Albatron VIA K8T800... opinions?

[Diabolus]

Hi all... I like the feature set and options of this board and the reviews seem pretty favorable though negative in the overclocking aspect.

Since I never overclock my systerms, and I'm looking moreso for stability rather than a plethora of OC options, will this board serve my purposes? I like that it has the 3Com (not the REALtek) LAN adaptor as well as the Envy audio, so I can donate my Audigy to my brother.

Let me know if it's a good idea to go with this board. Remember for me, stability is really the key issue.

 

[jdogg707]

I have heard good things about it, most people do agree that the Asus K8V Deluxe is the most stable of the K8T800 boards right now. The Envy audio on this board is not the true Envy chipset, but rather runs through a codec, which decreases the overall sound quality. If I were to buy another board right now, it would most likely be the Asus.

 

[AIWGuru]

Opinions you say?
Okay. VIA=lose.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
Opinions you say?
Okay. VIA=lose.

Oh no, here it goes again, there is another thread with your VIA bashing in it and there doesn't need to be another.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Diabolus Remember for me, stability is really the key issue.

My opinion is you should buy anything other than VIA with that requirement.

 

[jdogg707]

So tell me, where are the overwhelming cases of failure from the Via K8T800 chipset and boards based off if it? Please tell me, provide proof of the K8T800 being a massive failure in the area of stability over any other chipset available for the Athlon64 right now. Please do this so I can see proof of what you are saying, otherwise stop posting your BS flame bait.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: jdogg707
I have heard good things about it, most people do agree that the Asus K8V Deluxe is the most stable of the K8T800 boards right now. The Envy audio on this board is not the true Envy chipset, but rather runs through a codec, which decreases the overall sound quality. If I were to buy another board right now, it would most likely be the Asus.

Only the analog connection runs through the codec. It's digital s/pdif connection bypasses the codec.

 

[Viper96720]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
Opinions you say?
Okay. VIA=lose.

LOL coming from someone using an ECS board.

I think the Albatron is a good board has good features included.

 

[Viper96720]

If you want extra stability get unbuffered ecc ram.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Viper96720

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
Opinions you say?
Okay. VIA=lose.

LOL coming from someone using an ECS board.

And who's only problem with said board is with the single VIA chip on it.

 

[Diabolus]

Originally posted by: jdogg707
I have heard good things about it, most people do agree that the Asus K8V Deluxe is the most stable of the K8T800 boards right now. The Envy audio on this board is not the true Envy chipset, but rather runs through a codec, which decreases the overall sound quality. If I were to buy another board right now, it would most likely be the Asus.

So which boards DO use the Envy chipset? I went to Newegg and the Asus is running a AD1980 6-Channel... is that the Envy or not?

Thanks in advance

 

[Diabolus]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Diabolus Remember for me, stability is really the key issue.

My opinion is you should buy anything other than VIA with that requirement.

Then what's your recommendation? If you're gonna bash one but not offer me an alternative it just seems like a waste of a post and moreso just complaining on your part. That's just from what I see.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: Diabolus

Originally posted by: jdogg707
I have heard good things about it, most people do agree that the Asus K8V Deluxe is the most stable of the K8T800 boards right now. The Envy audio on this board is not the true Envy chipset, but rather runs through a codec, which decreases the overall sound quality. If I were to buy another board right now, it would most likely be the Asus.

So which boards DO use the Envy chipset? I went to Newegg and the Asus is running a AD1980 6-Channel... is that the Envy or not?

Thanks in advance

That's SoundMAX by Analog Devices

Chaintech and the Albatron are the only A64 MB manufacturers that has Envy24PT that I know of.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Algere

Originally posted by: Diabolus

Originally posted by: jdogg707
I have heard good things about it, most people do agree that the Asus K8V Deluxe is the most stable of the K8T800 boards right now. The Envy audio on this board is not the true Envy chipset, but rather runs through a codec, which decreases the overall sound quality. If I were to buy another board right now, it would most likely be the Asus.

So which boards DO use the Envy chipset? I went to Newegg and the Asus is running a AD1980 6-Channel... is that the Envy or not?

Thanks in advance

That's SoundMAX by Analog Devices

Chaintech and the Albatron are the only A64 MB manufacturers that has Envy24PT that I know of.

The Chaintech nForce3 150 board has a true Envy audio solution I believe, but either way it really depends on what you are going to be using it for. Something like the SoundMAX or Realtek ALC655 or 658 audio solutions will provide good sound for music and games, as long as you aren't using something like the Klipsch 5.1 Ultras, which you might want to power with an Audigy 2. I wouldn't worry about the Envy as a major selling point unless audio is going to be a main focus, most of the time your speakers will limit you from telling a difference before your card/onboard solution will. I personally like the Audigy series just because they tend to use less CPU resources, especially in games.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Diabolus

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Diabolus Remember for me, stability is really the key issue.

My opinion is you should buy anything other than VIA with that requirement.

Then what's your recommendation? If you're gonna bash one but not offer me an alternative it just seems like a waste of a post and moreso just complaining on your part. That's just from what I see.

Like I said, everything else.
I've had experience with Intel, SIS, nvidia and several VIA chipsets. The only one I don't recommend is VIA. Anything else comes recommended.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Diabolus

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Diabolus Remember for me, stability is really the key issue.

