Well here's how you tell a GA-7VRXP is installed without opening the case...
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/gigabyte … -8500le.955231/
That was kinda typical, the web used to be full of posts like that, but many of the forums, blogs etc have gone away.

They're perfectly fine unless you want to run higher than 100FSB on CPU or RAM or use the AGP slot.

166FSB if it will be necessary and AGP most of the time

In general though the KT333 is a bit marginal at 166 for CPUs, though it does fine for DDR. The KT400 is more like the 333A like the 266A revision of the 266 to fix it's bugs... though then they had to do a 400A revision that could actually cope at 200/400. ... I'd even prefer the KM400 boards over KT333s, but those are usually lacking in features.

I had an Epox 8K3A+ (also KT333), and that motherboard was a great performer for me once I replaced the stock northbridge cooler. Even a few MHz over 166 was a problem, but then I read an account from someone else who had the same board. The stock northbridge heatsink was held on with some very poor thermal tape, and was actually concave so it made very little contact. Luckily, it had pin holes so a better cooler could easily be added, so I salvaged one from another board, sanded it until it was flat, then used Arctic Silver thermal compound. Once I did that, it behaved completely different than before. I raised the FSB to 209 - I actually ran it at 215 for a short time, but the out of spec PCI bus slowed down the hard drive performance at anything past 209.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-25, 19:01:

In general though the KT333 is a bit marginal at 166 for CPUs, though it does fine for DDR. The KT400 is more like the 333A like the 266A revision of the 266 to fix it's bugs... though then they had to do a 400A revision that could actually cope at 200/400. ... I'd even prefer the KM400 boards over KT333s, but those are usually lacking in features.

Well, KT400 does not support 3.3V AGP so my Voodoo's will be unemployed 😉 Support for the 166FSB is highly desirable. I read somewhere that KT333 supports such FSB and has a 1/5 PCI divider. I think Pentium3 doesn't have enough power for more powerful cards.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2021-10-25, 19:51:

I had an Epox 8K3A+ (also KT333), and that motherboard was a great performer for me once I replaced the stock northbridge cooler. Even a few MHz over 166 was a problem, but then I read an account from someone else who had the same board. The stock northbridge heatsink was held on with some very poor thermal tape, and was actually concave so it made very little contact. Luckily, it had pin holes so a better cooler could easily be added, so I salvaged one from another board, sanded it until it was flat, then used Arctic Silver thermal compound. Once I did that, it behaved completely different than before. I raised the FSB to 209 - I actually ran it at 215 for a short time, but the out of spec PCI bus slowed down the hard drive performance at anything past 209.

Thanks for tip. I will do the same 😀

LubieCipy wrote on 2021-10-26, 10:47:

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-25, 19:01:

In general though the KT333 is a bit marginal at 166 for CPUs, though it does fine for DDR. The KT400 is more like the 333A like the 266A revision of the 266 to fix it's bugs... though then they had to do a 400A revision that could actually cope at 200/400. ... I'd even prefer the KM400 boards over KT333s, but those are usually lacking in features.

Well, KT400 does not support 3.3V AGP so my Voodoo's will be unemployed 😉 Support for the 166FSB is highly desirable. I read somewhere that KT333 supports such FSB and has a 1/5 PCI divider. I think Pentium3 doesn't have enough power for more powerful cards.

Early KT333 boards might not have working 1/5 divider. Check Gigabyte manual: there's a DIP switch (just one), that allows to set FSB to 100 or 133 (so only 1/3 and 1/4 are available for sure). You can set higher values in BIOS, but it probably provides linear clock generator.

I ordered a GA-7VRXP which was delivered yesterday. Here are some of my thoughts about this motherboard:

1. 3.3V AGP cards works. But I still have to check more od them.
2. Manual says that AGP voltage can be adjusted between 1.5V - 1.8V from BIOS. This option disappears when 3.3V card id used.
3. FSB/RAM can be set at 100/166 😀
4. With latest F12 bios, FSB can be set over 300 MHz. Much more than needed 😀
5. No undervolting options on bios, only +5%, 7,5%, 10%
6. Setting memory timings can be difficult

There are twoo clock generators, one near PCI slots: ICS UM240175 0218 94228BF and second near RAM slots: ICS UT280101 0228 93718CF. Can someone help me find datasheets for these parts? 😀

BitWrangler wrote:

The KT400 is more like the 333A like the 266A revision of the 266 to fix it's bugs...

VIA modified their chipsets gradually. Original KT333 was nothing more than glorified 266A with added multiplier for DDR333 memory. Later revision made available official 333 FSB and improved south bridge, which now supported LAN and USB 2.0. Last revision dropped AGP 3.3v support, but ironed out some lasting AGP bugs. Original KT400 added 8x AGP support on top of all that and ironically only unofficial DDR400 support.