Nforce 415, is it better than KT266A mobo?

[RanDum72]

And let's not forget all the issues that the SiS735 based ECS K7S5A had. It was hit or miss with that board. Even more so than with VIA based motherboards.

I think this is a problem with the motherboard maker's implementation of the SiS chipset ( or the quality of their product) rather than a problem with the chipset itself. Once you get a K7S5A up and running and it doesn't die within a week, you basically have a setup that will run months on end without niggling issues. They don't need to be feed contsantly with 4-in-1 updates, they don't have problems with SB products, will run GF4's, etc... Don't get me wrong, I've setup VIA mobos that are super stable as well but I just like the way SiS mobos behave.

 

[travler]

[/i] >>



Go work for an OEM or motherboard manufacturer that uses Via chipsets. Then come back and tell me that you feel Via is "amazingly stable". I like SiS. I like NVIDIA. I like Intel chipsets. I do not like ALi or Via. Sorry but this is from personal and work experience.[/i] >>



VIA is amazingly stable. the variables are correct driver instalation and user ignorance. other considerations are things like PSU which is probably the real culprit in many acusations against VIA, and crappy memory.

all things equal VIA KT266a and KT133a are among the most stable boards in the market no question. I chalenge you to correctly configre a newer VIA MB and try to crash it with 'normal use" i mean any type of use that doesnt involve intentionaly screwing up drivers, registry or BIOS.

 

[Cygni]

<< Go work for an OEM or motherboard manufacturer that uses Via chipsets. Then come back and tell me that you feel Via is "amazingly stable". I like SiS. I like NVIDIA. I like Intel chipsets. I do not like ALi or Via. Sorry but this is from personal and work experience. >>



Like i said, ive used almost every major chipset on the market in my machines that i build for customers, and if somethings wrong, im the first one they talk to... so yes, i can say that without a doubt, via is "amazingly stable" and is right in line with the rest of the makers in the market. In fact, the new boards i got the most complaints about lately have been 850 boards... but thats been mostly user error related, mixed in with some weird happenings with 2 Epox EP-4T2A3's. What it comes down to is the number of complaints i get per new system is down a HUGE % to just last year, so like i said in my post, saying somethings "unstable" means a whole lot less than it once did. Thats just my work experiance.

 

[BD231]

The mojor deciding issue on wether or not you encounter a problem with a Via based motherboard is almost entierly what kind of add-on cards you put on them. Via has had a HUGE amount of incompatibilitys with ALL of their Athlon chipsets, KT266A being the least effected by these issues. Anyone can get an Athly system stable provided they by the right add-on cards, but the fact that such compatibility issues even come up is reason enough to stay away from VIA. Via dosn't "suck", they just have a wealth of compatability issues. Funny thing is, Intel based Via chipsets are for the most part scott free. The only chipsets I would recomend for the Athy platform is the N-Force chipset, or the AMD-760 based chipset. Some people get lucky with VIA, and some people get lots of problems. This debate will never be solved untill there are enough good chipsets out that compete with Via's performancem but show no signs of flaw or incompatibilitys. Being someone who has been running Via chipsets for over 5 years hoping Via would come out with and Intel equivelent chipset for the Athy, I have to say I'm quite dissapointed.

 

[jasonsRX7]

If via chipsets were the rock solid system foundations some people claim them to be, there wouldn't be all this debate about it, and you wouldn't see threads with "via sucks" opinions throughout. When was the last time you read "BX chipsets suck" in a thread? Probably never, because BX chipsets don't suck at all, and they really are rock solid.

Via has gotten a lot better than they were, and so has SiS. Actually, I remember when the 486 DX4s came out, and having read the reviews in Computer Shopper (before hardware sites like Anands existed) I went to the local comptuer shop and special ordered a board based on a SiS chipset, because it beat the intel of the time. But I digress....

But you have to give credit to nvidia for releasing their first attempt at a PC chipset, and having it not only compete performancewise with the culmination of years of experience on Via's part, but also perhaps exceed it in stability.

If Via doesn't want this reputation they've gotten, then the best way to have avoided it was to have produced better chipsets in the past. At least they really seem to be getting their act together nowadays...