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Chipset Duel - VIA vs. Nvidia nForce
msolnik writes: "Tom's Hardware has put 13 motherboards to the ultimate test in their lab. The outcome? By and large, the VIA KT266A chipset knocks the stuffing out of the Nvidia nForce 420D. True bright spots were the candidates sent in by Soltek and Soyo."
I like the nForce still. I'm always scouting for cheap, fast linux-supported hardware. In a couple years these boards will be dirt cheap, compact slutions for nice linux boxes.
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Haven't got the time to read each motherboard in detail. In the end, KT266A looks to be a good choice if you already have a soundcard and graphics card, the nForce is a great first chipset and is great if you don't currently have a soundcard or graphics card - in fact the audio will be the best you can buy for under $100 at least.
And what was that about VIA taking the SiS735 memory controller? Eh? They are different companies, and SiS would certainly not give VIA their memory controller, that just doesn't make sense from a business or engineering point of view. The KT266A memory controller is taken from the P4X266 chipset.
One issue to keep in mind when talking about AMD/VIA chipsets is that most, if not all, AMD chipsets are meant to be reference designs only and to get new technology (like DDR) on the market before others can catch up. For example, the 760MP, which is only present on two Tyan boards, is being phased out for the 760MPX. Those Tyan boards have been in production for only about 6 months. The AMD 760 (sans MP) is being phased out because there are DDR chipsets being produced in mass quantity by VIA and SIS. Most AMD chipsets don't last very long because AMD expects VIA, SIS, and now Nvidia to pick up the ball from there with their own chipsets.
As far as stability, I've had just the opposite experience you've had. My two Tyan motherboards with VIA chipsets have worked flawlessly since I received them, but my Tyan S2462 board was RMA'd once and cursed at many more times. The Tyan S2462 (Thunder K7) and S2460 (Tiger MP) have many known problems with memory and power supply compatibility as well as high DOA rates; just search groups.google for tyan's newsgroup.
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I think that the nForce is being pitched improperly. What we need to know is - which board has the best TV out capabilities. With built in Dolby Digital, this thing could make a great set top box without making a huge investment. Hell, which motherboard has coax-in ports?
The PC-TV revolution is coming and the only one poised to take advantage is Microsoft. Are there any Linux or alternate OS based projects that have real funding behind them? What ever happened to Indrema? This would make a perfect hardware match for the platform.
Sigh...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
VIA's stability / ease of setting up has been nothing short of awful in the past. The KT266A is suprisingly reliable, however. With VIA's 4in1 drivers 4.35 on Win 2000, or Windows XP (which includes VIA chipset drivers) users have found it to be pretty stable.
I agree with you they're comparing apples to oranges. When nForce was first announced, I questioned the decision to integrate an underpowered graphics chip, when most power users would want at least a GF3. The answer, as you say, is that this board isn't for power users. Sure our ears perked up when we heard nVidia was making a chipset, after all they revolutionized the 3D world. I'm sure future offerings from them will live up to their name. If you remember, it took them several tries with the Riva128, TNT, and TNT2 before they had a true performance winner in the Geforce256.
Single point of failure - the motherboard. No graphics card, network card or audio card to also have to test for failure - it is all built in. Single driver set. Single CD to ship with computer with drivers on, not 5. Support is a lot easier. Aggregate costs for OEMs will be much lower with nForce than for a similarly powerful OEM box (i.e., not the low-end boxes, but the boxes that currently ship with GeForce 2 MXs, Live! Players, etc).
It just needs a little bit of time to get some momentum. It will happen, eventually.
I'd like to see "we ran them in a burn-in oven at the maximum rated temperature for two weeks while running diagnostic programs that checked for correct functioning of everything". And "we put the machine on the shake table and ran the standard shake test profile". The reports should then show failure rates, like Consumer Reports. People notice when the product breaks. And then you'd find out which motherboard manufacturers actually build good PC boards.
Though I trust Tom's Hardware with their benchmarks and recommendations, I have to question the details when it comes to their writing.
Unless I'm missing something, what are these DIE devices and cables they talk about here and here? Could they possibly mean IDE cables? Though the article is in English, perhaps IDE is the same as DIE in another language.
They are also confusing Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and I really hope they aren't compiling Linux under Windows 2000, as someone mentioned earlier. All the benchmarks are run under Windows 2000, yet they state that Lame MP3 Encoder under Windows XP was used. When describing the benchmarks, they state that they chose not to use Sysmark 2001 because values can fluctuate under Windows XP. Am I supposed to assume they don't trust it under Windows 2000? They need to state that, not leave us to assume, if they meant to say XP at all.
I'm just picking nits, but I think if you are going to write a technical review, you must be accurate and specific.
All of these boards appear to be performing so close as to not make ANY difference in real world use to the end user. They're all fast.
None of the boards really shine over another in performance (there are a few that lag in some of the tests). I think now you really have to look at the total package (the mobo, included accessories and software), and the prices to make a fair comparison anymore. Tom did say a few things about what the boards came with, but neglected the average retail prices of the boards.
Overclockability needs to become a side note after the conclusion, or part of a different review. Stability, integrated stuff (like IDE RAID, SCSI, ethernet, USB 1/2, sound, slots, etc), BIOS features and cost are pretty much all I (and a lot of people I know) care about in a hardware review.