Gigabyte GA-7A8DW

Support for AMD's server/workstation processor, the 64bit Opteron, is gaining ever more momentum. Gigabyte is the latest manufacturer to offer a dual-processor board, with its GA-7A8DW aimed at the high-end workstation market.

It is built on a full-size ATX board and, as with most Gigabyte motherboards, it looks very busy. However, all of the components have plenty of room, with the four Dimm slots placed out of the way of any other slots. The maximum memory supported by the board is 8GB of 266MHz or 333MHz EEC DDR.

At the heart of the GA-7A8DW are the trio of AMD chipsets that support the Opteron processor: the 8111, 8131 and 8151. The AMD-8111 Hypertransport I/O hub replaces the traditional Southbridge and integrates system management, storage connectivity, audio, I/O, security and expansion functions. The 8131 provides two high performance PCI-X bridges, while the 8151 is an AGP 3-compliant controller, supporting AGP 8x performance.

There are also four Sata ports, which are controlled by a Silicon Image chip. These can be configured as Raid 0, 1 or 0+1, so there are plenty of storage options. A Broadcom chip takes care of networking duties and offers Gigabit speeds.

For expansion, the board provides two 64bit 133Hz PCI-X slots and a 32bit 33MHz slot. Finally, an AGP Pro slot is also provided,which has its own 12v Molex power connector.

Gigabyte supplies all the cables you need, including four Sata data cables, but our example only had a single Molex to two SATA power connections Y splitter. It's a no nonsense board with plenty of features, but it's a touch on the pricey side.

Contact: Gigabyte 01908 362 700
www.gbt-tech.co.uk

Specifications:

• Dual AMD K8 CPUs (800MHz FSB)
• AMD 8151, 8131 and 8111 chipsets
• 4 memory slots
• 8x AGP Pro 8x
• 2 64bit 133Hz PCI-X slots
• 132bit 33MHz PCI slot
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 2 parallel slots
• 4 Sata slots
• 4 USB2
• 2 PS/2
• 2 serial ports
• 1 parallel port