Gigabyte GA-7VRX Review

Overall Rating

USB 2.0, Dual Bios, Suport for 333mhz DDR Ram, Free Software, Excellent compatibilty

Is there any. My answer no

I know that there has been a lot of bad reviews posted on the Internet about this Gigabyte Motherboard but I have had it for a while now and have put it through everything, 3D Benchmarks, over 90 different games, LANing, hours on the net, even being left on for days on end and it has not had one fault, not one, it is fast, extremely reliable, and definately value for money and anyone who thinks otherwise should send an e-mail to tdouglas_2000@tasmail.com.
This MoBo Combined with my GeForce 2 MX 400 64 meg, 256mb DDR 333mhz RAM, Athlon XP 1800+ and WinXP Pro is a beast, every single game runs perfectly.

Anybody on a modest budget but also looking for powerful yet reliable motherboards I suggest the Gigabyte GA-7VRX.

Members' Comments onTim.'s Review

• Scooby Doo. on 20th Aug 2002

  The only problem I have had with this board (ga-7vrx) is that it will only run a gforce 4 ti 4200 card in agp 1x mode. It crashes after about 30 seconds at 4x and doesn't even run at 2x.

• Chaos. on 21st Aug 2002

  Mister Scooby Doo It's not the motherboard problem only indeed. I have a friend with ASUS MB. and ASUS! Geforce4
  video card. And have the same problems - system hang up. mostly on boot. Maybe there are some common problems with
  Geforce4 cards. Don't know if it's in motherboards or Video cards but he also runs his Geforce in 2X.
  Even his system is not Athlon based, but a Celeron so
  the only thing common it the Geforce4.
  

• Tim. on 29th Aug 2002

  well Scooby Doo I really don't think it is solely the MoBos fault and like Chaos said there has been a lot of problems with the GeForce 4 range of vid cards with many brands of MoBos not just gigabyte ones, and if I were you I would try updated the MoBo Bios and if that doesn't work try updating the graphic bios to.
  And if all else fails download the latest GeForce 4 drivers.

• MSCI. on 11th Sep 2002

  It's a common problem with Gigabyte 7VRX/VRXP not to work with GF4 cards . It's something physical and has been solved in rev 2.0 of the board . So no drivers or BIOS updates will solve the incompatibility (but you can try). I think the GF4 is just too power hungry , good thing about the Radeon 9700 it's got an external power connector.

• icyflame. on 16th Sep 2002

  sigh.. i juz bought this mobo & a triplex millenium gf4 ti4200 & have the same prob.. Progs & games always hang or crash..
  
  Curse the vendor for telling me that they're compatible with each other!

• jcme. on 20th Sep 2002

  I too have the same motherboard (with AMD XP1800+) and a Pny ti4200 my machine does not crashes or freezes but it not as good as when I had a GA7-VTX with a GeForce2 GTS and a slow CPU (Athlon tbird 1.4).
  
  One thing I did need to do was replace my power suply - it had a 250watt and the Gforce card requires 300watts minumun.. That added a little increase in performance but yet it is still slower that last setup.
  
  Status: disappointed on Mobo and Graphics... No convinced mobo is to be blamed. Will be getting a GF3 or another brand of video to confirm theory.

• icyflame. on 21st Sep 2002

  i had thought of if it's WinXP's fault but now i don't think so.. CoZ when using win98SE the same problems still shows up..

• Sal. on 21st Sep 2002

  I think the problem is with the motherboard. I have ATI Radeon 8500 and my comp freezes randomly in games. I can link you to another site where people complain about ATI crashes when coupled with Gigabyte mobo

• Rope. on 22nd Sep 2002

  I don`t agree that this MB (VRX7 v.2.0) is god giving creature. I had few little problems also, like it crashed several times with PC2100 DDR. Than it worked fine with no single crash after those before. But it pushies PC2100 to run on 333Mhz (according to Easytune), and in Sisoft Sandra it gives only ~900 Mbit memory bandwidth, with Duron 600, while ECS K7S6A with sis745 chipset gives ~1300 Mbit!!!
  It seems that VRX7 has potential but on the other hand has some minuses!

