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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FireTech - Monday, April 10, 2006 - link
Status Update - Revised 1.1 BiosAbit 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.
Hi Gary, it would be great if you could please do that promised follow-up review update for the AT8 especially now the AT8 32X is out. It has beeen a while since the initial review and so things should have settled down now or possibly even a new 'beyond 1.1' beta BIOS has been produced for you?
Please update this review and maybe have a follow up on all the Crossfire boards you have reviewed. There seem to be quite a few owners talking on various forums who bought on the strength of these reviews and are relying on you to get things moving on the manufacturer support front...
I'm personally just waiting to see if the AT8 can be the board it was advertised to be before I take the plunge. Why buy into trouble if you don't need to, I've done the 'early adopter' thing too often already?
Gary Key - Monday, July 3, 2006 - link
We are still seeing issues with Infineon based memory that is set to 2-3-2-5 in the SPD, the board will not boot. If your memory utilizes these IC chips, the only choice you is to install some Samsung TCCD, boot the board, manually change the CAS to 2.5, reboot, shutdown, install the other memory, and boot again. Hopefully, Abit will do another bios spin, otherwise, you are left with this hack.Zoomer - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - link
Wish you could plug abit's use of the 882D more, it seems to be an excellent realtek chipset. It matches the x-fi in the 3d rightmark tests and is competitive with it even in games. Excellent job!Another thing: Could you guys do some objective listening tests to the audio output? Blind A/B switches between the HDA and onboard audio using good quality speakers and/or headphones will be welcome. :)
Gary Key - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link
Our next step in audio testing, besides subjective remarks, will be doing objective audio tests (besides sampling output from RMAA 5.5) on each new codec implemented on a board. We are still deciding how to do this and my personal preference is to provide a download link to a high quality audio output file from each codec tested. These files would be a standardized clip from a music selection, movie scene, and game sequence. The question is if we will receive permission from the involved parties to allow distribution and obviously what choice of equipment to utilize for the audio capture without distorting the file before playback through the on-board codec or discreet card. Something on the list to do besides new creating new benchmarks also....... :)
Zoomer - Saturday, March 25, 2006 - link
Oh sorry, I meant to say subjective blind listening tests. But that might be a good idea too. To avoid licensing issues, you could use public domain music. However, the quality of the client output hardware and the recording method used would taint results.Duplex - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link
A suggestion to develop the audiotest is that you measure 1. the latency from input(ad) to "software" and 2. from input(ad) to "software" to output(da) with or without some well defined effect applied.Realtek: We don't support ASIO & GSIF directly in our driver.
For ASIO, there is an "universal ASIO driver for WDM audio" available on ASIO4ALL. Please refer to http://www.asio4all.com">http://www.asio4all.com. It is free for end-users.
Zoomer - Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - link
If I am reading it correctly, you are saying the primary slot is the 4th from the cpu, or in the middle of the board and will cover 1 pci slot when used.If that is correct, I suspect this will be a deal breaker for many. It effectively transforms the board to having 1 PCI slot or even none at all, and 2 usable but useless pcie slots, 1 1x and another 8x.
Gary Key - Friday, March 24, 2006 - link
Yes, the primary x16 slot is the lower x16 slot on the board. If you use a X1900XT (dual slot card) as an example you will render the PCI slot next to it useless.
Zoomer - Saturday, March 25, 2006 - link
Well, I think it was a bad decision on abit's part. Why leave the top part of the board free while overcrowding the bottom? End users are suffering from these strange board design because of nvidia's SLI now.PS: Yes, I do think SLI is a terribly bad idea.
Operandi - Sunday, March 12, 2006 - link
Excellent review I particularly liked the coverage on the fan control, good work.