Don't visit the Viaarena forums if your looking to buy an VIA system :)

[Draco]

Good lord. The list of problems people are having at these forums is endless. I know VIA created the site to help their users, but now I'm definitely having second thoughts about getting a VIA board. It's very discouraging. I really want an Athlon XP/KT266a system, but I just know it's all going to blow up in my face... bad karma or something.

I love AMD but VIA really doesn't seem like the way to go if you don't want a headache...

Let the flames begin

 

[splice]

Well, if you don't like VIA go for an nForce variant or SiS735 or SiS745...or you can always go the trusty route of AMD760, although it uses the 686B. Anyways, I've owned several VIA based boards and never once had a problem. And I'm currently running an Epox KT266A board.

 

[Ryan]

Yea, if you don't like Via - just get an nforce board. They'll be getting cheeper in a few weeks, so just hold on unti they do.

 

[Aquaman]

I've got a MSI K7T266 Pro2 (KT266A) with an AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (1.4ghz) with no problems at all. I'm even ruunning n Audigy sound card, not a problem (I guess because it has a different southbridge than the chip set with the problems).

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Pabster]

ViaArena is only the beginning. You'll find no shortage of VIA issues plaguing user upon user at any hardware forum.

VIA = suck. But you knew that already.

 

[Draco]

No kidding.

I guess it would be nice to actually see some more positive perspectives to balance it with the bad

 

[Siva]

Don't listen to Pabster, he works for SiS or something

All my VIA boards work just fine, I dunno what these people are doing.

 

[Mem]

Actually I find some of the threads interesting in VIA Arena forums ,especially since I own two VIA boards which have never given me any problems,plus you don`t get any flaming over there & they do try to help each other out .

There are quite alot of good KT266A boards out, just ask the members here,I own the Epox 8KHA+ and yes it`s rock stable .

If you don`t want VIA well you can always go nForce,ALi,SiS.

 

[Ryan]

<< Don't listen to Pabster, he works for SiS or something

All my VIA boards work just fine, I dunno what these people are doing. >>



LMAO!

 

[KeyserSosa]

Actually I think this post should be called "Don't visit the Viaarena forums if your looking to buy a VIA system" I have via mobo (K7V) and I have had no end of problems with it in combination with XP and my GeForce 256. I would never buy a VIA board again that is for sure but certainly that hasn't driven me away from AMD.

The viaarena forums are really great forums. Most of the posters are friendly and willing to help with peoples problems. Everyone there knows the deal with VIA but there is very little VIA flamming. Rather people are just looking for a solution.

Would I buy VIA again... no. Would I buy AMD again... hell yeah.

 

[cleverhandle]

Well, the Via Arena forums are a classic case of statistical response bias, i.e. the people who feel most strongly (usually the people who can't get a system to run) will respond more often than others. And, IMO, mobo problems, even more so than other computer issues, often result from people simply not reading the manual, searching the web, etc. Still, with all that being said, if I had to quickly deploy even a dozen machines with varied configurations, I would stay away from Via. But for a single home machine, a user who's willing to do the little bit of extra work and research can get a good performance return.

 

[SaturnX]

I have yet to encounter even one the problems faced by those at ViaArena, most problems are usually a result of the user, and not so much the hardware.

--Mark

 

[Draco]

<< Actually I think this post should be called "Don't visit the Viaarena forums if your looking to buy a VIA system" I have via mobo (K7V) and I have had no end of problems with it in combination with XP and my GeForce 256. I would never buy a VIA board again that is for sure but certainly that hasn't driven me away from AMD.

The viaarena forums are really great forums. Most of the posters are friendly and willing to help with peoples problems. Everyone there knows the deal with VIA but there is very little VIA flamming. Rather people are just looking for a solution.

Would I buy VIA again... no. Would I buy AMD again... hell yeah. >>




Good point on the subject title. Changed

 

[KeyserSosa]

<< Well, the Via Arena forums are a classic case of statistical response bias, i.e. the people who feel most strongly (usually the people who can't get a system to run) will respond more often than others. And, IMO, mobo problems, even more so than other computer issues, often result from people simply not reading the manual, searching the web, etc. Still, with all that being said, if I had to quickly deploy even a dozen machines with varied configurations, I would stay away from Via. But for a single home machine, a user who's willing to do the little bit of extra work and research can get a good performance return. >>



If only that were true.... there is nothing in my manual that will help me solve my problem. Mobo manuals are so vague (at least mine is) that it is of no use. None of the bios settings are explained but rather follow the following format:

AGP Driver Strength: This value changes the driver strength. Values: 0-F

Now I know what that means but for the average person they will have no idea what changing the agp driver strength will do.

And besides I can't tweak my mobo/bios to solve a serious hardware flaw involving a non spec PCI Bus and AGP setup.

 

[cleverhandle]

<< And besides I can't tweak my mobo/bios to solve a serious hardware flaw involving a non spec PCI Bus and AGP setup. >>



What is is you're trying to do exactly?

 

[BFG10K]

While I haven't had any problems with my KT133a I'm a bit nervous to stay with VIA after all of the problems people have been reporting. I'm seriously considering an SiS platform instead of a VIA one for my next upgrade. Having said that, I'm not going to succumb to the hype and I'll make a carefully informed decision.

 

[sandorski]

Hmm, it's near impossible to judge a product by visiting that products messageboard/newsgroup. Go to Intel's board, Klipsh's board, CL's, etc.. you'll see a lot of problems.

 

[AmdInside]

<< Well, if you don't like VIA go for an nForce variant or SiS735 or SiS745...or you can always go the trusty route of AMD760, although it uses the 686B. Anyways, I've owned several VIA based boards and never once had a problem. And I'm currently running an Epox KT266A board. >>



I agree. I had an ECS motherboard with the SiS735 chipset. Except for not working properly with my SCSI controller, everything else work properly. I actually was able to fix that problem though by flashing the BIOS on the SCSI controller. I have the MSI nForce motherboard and it is as stable as any Intel chipset motherboard I have ever owned. Via and ALI, well you will not see me recommend them to any of my friends or family.