• Gero. on 24th Sep 2002

  On the newest release of this board there is a sticker that says
  
  Fully Compatible with nVIDIA GeForce4
  MX4(NV17) series Graphics Accelerator
  
  I'll be installing it l8r today, hopefully it will work :)
  

• jcme. on 25th Sep 2002

  Ok here's the latest hopefully this will help us mutually..
  
  The Motherboard: GA-7VRX
  The CPU: 1800+ AMD XP
  The RAM: DDR 2100 (256 Mb) (or 2700 not too sure)
  The Videocard: PNY Nvidia Ti4200 (64 Mb ddr)
  
  What I had to do:
  
  Reinstalled OS: First did WinMe again - my 3dmarks where around 7300. Much better than before (~4300). Then went about trying to get the clock to run faster (139Mhz) Success... For a little while then OS crashed.
  
  Reinstalled OS - Part II: After the kernel32.dll fatal error I opt to install Windows XP Pro. While doing this I read about a tweaked version of the Bios which will allow me to fix the annoying sound poping problem by changing the pci latency to 64/128. I got that. Got the latest Drivers from Nvidia - those for XP. Got RivaTurner and o/c'd the video just a little bit. 3dMarks - a whoopin' 10008....
  
  However, my poping sound is not fix it only happend in games such as Nascar Racing 2002 Season.
  
  Also, I am now convinced that the Ndivia Ti4200 sucks in terms of quality when compared to my old Nvidia Gforce2 GTS (64 ddr ram). The GTS card was a killer! No idea why.. Should I get another Ti4200 different brand or same to compare? Anyone with other thoughts on how to go about fixing the sound pop issues? (BTW this only happens if am running the game with the 3d enable using a four channel speaker system. If i change it to two channels it goes away..)

• FeFDBi. on 6th Nov 2002

  I have a 7vrx MB + GF4 Ti4200 & yes there is a problem, everytime I run any 3D Program like games , 3D Benchmarks ,etc the system hang immediately. I recently exchange it with my friend's GF3 & it works fine. My friend have no Problem either (his mainboard is ASUS). I'm going to buy an EPOX Mainboard Tomorrow!

• Daviesh. on 12th Nov 2002

  The problems that Scooby Doo and other are having could be due to an infinite loop error, widely reported on VIA and Intel mobos with high end graphics cards. A number of suggestions on how to fix the problem are available at www.viaarena.com/?PageID=64, the most important of which is power supply. What rating is your power supply guys? From the suggestions I have heard, look toward 400W. A good article at www.tomshardware.com/howto/02q4/021021/powersupplies-01.html on the ratings of power supplies and actual output as well as the data for you to work out how much power your best needs.

• Rick Rajchel. on 14th Nov 2002

  I had some similar problems. Not having played Unreal Tournamen for a while on Windows (I dual boot to Linux) I decided it would be nice to do some serious killing while DLing an ISO image. So I installed UT and jacked it up to 1280x1024 and all highest settings, since that's the way I play it on Linux no problem. Low and behold I get a dismal 41 FPS. BTW this is my setup: Gigabyte GA-7VRX GeForce 4 4200(Chaintech) AMD 1800+ 512 MB of DDR2700 I did buy the MB shortly after the 333 chipset came out. So I go about looking for updated drivers, known problems and such. The VIA 4 in 1 drivers were installed as well as a BIOS update and newer NVidia drivers. All one at a time incase one of them caused a problem. 30 minutes later I'm done with minimal problems and decide to go ahead and retry UT. Locked tight at 85 FPS. It seems to be limited by something, because it won't go down or up at all no matter how fast I'm running or how much junk is on the screen. In any case it more than doubled my GeForce 4 performance and I haven't even tried to overclock it yet.

