The Chipsets
Originally we wanted to do a complete Slot-1 review including all available chipsets. As i820 continues to be an extremely expensive (RDRAM) or ridiculously slow option (PC100 SDRAM) and the BX chipset does not officially support 133 MHz FSB, this review will deal with VIA chipset boards.
VIA Apollo Pro 133
The VT82C693A chipset is available since fall 1999 and was the very first chipset designed for 133 MHz CPUs. It supports 133 MHz SDRAM, UltraDMA/66 and AGP 2x, but the memory performance at 133 MHz is just about good enough to compete against a 100 MHz BX platform.
VIA Apollo Pro 133A
That's the latest VIA chipset for Pentium III processors or their upcoming Cyrix III. Its performance was notably improved, making it fast enough to challenge Intel's i820. In addition, AGP 4x was added as well.
Both chipsets can be combined with two South Bridge chips from VIA:
VT82C596B offering ISA and keyboard controller, an USB root hub offering two ports, UltraDMA/66 controller and PC98 power management.
The bigger brother VT82C686A has the same features plus PC99 power management, an I/O controller, AC97 sound support, four USB ports as well as voltage, temperature and fan speed monitoring. More details on VIA's website .
