Tom's reviews the Via KT880 Dual Channel chipset for sktA, is he pimping for Via too?

[DAPUNISHER]

Review While the stock performance is very nice, even slightly better than the nF2, at least by Tom's testing 😉 I didn't see mention of AGP/PCI lock, did I miss it? Now, I took exception to the A64 chipset shootout he did because he used older drivers for the SiS than Anandtech did despite his review coming out more than a month later, consequently it hampered performance of the SiS. They also used ES boards even though better performing retail boards for every chipset except the SiS were readily available. Tom's went on to name the Via the top chipset which was in direct opposition to what other sites determined through their testing, with Most showing the SiS tops, and OCWorkbench showing the SOYO K8USA equal the SiS overall.

So, with this review they give Via the nod because of gigabit and integrated SATA, but don't seem to consider the nF2's overclockability and SoundStorm as purchasing factors that could easily overshadow the gigabit and SATA for many users needs 😕 I'm therefore inclined to label him Via pimp extraordinaire :gift: YMMV 😉

 

[Mingon]

That and the fact its taken them what 18 months to get similar performance

tom has never liked Nvdia

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

Tom must get head from Intel...

 

[Ionizer86]

Interesting how NF2 Ultra 400 dual and KT880 dual are a bit different in performance on different tests. Probably indicates some specific parts of each chipset are a bit different in performance.

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Review While the stock performance is very nice, even slightly better than the nF2, at least by Tom's testing 😉 I didn't see mention of AGP/PCI lock, did I miss it? Now, I took exception to the A64 chipset shootout he did because he used older drivers for the SiS than Anandtech did despite his review coming out more than a month later, consequently it hampered performance of the SiS. They also used ES boards even though better performing retail boards for every chipset except the SiS were readily available. Tom's went on to name the Via the top chipset which was in direct opposition to what other sites determined through their testing, with Most showing the SiS tops, and OCWorkbench showing the SOYO K8USA equal the SiS overall.

So, with this review they give Via the nod because of gigabit and integrated SATA, but don't seem to consider the nF2's overclockability and SoundStorm as purchasing factors that could easily overshadow the gigabit and SATA for many users needs 😕 I'm therefore inclined to label him Via pimp extraordinaire :gift: YMMV 😉

in your last paragraph i agree with the "overclockability" but not with the "soundstorm"
the via vt8237 and newer southbridge has better sound then nvidia (assuming the board uses the via vt1616 codec)

link you gotta scroll down about half way to see where it talks about the onboard sound in new via southbridges

 

[andreasl]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Interesting how NF2 Ultra 400 dual and KT880 dual are a bit different in performance on different tests. Probably indicates some specific parts of each chipset are a bit different in performance.

And it takes a site better than Tom's to investigate what this is. Useless sites, useless reviews...

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Boonesmi,

Many people want nF2 with SoundStorm for it's capability as a HTPC since it does Dolby digital encoding, the Via codec can't do that can it?

EDIT:

The VT1616?s advantage is that it can offer high fidelity sound while using the analog out port. This is not the case for nForce2 motherboards, which use the ALC650/655 codec. In other words, the VT1616 codec provides better sound than an MCP-T powered nForce2 motherboard unless you make use of a SPDIF-out port and have speakers with a receiver.

That answers my question, for HTPC Soundstorm is still superior when taken advantage of. For analog use and gaming it seems like the VT1616 codec is sweet, and I read good things about the Envy24PT as an all around solution.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

No, no, no. Pimping would imply that he's directing the action. By his position with suppliers - crotch-level - he's clearly the product whore.

- M4H

 

[Mem]

Nice but too late in the real world,besides most users now will be switching over to the Athlon 64.Shame VIA could not of released it earlier.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Boonesmi,

Many people want nF2 with SoundStorm for it's capability as a HTPC since it does Dolby digital encoding, the Via codec can't do that can it?

I don't imagine many people actually using it for that purpose as HTPC is a niche market. Too bad Soundstorm is always paired up with a cheap DAC bringing down the potential of Soundstorm using analog. If you go digital, great. But the cost of a reciever or a set of digital speakers is too prohibitive.

It seems like the Via solution will provide better sound quality using analog, which is what I believe what most users use.

Don't get me wrong, I own an nForce2 Soundstorm board myself. But unless you're going the digital route, MCP-T isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Boonesmi,

Many people want nF2 with SoundStorm for it's capability as a HTPC since it does Dolby digital encoding, the Via codec can't do that can it?

I don't imagine many people actually using it for that purpose as HTPC is a niche market. Too bad Soundstorm is always paired up with a cheap DAC bringing down the potential of Soundstorm using analog. If you go digital, great. But the cost of a reciever or a set of digital speakers is too prohibitive.

It seems like the Via solution will provide better sound quality using analog, which is what I believe what most users use.

Don't get me wrong, I own an nForce2 Soundstorm board myself. But unless you're going the digital route, MCP-T isn't all it's cracked up to be.

There are quite a few folks using it for HTPC now, between the Soundstorm users here and AMDMB.com, and how many SFF owners with MCP-T are using it there is a pretty good number already in that niche, including myself. 😉 Many people already have A/V recievers with 5.1 speakers or better too, and it's as simple as hooking them together with either coax or optical=gravy :beer:

 

[WobbleWobble]

You're just looking at a couple enthusiast forums. Relative to the mainstream market, my guess is it's still quite low. However, I'd like to join that bandwagon some day soon and hook up my MCP-T to a reciever 🙂

 

[DAPUNISHER]

You're just looking at a couple enthusiast forums. Relative to the mainstream market, my guess is it's still quite low

point conceeded. I do think that it was ill advised for Tom's not to provide a more detailed conclusion that would help many readers understand the respective strengths of each chipset better. I'd still suggest nF2 with MCP-T for HTPC and best all around overclocking at this point *provided there is indeed no lock on the KT880*

I did just run across a problem someone is having with nF2 that I think the KT880 will resolve for him if my guess is right. He has audio quality issues when using any of several high quality pci sound cards, and image distortion when using low compression with a TV tuner card, if he is also using the SATA too. So if it's the pci bus being saturated as I'm thinking it is, then the KT880's native SATA/RAID will take it off the pci bus and leave the bandwidth for his other devices.