Intel 440BX 133MHz Motherboard Roundup (June 2000)

Final Words

Overall there are two motherboards that definitely stand out among the seven in this roundup, the ASUS CUBX and the Microstar BXMaster.    The CUBX is definitely a very well made Socket-370 motherboard.  Its combination of an on-board Ultra DMA 66 controller and an additional USB hub works alongside the board's JumperFree setup to make the CUBX very well rounded.  If you have a Socket-370 CPU and are looking for a BX motherboard that can run at 133MHz then the CUBX is definitely the board you want to pick.

On the Slot-1 end of things, the Microstar BXMaster continues to be our favorite since Microstar managed to get around the 5 bus master PCI slot limitation of the Intel PIIX4e South Bridge by using their custom made PCI arbiter chip.  The six usable PCI slots on the BXMaster combined with the Promise Ultra DMA 66 controller and the greater than average performance make the BXMaster our second pick for best overall BX board.  If you want the flexibility of a Slot-1 interface, then the BXMaster is the board you'll want to get. 

In the end, it seems quite ironic that seven months after the official launch of the i820 chipset we're not rounding up the best 820 boards rather we're concentrating on the top seven boards based on a chipset that preceded the 820's release by over a year and a half.  It seems like it takes quite a bit to replace a really good product, even if it's being replaced by the same manufacturer.