Abit AT8: µGuru comes to the RD480
by Gary Key on March 10, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Final Words
The Abit AT8 offers a wide range of features along with very competitive performance at a price point around US $115. The overall performance of the board was excellent and led the other ATI and NVIDIA chipset offerings in the majority of benchmarks. The stability of the board was superb with the production BIOS and soon-to-be released 1.1 BIOS. However, the memory incompatibility issues with the current production BIOS are not acceptable, to which Abit will be providing a public release shortly.
The Abit Silent OTES cooling solution worked wonderfully during full load testing and we did not see any justification for adding active cooling to the Northbridge chipset. The combination of the Silent OTES system and the wonderful Abit EQ and FAN EQ utility, which allows extensive monitoring and full control over the system's six available fan headers, should satisfy most Silent PC users. The windows based µGuru utility program, which controls the Abit EQ, FAN EQ, and OC Guru applets, is the best that we have seen from any manufacturer. The OC Guru allowed real time changes to HTT speeds along with voltage levels while performing a test verification of the new settings. The Flash Menu and BlackBox applications are well rounded and further support Abit's commitment to customer service. Further details about the µGuru technology and applications can be found here.
In the video area, the inclusion of dual PCI Express x16 connectors provides full CrossFire support with eight PCI Express lanes per graphics connector. The performance of the board under CrossFire testing was slightly better than our Asus A8R-MVP while maintaining excellent stability across a wide range of games and applications. The performance and stability with the current NVIDIA range of graphics cards was outstanding in both stock and overclocked settings.
In the on-board audio area, the Abit board offers the Realtek ALC-882D HD audio codec with full support for Dolby Digital Live, a real-time encoding technology, along with optical S/PDIF capability . The audio output of this codec in the music, video, and DVD areas is very good for an on-board solution. The audio quality in gaming was very good, but it did not match the output fidelity of the Sound Blaster X-FI. The Realtek ALC-882D offers DirectSound 3D, A3D, EAX 1, and EAX 2 compatibility along with OpenAL 1.1 compliance in games. If you plan on utilizing this board for online gaming, then our recommendation is to purchase an appropriate sound card for consistency in frame rates across a wide range of games. However, the Realtek ALC-882D is a recommended audio solution for the majority of users and is perfectly at home in a HTPC system.
In the storage area, the Abit board offers the full complement of storage options afforded by the ULi M1575 chipset. The board offers RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 capability, NCQ, Hot Plug, and 3Gb/s support along with dual channel ATA133 Ultra DMA capability. The board also offers eight ULi USB 2.0 ports when utilizing the two USB 2.0 headers and IEEE 1394 capability via the TI TSB43AB22 chipset. The performance of the ULi SATA and IDE controllers were excellent and easily exceeded the nForce4 solutions while matching the ULi M1697 based board.
In the performance area, the Abit AT8 generated outstanding benchmark scores across the board while maintaining very good stability during testing and general usage. The board's performance was consistently better than the other ATI, ULi, and NVIDIA chipset offerings in the majority of benchmarks and applications. However, the production release 1.0 BIOS has memory compatibility issues with the BH5/UTT and Samsung UCCC chips. We noticed that these issues were basically solved with the 1.1 BIOS; although, we still experienced some boot issues with the DRAM timing set to Auto instead of SPD or Manual. While our memory issues were being addressed, the overclocking ability of the board suffered when changing the CPU multiplier. We did not notice this overclocking issue with the production release 1.0 BIOS and would rather have improved memory compatibility than additional overclocking headroom if given the choice. Abit is fully aware of these issues and has been working diligently at providing a BIOS update to address these flaws.
The Abit AT8 is a board designed and marketed for the AMD enthusiast and it fulfills this promise in most categories. The performance of the board was stellar while providing exceptional stability under stress testing. However, the memory compatibility issues with the current BIOS are unacceptable, and otherwise, detracts from an outstanding effort by Abit. Until Abit has publicly releases a BIOS update that solves the memory compatibility issues and still allows the high clock settings present in the 1.0 bios, we are reluctant to recommend this motherboard.