• Kenlobb1. on 18th Nov 2002

  I have a this motherboard and a Geforce 2 MX 64mb vid card and when I play games like americas army and even some low end games my computer just restarts, the guys from americas army said that it was a powersupply problem to the video card and it is the mobo's fault.... Im thinkin great I wont be able to play and cool games so why did I buy this machine again?? I was wonderin if anyone knew anything about this problem. And is there any way I could fix the problem I already updated everything imaginable and it still does it *grrr* common help me out here I need the eye candy!

• Tim. on 27th Nov 2002

  Just a quick note about this whole Geforce 4 thing. When I first wrote this review, I only had a GeForce 2 MX400 64meg, now I have a Gainward GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and I still agree I what I wrote, I have run heaps of games and get easily over 10000 in 3dMark 2001SE, I have no problems with it at all..... I have revision 2 and haven't done anything special so I really don't know what is going on. How many people out there have revision 2 and still have problems?

• thunda. on 4th Dec 2002

  Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in. I have the GA7VRX along with an XFX gf4 ti4200 64mb. I clock both and have never had a problem. I'd say if you are having problems it's due to driver errors, my room mate, his g/f, my g/f and 2 other friends all have this board, some with GF4's both mx and ti's, they all have 300W+ psu's and latest drivers and not one has a problem. Cheers

• Bertouli. on 12th Dec 2002

  I have the same problem with the following system: AMDXP1900, Kingston 512MB 2100, PSU 350W, Gigabyte 7vrx, Gainward ti4200, win 200 professional. My compu perform relatively well (3d Mark > 10500) but every now and then the screen just goes black. System doesn't hang, because the sound keeps playing. This happens when I am NOT doing any heavy 3D stuff. I have installen every patch and driver on the internet, but nothing works. I am sure this is a ti4200 problem, and I will return the card this week. I will keep you posted about any comments Geforce makes!

• Matt Swingler. on 6th Jan 2003

  I have a rev.1 of this mobo and I just bought a Leadtek A280LETD (Ti4200) and I have the exact same problem. I stuck the card in my brothers Soyo Dragon Plus mobo and it got 3dmark points throuh the roof!(around 10000). It makes me sad (more like mad) that I can't even finish a benchmark with this card. Otherwise, the mobo runs flawlessly! Thanks to all of the people who ave advice on this problem, I hope it helps!

• bertouli. on 6th Jan 2003

  Well guys, I told you I thought I had a Ti4200 problem. It turned out to be a Windows 2000 problem. As I read in several forums that win2000pro was causing nvidia problems, I decided to install winXPpro in a last desperate attempt before pulling the ti4200 out and jumping on it. IT WORKED. Everything runs perfect now, compu has now been running 24*7 for 2 weeks now. If you have problems and use win 2000 try another OS first. Might help you too.

• Rudy. on 20th Jan 2003

  Just for the Log, I have the same problem as Bertuoli but with the following system: AMDXP1800+, Kingston 256MB 2100, PSU 350W dual fan, Gigabyte 7vrx Rev 2.0, ATI Radeon 8500, WIN 98SE and all of the latest drivers (I've also tried most of the old versions). Occasionally, while using 3D acceleration, such games halt, sound continues and one is returned to the desktop. Has anyone successfully resolved a similar problem.

• fball. on 22nd Jan 2003

  This is becoming a support group thread, I have the same problems as above. 3D acceleration (Q3, UT 2003) causes lock ups and reboots within 0 to 10 minutes of starting otherwise no problems. Often reboots with an error message indicating a driver caused the error but the specific driver or item using the driver is not referenced. Still looking for a solution. System
  MB Gigabyte 7vrx V2.0 (bios F7)(VIA 4 in 1 VIAHyperion4in1445v), AMD 2100 XP, 256MB 2700, PSU Antec True Power 430W, Antec Case, Mad Dog Raptor TI 4200 (40.72_winxp_WHQL), Windows XP Standard (all updates). Running latest bios and drivers for all items. No luck also doing the following - stripped computer to just the TI4200 to isolate no luck. - turned off Norton antivirus as suggested by TI4200 card manufacturer no luck - tuned MB to BIOS settings as suggested by TI4200 card manufacturer no luck. - used older NVIDIA drivers no luck - tried different DDR memory stick no luck - moved memory stick slot no luck Note early versions of MB (less than 2.0) have a known issue please see link www.thetechboard.com/troubleshooting/ga-7vrxp.php. My board is 2.0 but the problems persist. If anyone has found a solution or have ideas please post them thanks! No help to me

• fball. on 12th Feb 2003

  problem solved Heat was the issue a new cpu heatsink solved my restart problem. Now using vantec aeroflow now at 35-40C prior with retail fan at 80C. PS after only 4 months the retail fan was clogged with dust.

