Website: www.giga-byte.com Price: $110

Would the movie Top Gun have been such a hit if "Maverick" and "Goose" had chanted, "I feel the need, the need for value, ow?" We didn't think so. However, not everyone needs a top-of-the-line, speed demon of a motherboard in order to "turn and burn." Since the vast majority of Athlon owners will never try and overclock their system or even consider setting up an IDE RAID array, many of the features present on the latest crop of high-end boards simply are not needed.

Those in search of a solid, economical platform have a myriad of options. We have already taken a look at FIC's AZ-11 and Gigabyte's 7ZX, which both fit the "value" bill quite effectively, but we have only scratched the surface of what is available.

Gigabyte's first KT133-based motherboard has been around for a while now. As a matter of fact, the GA-7ZM was one of the first boards available supporting the Thunderbird/Duron family. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of this once-early entry is its microATX form factor. Does this design affect the 7ZM's performance though, or is this a value contender have what it takes to make our "Top Gun" list?