Status Update - Revised 1.1 Bios
Abit provided us a revised 1.1 bios tonight (3-9-06) for additional testing and it will be available on Abit's website shortly. We will update the article after our regression testing is completed.
The Abit AT8 offers a wide range of features along with very competitive performance at a price point around US $115. The overall performance of the board was excellent and led the other ATI and NVIDIA chipset offerings in the majority of benchmarks. The stability of the board was superb with the production BIOS and soon-to-be released 1.1 BIOS. However, the memory incompatibility issues with the current production BIOS are not acceptable, to which Abit will be providing a public release shortly.
The Abit Silent OTES cooling solution worked wonderfully during full load testing and we did not see any justification for adding active cooling to the Northbridge chipset. The combination of the Silent OTES system and the wonderful Abit EQ and FAN EQ utility, which allows extensive monitoring and full control over the system's six available fan headers, should satisfy most Silent PC users. The windows based µGuru utility program, which controls the Abit EQ, FAN EQ, and OC Guru applets, is the best that we have seen from any manufacturer. The OC Guru allowed real time changes to HTT speeds along with voltage levels while performing a test verification of the new settings. The Flash Menu and BlackBox applications are well rounded and further support Abit's commitment to customer service. Further details about the µGuru technology and applications can be found here.
In the video area, the inclusion of dual PCI Express x16 connectors provides full CrossFire support with eight PCI Express lanes per graphics connector. The performance of the board under CrossFire testing was slightly better than our Asus A8R-MVP while maintaining excellent stability across a wide range of games and applications. The performance and stability with the current NVIDIA range of graphics cards was outstanding in both stock and overclocked settings.
In the on-board audio area, the Abit board offers the Realtek ALC-882D HD audio codec with full support for Dolby Digital Live, a real-time encoding technology, along with optical S/PDIF capability . The audio output of this codec in the music, video, and DVD areas is very good for an on-board solution. The audio quality in gaming was very good, but it did not match the output fidelity of the Sound Blaster X-FI. The Realtek ALC-882D offers DirectSound 3D, A3D, EAX 1, and EAX 2 compatibility along with OpenAL 1.1 compliance in games. If you plan on utilizing this board for online gaming, then our recommendation is to purchase an appropriate sound card for consistency in frame rates across a wide range of games. However, the Realtek ALC-882D is a recommended audio solution for the majority of users and is perfectly at home in a HTPC system.
In the storage area, the Abit board offers the full complement of storage options afforded by the ULi M1575 chipset. The board offers RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 capability, NCQ, Hot Plug, and 3Gb/s support along with dual channel ATA133 Ultra DMA capability. The board also offers eight ULi USB 2.0 ports when utilizing the two USB 2.0 headers and IEEE 1394 capability via the TI TSB43AB22 chipset. The performance of the ULi SATA and IDE controllers were excellent and easily exceeded the nForce4 solutions while matching the ULi M1697 based board.
In the performance area, the Abit AT8 generated outstanding benchmark scores across the board while maintaining very good stability during testing and general usage. The board's performance was consistently better than the other ATI, ULi, and NVIDIA chipset offerings in the majority of benchmarks and applications. However, the production release 1.0 BIOS has memory compatibility issues with the BH5/UTT and Samsung UCCC chips. We noticed that these issues were basically solved with the 1.1 BIOS; although, we still experienced some boot issues with the DRAM timing set to Auto instead of SPD or Manual. While our memory issues were being addressed, the overclocking ability of the board suffered when changing the CPU multiplier. We did not notice this overclocking issue with the production release 1.0 BIOS and would rather have improved memory compatibility than additional overclocking headroom if given the choice. Abit is fully aware of these issues and has been working diligently at providing a BIOS update to address these flaws.
The Abit AT8 is a board designed and marketed for the AMD enthusiast and it fulfills this promise in most categories. The performance of the board was stellar while providing exceptional stability under stress testing. However, the memory compatibility issues with the current BIOS are unacceptable, and otherwise, detracts from an outstanding effort by Abit. Until Abit has publicly releases a BIOS update that solves the memory compatibility issues and still allows the high clock settings present in the 1.0 bios, we are reluctant to recommend this motherboard.