My opinion is you should buy anything other than VIA with that requirement.

Then what's your recommendation? If you're gonna bash one but not offer me an alternative it just seems like a waste of a post and moreso just complaining on your part. That's just from what I see.

Like I said, everything else.
I've had experience with Intel, SIS, nvidia and several VIA chipsets. The only one I don't recommend is VIA. Anything else comes recommended.

You have yet to provide any proof as to why the K8T800 is a bad chipset. Unless you can provide some proof, any recommendation from you seems a little like wasted data on the forum servers.

 

[Farmer]

AIWGuru:

The fact that you yourself don't like VIA is irrelavant to the discussion:

1.) You have never owned a VIA K8T800 based motherboard.
2.) Name me one A64 solution out there right now that is better than the K8T800 (don't say nVidia, because it is not).

As for stability, my computer has NEVER experienced any sort of hardware-related crash, and runs Prime almost infinitely (its not OCd, so it better).

I'm sorry that VIA has dissappointed you in the past (many know what that feels like with a lot of different manufacturers), but, under the conditions given by Diabulous, I see no logical reason to not go with VIA.

I personally have no experience with Albatron boards, and audio really is of no concern to me (mostly because I have never experienced high-quality PC audio). The VIA chipset is quite stable with the right RAM. Just stay away from MSI. There have been numerous reports of DOAs and problems with their A64 boards (and all of their boards, I guess).

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: Farmer
AIWGuru:

The fact that you yourself don't like VIA is irrelavant to the discussion:

1.) You have never owned a VIA K8T800 based motherboard.
2.) Name me one A64 solution out there right now that is better than the K8T800 (don't say nVidia, because it is not).

As for stability, my computer has NEVER experienced any sort of hardware-related crash, and runs Prime almost infinitely (its not OCd, so it better).

I'm sorry that VIA has dissappointed you in the past (many know what that feels like with a lot of different manufacturers), but, under the conditions given by Diabulous, I see no logical reason to not go with VIA.

I personally have no experience with Albatron boards, and audio really is of no concern to me (mostly because I have never experienced high-quality PC audio). The VIA chipset is quite stable with the right RAM. Just stay away from MSI. There have been numerous reports of DOAs and problems with their A64 boards (and all of their boards, I guess).

Yes, I have the MSI board and it has given me a nice bit of trouble...dead Floppy controller, BIOS corruption, etc.

 

[AIWGuru]

So I guess by your (il) logic you couldn't bash a new ECS board regardless of past experience because "you have no experience with this particular new board."
That would be pretty stupid. ECS generally makes cheap crap and you can infer for some time that all of their products are like this because of their corporate policies/QC.
Same thing with VIA.

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
So I guess by your (il) logic you couldn't bash a new ECS board regardless of past experience because "you have no experience with this particular new board."
That would be pretty stupid. ECS generally makes cheap crap and you can infer for some time that all of their products are like this because of their corporate policies/QC.
Same thing with VIA.

I have used your crappy ECS board, I went through three of them and never got one that worked. That does not mean that I will condemn ECS because I have used a SIS755 based board from them which works quite well. So I do not think it is fair to judge an entire company based on one or two flaws in the past...if the product has been tested and works, then I will buy it, otherwise I won't....pretty simple. Those who judge products just because they are made by a certain company, and not by the performance/stability of the product, are un-educated at best. I can understand someone not wanting to buy a board from a manufacturer that has proven time and time again to make a poor performing, unstable board, but in this case you are saying all VIA products suck just because of a few incompatibilities years ago. Unless you have used a VIA K8T800 board and have had issues with it, I don't understand why you keep posting.

 

[Farmer]

AIWGuru:

You misunderstand my logic. If the product in question has recieved numerous postive reviews from many notable sources, along with individual end-user postive experiences (from the likes of people who actually have used the device, as with the K8T800, me and jdogg), I see no reason why the manufacturers past mistakes will have any negative influence upon the quality of an already proven component.

This would be the case with ECS as well, if ECS were to release a good product.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Farmer
AIWGuru:

You misunderstand my logic. If the product in question has recieved numerous postive reviews from many notable sources, along with individual end-user postive experiences (from the likes of people who actually have used the device, as with the K8T800, me and jdogg), I see no reason why the manufacturers past mistakes will have any negative influence upon the quality of an already proven component.

This would be the case with ECS as well, if ECS were to release a good product.

What if I told you that I've never had a problem with this K7S5A? Would I be justified in saying it's a good product?
Hardly...

 

[MDE]

I haven't had any problems with my laptop (K8T800 chipset) or an Epox 8KHA (KT266a) that both run 24\7.

 

[Farmer]

Well, what if everyone was happy with that ECS board? Then I guess, yeah, it wouldn't be a bad product.

Just because you experienced something bad or something good with a product doesn't mean that thats true for all of them. In the case of the K8T800, countless people have said good things about it. That means something.

If I were the only one saying it, it would be meaningless, but I'm not.

 

[PlantATree]

AIWGuru

It seems all of your comments on these boards are very negative, demeaning and rather useless. You seem to have a lot of input in a number of threads lately and they all seem to be the same....not a lot of help.