• camaroman. on 25th Mar 2003

  hey, just curious but i was gonna buy a gigabite GA-7VAXP with an athlon 2000+ at a 400 fsb, with 512 ddm 3200 ram and a 4200 ti 128mb agp 8x gforce card and a 500w power supply. does this problem relate to this motherboard as well or is it strictly related to? i really dont have much money to go buying junk with. any help would be greatly appreciated... thanks

• Vito. on 26th May 2003

  Does anybody know if this mobo has any problems with the RADEON 9500 PRO

• Ramza__X. on 3rd Jun 2003

  This IS the best Motherboard!!
  I'm having no problem what so ever.... maybe i'm too good :)
  MB: GA-7VRX v2.0
  CPU: AMD 2000+ XP (clocked at 1.750hz just a little wont hurt = 12.5x140)
  RAM: 256mb PC2100.DDR
  GFX: GF4 440MX
  HDD: 80gig x 3 = 240gig
  (any question email me : ramza__x@hotmail.com

• Ramza__X. on 3rd Jun 2003

  Just set up like mine, and you will never crash again
  
  OS: WinXP Pro
  MB: GA-7VRX v2.0
  CPU: AMD 2000+ XP
  RAM: 256mb PC2100.DDR
  HDD: 80gig x 3 = 240gig
  GFX: GF4 440MX
  
  I've never crash the machine like random or fatal crash what so ever
  all programsss and gamessss all worked great, and fast!!
  i'll give this a 10/10 rate just perfect
  all driver are perfect aswell
  even i've left the machine on for 5 days downloading of the net, no (none) time crash... bottom line, perfect motherboard setup for a perfect person!!! :)

• glentas. on 9th Jun 2003

  You guys should try adding more RAM 512MB
  as xp gobbles 256mb
  had my 7vrx for 15 months no probs

• allio. on 14th Jun 2003

  I have the 1.1 revision of the board... no problems with my MX-440. The only problem I have is that I have to turn the computer on and off at the wall (or power supply) every time I turn it on, otherwise I get weird problems... ranging from the keyboard not working (most common) to Windows not loading to the BIOS failing. Ugh. It's annoying, but I can deal with it because I have 100% stability in everything. I've never heard of anybody else with this problem, but there you go.

• Rudy. on 16th Jun 2003

  I had returned my 7VRX Rev. 2 and have received a 7VAX as a replacement. I no longer have any problem. The retailer confirmed that the 7VRX I had originally purchased had a hardware fault.

• abhi on 29th Dec 2003

  I too having the same prob as (allio) when connecting my lg gce 8320b cdrw as sec master.or otherwise it runs ok.
  The other prob is that after a month or so the same prob occures which gets fixed by re-intalling the whole system.
  I cant undersand the actual prob.
  
  mobo-ga7vrx-1.1
  Athlon 1700+
  512 mb ram
  Asus v8170 magic agp
  300w smps

• jerseyguy on 2nd May 2004

  I have the Rev 2.0 now for almost two years, no problems AT ALL. several friends use same mobo w/great results as well-variety of hardware configs. I check for VIA chipset updates every few months...here's mine:
  giga ga-7vrx 2.0
  amd ath xp1800+ socket a
  win 2000
  geforce mx440
  256mb ddr 266

• jacked on 24th Aug 2004

  Does anybody have 2× 512 ram inside...
  Because I would need more ram, and now I have 2× 256 (different 1× 333 and 1× 400) and the system just reset from time to time, and I suspect it ram fault...any ideas???