Status Update - Revised 1.1 Bios
Abit provided us a revised 1.1 bios tonight (3-9-06) for additional testing and it will be available on Abit's website shortly. We will update the article after our regression testing is completed.
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42 Comments
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Duplex - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - link
I really liked it you did a test with BH5 at 1T 2225 timings,BUT,
I would be so much happier if you also could test at how high clocks you
can run at 1T 2225-timings. That is at least how I define overclocking memory.
You still have the board, so pleeeaaaaaaaaaaase give it a try!
You overclocked with 1T 2.5-5-5-7 timings, but as I´m sure you know it´s not the same thing as overclocking the memory with 1T-2-2-2-5 timings, which BH5/UTT owners mainly gain performance from.
This is something I miss with most of your reviews, and I think Many Many readers would appreciate if you both tryed overclocking with tight resp. lose timings in the future.
It´s often tight timings that makes the boards stand out from the rest.
CPU stability and overclocking seldom differs more than 10% while the RAM clocks at 1T-2-2-2-5 often is either 200MHz or something like 280MHz (40%). Many boards still can´t run 1T-2-2-2-5 at all.
Memory Performance is about 1. tight timings and 2. high clocks
Maybe my facts isn´t totally correct, but I hope you see what I´m aiming at :-)
Gary Key - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link
Hi,
We are currently testing another RD480 board so I will provide the highest stable overclock at 2-2-2-5(7)-1T for the Abit and Asus RD480 boards along with the new one.
Gary
Duplex - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link
Great! Splendido! Magnifico! eeeeh, Excellent! Much appreciated!Duplex - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link
How are things going with the revised 1.1 bios, is the 256HTT limit gone?Has there been any time to look into it? ;-)
I read the ECS-review. Nice to see the
"The ECS KA1 MVP was very stable with 2 DDR modules in Dual-Channel mode at the settings of 2-2-2-5 at 2.7v. We were able to operate the memory at this configuration up to a 226HTT x12 setting." !!
Whats happening with the tests you mentioned above with the Asus and Abit board?
Estimated publishing date?
FireTech - Friday, March 17, 2006 - link
Agreed, love the look of this MB for it's passive cooling and fan control options. I'll have to wait for the AT8 32X though as the AT8 is now discontinued here.Any news on the BIOS #1.1 results?
Gary Key - Monday, March 20, 2006 - link
So far so good. We are waiting on a particular GSkill module to arrive to complete testing.
SpHeRe31459 - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link
Dolby Digital Live is an option that a vendor must persue with Dolby and get their motherboard certified. Abit has not shown interest in this before, nothing I can find at the Abit site says this is Dolby Digital Live enabled. You guys sure about the AT8 having DDL?Gary Key - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link
http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherb...">AT8 SpecsThe audio specifications are listed on the global site. The US site has the AL8 specs on the webpage and Abit has been notified of this. Abit is now including the ALC-882D with the DDL option on their higher end boards. We did not see it as being offered originally on the AT8-32x (complained about it) but have been told it will be included now. In fact, their Global website has been updated and shows it on the board. The board I tested had the ALC-882D codec and DDL (5.1, optical out to supporting receiver) was enabled in the drivers I used.
cornfedone - Friday, March 10, 2006 - link
Looks like Abit, even though late to market, didn't bother testing their ATI chipset mobo before shipping it either. They must have figured if Asus could sell the completely junk A8R-MVP garbage, then there were plenty of fools who would rush out and buy the Abit version of garbage. You got to believe that judgment day isn't too far off for the Asian mobo companies if they keep shipping this kind of junk.It's pretty obvious Asus needs to switch product lines from PC hardware to rice cakes or chop suey so their skill set matches their products.
rjm55 - Saturday, March 11, 2006 - link
Looks like the paid nVidia forum posters are at it again. They must really be afraid of ATI chipsets to go to these extremes. Wonder why?It's a shame this decent review got hijacked by a few crazies whose only goal was to disrupt and discredit.