Review of Socket 7 PCI Motherboards
Gigabyte GA-586ATX03
The ATX version of the TX2 is quite a fast performer. As always, Gigabyte keeps Intel conservative specs, 66 MHz at the fastest. Configuration is easy again thanks CPU voltage auto detection.
ATX format; ATX power supply; Intel 430TX; 4x ISA, 4x PCI; 4x SIMM, 2x DIMM; Award flash BIOS; 512 kB PB-Cache (6 ns); external frequencies: 60, 66 MHz; BF2 function integrated, I/O chip: Winbond; busmaster Ultra DMA 2 or PIO 4 onboard; FDC onboard; 2x serial 16550; 1x EPP/ECP parallel; 1x PS/2 mouse; 2x USB; IrDA support; core voltages: 3.5V, 3.4V, 3.3V, 3.2V, 3.1V. 3.0V, 2.9V, 2.8V, 2.7V, 2.6V, 2.5V, 2.4V, 2.3V, 2.2V, 2.1V, 2.0V. This board meets PC 97 specifications; SDMS support ver. 3.07.
Gigabyte GA-586 HX2
Gigabyte's HX chipset board can be equipped with an additional TAGRAM to provide a cacheable area of over 64 MB. For a 430HX chipset board, performance is okay. Again we meet Gigabytes dip switches for CPU selection and for manual voltage selection in case you don't trust the auto detection system. As all Gigabyte boards the HX2 is als very easy to handle, no problems at all.
AT format; AT power supply; Intel 430TX; 4x ISA, 4x PCI; 6x SIMM; Award flash BIOS; 512 kB PB-Cache (6 ns); external frequencies: 60, 66 MHz; BF2 function integrated, I/O chip: Winbond; PIO 4 onboard; FDC onboard; 2x serial 16550; 1x EPP/ECP parallel; 1x PS/2 mouse; 1x USB; IrDA support; core voltages: 3.5V, 3.4V, 3.3V, 3.2V, 3.1V. 3.0V, 2.9V, 2.8V, 2.7V, 2.6V, 2.5V, 2.4V, 2.3V, 2.2V, 2.1V, 2.0V. This board meets PC 97 specifications; SDMS support ver. 3.07.
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Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.