OK.. Ever heard of the VIA 694T chipset??? Soyo 7VBA133U mobo

[RU482]

Once again looking for legacy motherboard advise. As stated before, I need a motherboard with 2 (or 3) ISA slots, and I would prefer something that will run a somewhat recent processor (~900Mhz). I did some searching, and about the only things I can come up with are BX chipset boards, many of which are ~$100, and the Soyo 7VBA133U, which states it has the VIA 694T + 686B Chipset.

I can't seem to find any reviews of information on this chipset, so I am wondering if it goes by another name (VIA's crazy naming schemes) or if it's a dud chipset.

I'f anyone can help, it would be appreciated

thanks

 

[icmp]

That's a VIA "694T" chipset based board, I believe. It's an "Apollo Pro 133a" with support for the Tualatin P3 Processors, if memory serves. The BX chipset is from Intel and is a little long in the tooth when it comes to features like AGP4x (only supports 2x) and overclocking support (doesn't offer dividers for AGP) and memory/fsb support (doesn't 'officially' support PC133). Don't get me wrong, the last crop of Bx boards to come out (over a year or so ago) had some nice updates/tweaks from the makers (ABit, Soyo, MSI) that will keep them going for awhile longer (added 133 FSB, but still no AGP divider and AGP4x). Intel has long since moved on to the 815 chipset for the P3's/Celeries (after some ugly pitstops along the way, ie. 810 and 820 chipsets).

I own a VIA 694x, the Soyo 6VCA (regular Apollo Pro 133a, non-tualatin support) and have had a solid experience with it. It "rivals" my older Intel SE440BX board in stability (rivals.. not quite the zero crash/zero hiccup rock that my Intel was, but close). It performs very well, as the latest and greatest AP133a's + BIOS updates are "near BX" in performance (BX long known as a superior performer due to memory throughput) and is right on par with a reference Intel 815 board.

I would be surprised if nobody has reviewed that particular board you're looking at. Try going to "http://www.google.com" and searching on "soyo 7VBA133" (drop the 'u' designator.. you'll likely find reviews, perhaps the newer 'U' model, perhaps not... but you might safely base your assessment on either the pre-U or the U, I bet).

good luck,

icmp

 

[Peter]

VIA's "T" chipsets are their usual stuff, revised to support Tualatins. 694T in particular is a revision of 694X, better known as Apollo 133A. The 686B is the usual south bridge for this.

regards, Peter

 

[Rand]

The VIA 694T is the northbridge of the VIA Apollo Pro 133T chipset which is a dirivative of the Apollo Pro 133A which adds support for the Tualatin processor.