Abit AV8 Motherboard

This really isn't much a review of the performance of a motherboard as it is a description of its painstaking unwillingness to work in my new computer. After receiving an Asus A8V rev 1.02 this last summer, I wanted a board that would OC better than 150Mhz on an AMD64 3500. After getting rid of that shameful board, I picked up this Abit AV8 rev 1.1 at Micro Center in Chicago. I couldn't beat the price at a retail store, as it came out to $125 with tax, and I couldn't wait for an online shipment, as that would have stole the weekend and further delayed my computer's (supposed) resurrection. I brought the mobo home and this is what I found.

The packaging on this motherboard is fair, and a bit flashy to say the least. All of its wonderful features are boasted, like Dual Channel support for DDR 400 in up to 4 DIMM slots, 4GB total. It also has (2) IDE 133 ports as well as an onboard GigE port for LAN. Onboard sound is present, in 6-channel form, but I wouldn't ever recommend using it as a dedicated sound board always beats out an onboard solution. 2 serial ATA ports are also present, along with a RAID 1/0 port for SATA support. AGP 8x/4x makes an appearance in the face of the new wave of PCI Express mobos that can support the new PCI-E video cards that have just begun to hit the shelves. But with all of these features, does a mobo really live up to its name if it doesn't even WORK? I think not.

The extras in this package are mediocre, as you get some IDE cables, an I/O shield, a quick start manual and a full blown guide, as well as a driver floppy and a complete driver CD. Nothing much to brag about, as other bundles by MSI and Asus offer much more like programs that can be useful and not just fluff. I could care less about the IDE cables and USB expansion port as I would rather preferred a few extra full retail programs instead. But you can't ask for everything I guess.

Mounting the processor and heatsink/fan was easy, as I have used my Zalman flower sink on the Asus mobo before and they have a very similar layout. I mounted the mobo in the case, and then followed up with adding in the memory, connecting the PSU cables and IDE cables, and finishing up with the front panel connectors for the case. After making a final check, I turned on the soft switch on the PSU and then followed up with turning on the computer. After the fan started on the heatsink, the computer seemed like it was trying to get on its legs. It failed to POST let alone boot into DOS prompt or the BIOS screen. The nifty feature on this mobo that helped my situation was a small little POST code LCD screen on the actual mobo that tells you error codes if something goes berserk. In my case, I was getting a sequential error code of a few sets of numbers, something like 9C and 9E. The mobo would run everything for about 5 seconds, then start flashing these error codes, and stop. No video signal ever came out onto my screen so I was left hanging on these error codes. The problem, however, didn't stop here. I thought nothing much of these codes, as they were probably trying to say that I left something unplugged or a memory stick half plugged in. I check online and in the manual and nothing referred about my situation. Even other users online had posted that they received these same errors with the board and couldn't get a proper response from Abit about it.

I tried my luck with Abit tech support. They claim to have some of the best support in the market, so I gave their email support a shot. I slapped up a report and sent it in, waiting patiently for 1 day…. 2 days…. 5 days. Nothing. I didn't bother calling tech support as every time I tried the phone was either busy or I got an answering machine. Shoddy to say the least. I never got anywhere with them at Abit so I had to find out more on my own.

After much research online and with Antec (my PSU supplier), I decided to RMA my PSU thinking that it was the culprit. Indeed, something was also wrong with it, as it was outputting 14.6V on the 12V line, which was way out of control. After getting a replacement PSU after a week, I put it in, and gave it another run. NOTHING. Same errors as before and nothing was solves. I was shocked and amazed at what I was going thru. This PSU I speak of is an Antec 550 TrueControl, a beast of a PSU with a great warranty behind it. I've had to deal with Antec support over this PSU and they were much more responsive than Abit on this issue. I sent them an email, got a response within 4 hours, and was told to do a voltage check on my leads. After finding out the culprit was the 12V line, I was sent an RMA# and had the PSU shipped to Antec the same day. I had another one coming my way via cross-shipping the next day. That's what I call quality service. Abit might as well be sleeping for all I care, because it sure seems like it from the support they offer.

After going thru all of this, people online had told me that this Abit mobo doesn't like Antec PSUs for some reason but Abit doesn't want to admit it. Supposedly Antec had some issues with their PSUs that they fixed for Abit, but Abit never did their part to fix their mobos so the hardware would be compatible. Makes sense, as Abit now has a class action lawsuit against it for faulty capacitors on mobos that they have produced. Due to all this, and my reluctance to switch PSUs just to use this mediocre board, I returned the Abit board to Micro Center and got an Asus A8V Deluxe v2.0 instead. Although this board still isn't working entirely because of a video card issue I am having, the board boots into Windows and I have already overclocked my processor by 400MHz. The Asus board is much better built, with a quality BIOS and the same features the Abit board features. Both run on VIA's K8T800 Pro chipset for AMD64 machines, which is a top-notch chipset fighting against the nForce 300.

So what can I conclude after going thru all this pain and suffering (well, maybe not that bad)? I have to recommend against buying an Abit board until they fix these issues. Not only are their mobos incompatible with quality PSUs like Antec's best of the best, but their support lacks in every area that a customer expects when they need service, fast. It boasts a boatload of features, with great BIOS updates, but that's all useless when a board fails to even boot. I'm sorry to say that Abit won't be on my top list of mobo makers anytime soon unless I hear different from friends or the net. I had an OK time with my first Asus A8V and plan to further continue using Asus with the new revised mobo I have purchased.



**TEST SYSTEM**
AMD64 (3500)
1GB Corsair DDR400
BFG 6800 Ultra
Antec 550 True Control