Now that VIA's KX133 chipset has started to proliferate onto the market, manufacturers have slowly started shipping boards based on the second generation Athlon platform. The test system we received from AMD was based around ASUS' 7VX, one of the most anticipated KX133-based motherboards. And rightly so, with a whole host of features including "Fast Writes" and AGP 4X that works with the NVIDIA GeForce this time around (unlike the 750/1 chipset which needed to run at 1x in order for GeForce boards to work), the board provides an impressively stable and more desirable platform when compared to the AMD 750/1.

As we prepared to benchmark the performance of our test systems, it was clear that when all was said and done, there would only be one clear performance leader. In the high end, price goes out the window and speed prevails. Let's take a look at the hot rods used for testing.

Test System #1

AMD 1GHz Athlon
ASUS 7VX KX133 Motherboard
NVIDIA TNT2 Ultra
128MB VC133 Memory
IBM Deskstar 34GB DMA/66
Integrated Sound (Vibra 16)
Allied Telesyn AT2700TX

Test System #2

AMD 650, 700, 750, 800, and 850MHz Athlon
Gigabyte GA-7IX AMD 751 Motherboard
NVIDIA TNT2 Ultra
128MB HSDRAM Memory
Western Digital Expert 18.1GB DMA/66
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!

Test System #3

Intel 667, 700, 750, and 800MHz Pentium III
Intel VC820 i820 Motherboard
NVIDIA TNT2 Ultra
128MB PC800 RDRAM
Western Digital Expert 18.1 DMA/66
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!

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