nForce 2 vs KT880

[WobbleWobble]

KT880 boards are cheaper or about the same price as nForce 2 boards. They perform almost on par or is off by a couple percentage points. KT880 usually has more features (more USB ports, gigabit LAN, native SATA). nForce 2 does have Soundstorm but I see that as not a big deal if you're not using digital out.

Before it used to be that nForce2 was the for sure platform for Socket A. If the PC won't be overclocked, is that still the case?

 

[Cerb]

Check your sockets.

 

[JBT]

yeah uhh I think the KT880 is a A64 chipset isn't it?

 

[CraigRT]

KT880 is a SocketA chipset, K8T800 is an A64 chipset.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
KT880 is a SocketA chipset, K8T800 is an A64 chipset.

Thanks for the clarifications. I was doubting myself after those other posts

 

[Wahsapa]

if i remember corectly this is vias first amd dual channel chipset.... firsts are never very good.

however i myself am looking at the sweet price point of the kt880.

anybody know of some good reviews?

 

[Arcanedeath]

Unless you need the onboard SATA raid Nforce 2 is the way to go, it performs better period and you don't have to deal w/ Via's drivers and PCI issues, I've gotta say that my Nforce 2 ultra 400 board has been bullet proof unlike my Via based KT266 board or my Apollo 133A based boards, I'd just stay away from Via's Socket 370 or Socket A chipsets when better solutions are avi. but thats just me based on my exp w/ Tyan and MSI Via based boards

 

[Arcanedeath]

Oh also as an FYI Via seems to be making good A64 chipsets and I wouldn't hesitate to rec. them for A64, the K8T800 and K8T00 Pro chipsets seem to be fairly good, I have a laptop based on K8T800 and it runs well.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
Unless you need the onboard SATA raid Nforce 2 is the way to go, it performs better period and you don't have to deal w/ Via's drivers and PCI issues, I've gotta say that my Nforce 2 ultra 400 board has been bullet proof unlike my Via based KT266 board or my Apollo 133A based boards, I'd just stay away from Via's Socket 370 or Socket A chipsets when better solutions are avi. but thats just me based on my exp w/ Tyan and MSI Via based boards

If I remember correctly, the KT880 no longer uses the 686B Southbridge which was the cause of Via's PCI issues. I also owned the KT133A with some of those problems

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath
Unless you need the onboard SATA raid Nforce 2 is the way to go, it performs better period and you don't have to deal w/ Via's drivers and PCI issues, I've gotta say that my Nforce 2 ultra 400 board has been bullet proof unlike my Via based KT266 board or my Apollo 133A based boards, I'd just stay away from Via's Socket 370 or Socket A chipsets when better solutions are avi. but thats just me based on my exp w/ Tyan and MSI Via based boards

If I remember correctly, the KT880 no longer uses the 686B Southbridge which was the cause of Via's PCI issues. I also owned the KT133A with some of those problems

True, it uses the VT8237 SB chipset, the same one used in all the Via A64 systems.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Comparing within Asus, the A7V880 is $103.50 whereas the A7N8X-E Deluxe is $119.79. Those are Canadian prices from Canada's NewEgg equivalent, NCIX

It's almost a good $20 cheaper. I personally feel that it wouldn't be a bad idea getting a A7V880 but I wanted to see other people's thoughts.

 

[Acanthus]

i hate via with the fire of a thousand suns.

so now, with my admitted bias, i would buy an Nforce based mobo.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Comparing within Asus, the A7V880 is $103.50 whereas the A7N8X-E Deluxe is $119.79. Those are Canadian prices from Canada's NewEgg equivalent, NCIX

It's almost a good $20 cheaper. I personally feel that it wouldn't be a bad idea getting a A7V880 but I wanted to see other people's thoughts.

It's hard to reccomend a VIA AXP board at this point; the nForce has been the reigning chipset for so long that it's almost easier to go that way, because you can basically be sure it'll work fine.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Comparing within Asus, the A7V880 is $103.50 whereas the A7N8X-E Deluxe is $119.79. Those are Canadian prices from Canada's NewEgg equivalent, NCIX

It's almost a good $20 cheaper. I personally feel that it wouldn't be a bad idea getting a A7V880 but I wanted to see other people's thoughts.

It's hard to reccomend a VIA AXP board at this point; the nForce has been the reigning chipset for so long that it's almost easier to go that way, because you can basically be sure it'll work fine.

How about because the KT600 is feature rich?

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Comparing within Asus, the A7V880 is $103.50 whereas the A7N8X-E Deluxe is $119.79. Those are Canadian prices from Canada's NewEgg equivalent, NCIX

It's almost a good $20 cheaper. I personally feel that it wouldn't be a bad idea getting a A7V880 but I wanted to see other people's thoughts.

It's hard to reccomend a VIA AXP board at this point; the nForce has been the reigning chipset for so long that it's almost easier to go that way, because you can basically be sure it'll work fine.

How about because the KT600 is feature rich?

Or the KT880 is even more feature rich? And faster than the KT600

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
i hate via with the fire of a thousand suns.

so now, with my admitted bias, i would buy an Nforce based mobo.

haha.. if you hated the VIA of old, that's fine.. but truly, their newer Athlon chipsets (even dating back to the KT133A) were good chipsets. I've had a KT133A, KT266A, and a KT333 at home, all with NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. I actually really enjoy VIA's stuff. but the NVIDIA stuff is awesome too the only one I am not a huge fan of is SiS. the VIA stuff always works good for me. I remember back in the day, the KT266A was king of the hill for benchmarks.