GIGABYTE GA-7VT600-L User Guide

Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L

Written by Chris Emry
Friday, 04 September 2009 11:40

..:: Introduction ::..

With every Gigabyte motherboard that has previously entered the MBReview testing labs, each
one has always walked away as a proven winner. Gigabyte was not purely known for
breakaway performance in the past, but they sure have put the petal to the metal lately while
still pleasing the enthusiast crowd with a full fledged product package at just the right price.

This time around, Gigabyte is one of the first manufacturers out of the gate with a VIA KT600
chipset based motherboard. In fact, they have no less than three versions in their product lineup
with this chipset. The one we will be looking at today is the budget 7VT600-L and has integrated
LAN.

Will the Gigabyte 7VT600-L be a flop? How much performance will you get from a KT600
motherboard over previous VIA chipset based motherboards? Is it worth your time to upgrade
and spend hard earned money? These questions and many more will be answered for you in
our review of the Gigabyte 7VT600-L.

..:: Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L Specifications ::..

Processor

- Socket A for AMD Athlon XP/Athlon/Duron

- 400/333/266/200MHz FSB

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Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L

Written by Chris Emry
Friday, 04 September 2009 11:40

Chipset

- VIA KT600 Northbridge

- VIA VT8237 Southbridge

- Realtek RTL8101L 10/100 Mbps LAN

- Realtek ALC655 6-channel Audio CODEC

- 6 x USB 2.0 ports (VT8237 built-in)

Memory

- 3 x DDR DIMM Sockets

- Max. 3GB unbuffered PC3200/PC2700/PC2100/PC1600

Expansion Slots

- 1 x AGP 8X

- 5 x PCI

- 2 x UDMA/133/100/66

- 1 x FDD

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Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L

Written by Chris Emry
Friday, 04 September 2009 11:40

Special Features

- STR (Suspend to RAM)

- Thermal Shutdown Protection

- Front panel audio connector

Back Panel I/O Ports

- 1 x Parallel, 1 x Serial

- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 Mouse

- 1 x Audio I/O (Line In, Line Out, Mic In)

- 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x RJ-45 Port

BIOS Feature

- 2Mb Flash ROM, Award BIOS

- Q-Flash and @BIOS Update Methods

- CPU/AGP/DDR Voltage Adjustments

- CPU/AGP/DDR/PCI Clock Adjustments

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Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L

Written by Chris Emry
Friday, 04 September 2009 11:40

..:: Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L Product Package ::..

Gigabyte ships the 7VT600-L in a black colored box with their usual spaceship design on the
top. The only way to distinguish that you indeed have this specific motherboard model is by
locating a small sticker on the left side of the box, so make sure you don't end up with the wrong
board at the checkout counter.

One thing that Gigabyte is well known for is the amount of items and accessories that they
include with their motherboards, and the goodies that the 7VT600-L is bundled with is no
exception. The package contains the usual accessories such as a user manual, an I/O
backplate, the driver/software installation CD, one UDMA/133 hard drive cable and a floppy
cable. Gigabyte doesn't stop there, however. They also toss in a quick installation guide, an
orange sticker to affix to the interior of the computer case, a USB 2.0 bracket with two ports, two
case badges of different sizes and even a UDMA/33 cable for an optical drive! Needless to say,
the 7VT600-L has a very comprehensive package for a motherboard that is targeted at the
budget consumer.

Nearly all of the topics in the user manual are clear and detailed with the exception of the BIOS
section. Granted that some of the BIOS settings do not need an in-depth explanation as to what
each one is designed to do, but some of the hidden BIOS features and settings of the 7VT600-L
motherboard are nowhere to be found in the user manual. We'll explain how to enable them as
well as show you these hidden features and settings later on in the BIOS section of this review.

..:: Gigabyte GA-7VT600-L Software Suite ::..

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