 133/133A Motherboard Roundup that we decided it deserved the AnandTech Editor's Choice Gold Award in that comparison. How does it stand up when it's under the microscope all by itself? Let's find out.

The Good

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For our recent VIA Apollo Pro 133/133A Motherboard Roundup, Gigabyte provided us with two boards that met our criteria - the 6VX-4X and the 6VX7-4X. Both are standard ATX boards that feature the VIA 133A chipset with the main difference being the CPU interface - the 6VX-4X is Slot-1 based, while the 6VX7-4X is a Socket-370 board. Although Intel is moving their entire CPU line to the Socket-370 format, a complete transition is still quite a while off and the Slot-1 interface currently offers more flexibility thanks to Socket-370 to Slot-1 converters, often called Slockets. While both boards performed ahead of the pack, we picked the 6VX-4X to receive the prestigious AnandTech Editor's Choice Gold Award.

Both boards feature a 5/1/1/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP/AMR) slot configuration and use the VIA 133A chipset, but the similarities stop there. First, the 6VX-4X gains an additional DIMM slot, for a total of 4. Although the 694X North Bridge technically supports 8 banks of memory, which is normally sufficient for 4 DIMM slots, the PC133 specifications recommends a maximum of 6 banks, which normally translates to 3 DIMM slots.

Gigabyte's solution - provide 4 DIMM slots for those that would like to push the spec but recommend that only 6 banks of memory be installed (ie if all 4 slots are used, DIMM's 3 & 4 should be single sided modules). Of course since the chipset does support 8 banks of memory, you can use 4 double sided DIMM's, but know that you are exceeding the PC133 spec. The slots themselves are capable of accepting PC100 or PC133 SDRAM as well as VC100 or VC133 Virtual Channel SDRAM. With the latter two being nothing more than vaporware in the market right now, PC100/PC133 memory is really what you can expect to use with the board. The ATX power supply connector is located between the DIMM slots and the Slot-1 interface, which could pose a problem for those using larger heatsinks on their CPU's.

An orange heatsink is attached to the VIA 694X North Bridge with thermal tape. The VIA 694X is the source of the AGP 4X and official 133MHz front side bus frequency support on the 6VX-4X. Unlike the i820 with its RAMBUS interface, the 694X uses an SDRAM memory interface, which is a large part of its huge popularity. The memory bus itself can run at either the FSB frequency, which by default is 100MHz, or at FSB +/- 33MHz which would put the memory bus at 133MHz while the FSB runs at 100MHz. The ability to set the memory bus frequency allows PC100 memory owners to use their memory without having to upgrade to PC133 while at the same time not sacrificing performance for those that do have PC133 memory. For full details on the Apollo Pro 133A chipset, see our VIA Apollo Pro 133/133A Motherboard Roundup and our first look at the VIA Apollo Pro 133A.

The 694X North Bridge also drives the AGP 4X support claimed by the 6VX-4X. Our sample featured the updated AGP 4X core that's available on the CE revision of the chipset. The updated stepping of the AGP core eliminates all problems with running graphics accelerators in AGP 4X mode, an issue which plagued some of the first AGP 4X boards based on VIA's chipsets but, because of the updated core, are not present on the 6VX-4X. All VIA 133A boards, including that 6VX-4X, that are in the channel now should feature the CE revision of the 694X.

The board itself features a universal AGP slot which isn't keyed specifically for AGP 2X or AGP 4X cards, which lets the user 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.

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 1881 AC97 CODEC provides host-based audio support. Gigabyte also offers the option to include a true hardware based PCI audio solution in the form of an Aureal 8810 sound chip onboard. The onboard sound can be disabled in the BIOS or by a jumper.

Unlike just about every other manufacturer out there, Gigabyte still uses a DIP switch based CPU setup. Four dip switches and one jumper control the FSB speed, while 4 more control the CPU multiplier. Generally, the multiplier is not necessary to set as all current Intel CPU's are multiplier locked. FSB speeds include a paltry 7 settings, including 66 / 100 / 112 / 124 / 133 / 142 / 152. With so few selections, you probably won't be able to overclock your CPU to its fullest. Fifteen 1200 uF, two 1000 uF, and five 330 uF capacitors surround the Slot-1 interface and contribute to the 6VX-4X's high level of stability.

Although the BIOS is technically the AMI Simple Setup, 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 133A boards.

Gigabyte does, however, bring a unique feature to the BIOS side of things - their DualBIOS utility means there is actually a backup copy of the BIOS on the motherboard. If there is corruption in the main BIOS for any reason, the backup BIOS takes over to allow the system to boot. With viruses beginning to attack the BIOS and the possibility of failed flashes, DualBIOS is a good safe guard measure that you'll see some other manufacturers implement soon.

The typical Gigabyte manual ships with the 6VX-4X, 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

Maybe we've just been spoiled, but jumperless CPU setups are what we expect in a motherboard today. Unfortunately, Gigabyte did not feel that step was necessary. While it's not the end of the world, and makes no difference if you don't tweak your system or overclock, it's not that hard to implement as evidenced by the fact that nearly every other manufacturer has done so. The minimal FSB speed selection doesn't help the overclocking situation either. Core voltage adjustments are another essential feature for overclockers that is missing here. If you use an FC-PGA CPU in a slocket adapter, it's likely that the adapter will have voltage tweaks via jumpers.

While DualBIOS is a nice feature that can certainly save you in a number of situations, it does make flashing the BIOS a little more complicated since there are physically 2 BIOS chips on board. The 6VX-4X would complain that the BIOS was corrupt even though our flash was successful and then proceeded to try to copy the backup BIOS to the main BIOS. Unfortunately, this BIOS copy would fail and the system would lockup. Fortunately, a simple reset brought the system back up, but we were stuck in a loop until we entered the DualBIOS configuration utility. From there, we were able to disable the automatic copying of the backup BIOS to the main BIOS.

We've run into this problem on nearly every Gigabyte board we've tested to date - although the VIA 686A hardware monitoring supports reading from the CPU's on-die thermal diode, the 6VX-4X does not take advantage of this feature. Rather, they've gone with a thermistor mounted just in front of the Slot-1 connector.

Our only complain layout wise is the positioning of the ATX power connector. While it's not horrible, it could prevent the use of larger heatsinks. We were also disappointed that Gigabyte did not include the cable necessary to use the 2nd set of USB ports.

Although 4 DIMM slots are provided, the PC133 spec currently only recommends 6 banks of memory, which typically means 3 double sided DIMM's. Since the 694X North Bridge does support 8 banks of memory, you can get away with 4 double sided DIMM's, but that exceeds the PC133 spec. While we didn't encounter any issues in our testing, it is something to be aware of.

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.

The GA-6VX-4X was the winner of our first VIA Apollo Pro 133/133A Motherboard Roundup. It won for its good balance between stability and performance. It was actually the fastest board in our performance tests - up to 50% faster than the slowest board. For all that, we awarded it the AnandTech Editor's Choice Gold Award. By the same reasoning, our recommendation of the 6VX-4X stands, but now that the ASUS P3V4X performance issues are resolved, it appears to be the best overall solution, especially for both overclockers and non-overclockers alike. For overclockers, the Gigabyte is limited by its DIP switch CPU setup and minimal set of FSB speeds.

How it Rates