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When choosing a new motherboard, the chipset that the motherboard is based on is one of the most important considerations because it determines the motherboard's overall performance, feature set and options. That is why Intel's release of the i815 and i815E chipsets was such an important move, since all most users want is simply a product on par with the Intel BX, but with a feature set more in line with current business and home needs.

The Intel 820 chipset was intended to be natural upgrade path from the BX, but the added expense of RDRAM along with its SDRAM MTH difficulties served to position it as a niche product at best. The Intel 815E is an actual contender because it does not try to stray too far from the BX' beaten path, and instead offers several enhancements over the older chipset while maintaining backwards compatibility for most components. Because of this, the old guard Intel BX chipset is steadily being superceded by the newer and more feature-rich Intel 815E. As more and more i815E motherboards come to market, this divergence will only become stronger.

ChainTech Computer Co. is not one of the larger motherboard companies, but they have certainly been making huge strides over the past year in motherboard design. The company is reminiscent of MSI a few years back, offering high performance motherboards with excellent feature sets, while steadily expanding their product line when a new chipset appears. ChainTech has also been near the forefront of software BIOS technology and overclocking, and while their technology isn't exactly on par with ABIT, ASUS or MSI, there has been a steady rate of improvement.

ChainTech has added the CT-6OJV2 to their current motherboard line-up. The CT-6OJV2 is a relatively standard Intel i815E board with a wealth of expansion slots and some tweaking options thrown in for good measure. What will be more interesting is how the board stands up to the very impressive competition in the i815E arena.