abit KN9 SLI

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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abit KN9 SLI - The KN9 SLI is among the first boards from the newly merged abit, based on the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI chipset. The competition in the AM2 arena is tough, is abit tough enough to regain some of its lost respect?


I was expecting much more than this motherboard delivered. Abit has long since represented enthusiast motherboards and this was what I thought was delivered. Sadly I was wrong. Not only did we get dismal overclocks from the abit KN9 SLI, we were also faced with a motherboard that was not stable under load.
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Did I miss something or was nothing about stability problems mentioned until the conclusion? I saw some nice performance numbers (to the point of platform-leading), disappointing OC and then Kyle chiming in on the conclusion page with how disappointing and unstable it was.
 
zg75 said:
Did I miss something or was nothing about stability problems mentioned until the conclusion? I saw some nice performance numbers, disappointing OC and then Kyle chiming in on the conclusion page with how disappointing and unstable it was.
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Well, stability and being able to run a set of benchmarks are two totally different things. I always cover stability in the conclusion. To me, it is the absolute most important factor when it comes to reviewing a motherboard. If you want some more information on stability, here is an excerpt from my notes.

Running 3X Prime over night with no extra fan, two P95s crashed. PWM temps on the board with one instance running were 140 to 150. Reupping to 3 instances, PWM temp immediately went up to 160F+. It did run for at least 6 to 8 hours before crashing, testing with a fan next. Full cooling across the motherboard made no difference in Prime stability testing. No reason to test 3D if CPU is flaky. Moving on.
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I realize that bench-ability != stability, I just could've sworn you've given us more stability info prior to the conclusion before, or at least more explanation on where the board fell down. It just felt abrupt in this particular review. The notes help a lot, though, thanks Kyle!
 
I have been running this board for nearly two weeks. Its just as they say nice board but poor bios, USB lock up issues, and stability issues.

Kyle, I would love to get a hold of the new bios you have as mine wont run OCZ ram period or if it does at lower speeds and no dual channel, as discused on numerous boards on the net (the board has issues with any ram that doesnt have a micron IC). I wonder if the bios has the newer NV microcode. Also the ver 1.3 bios uses the old Nvidia chipset microcode which as far as I can tell is most of the boards issues. MSI and others have already released bios updates with the new NVidia microcode fixing ram compatibility issues etc. OCZ support forums: http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22896 and http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22133


Pete
 
I have this board, and I am having not temperature related stability issues. It will randomly lock up. The funny part is I know when it's coming because the LED on my USB mouse will blink off.. then the mouse will react slowly, then poof lockup. I usually have enough time to exit whatever program I'm using, save and reboot, but only if I notice it when it first occurs. I've checked the temps, and nothing is over 43c (minus the HD, but it runs at 50c all the time, checked with WD and this is apparently normal). Did I get a bogus board? Or did you run into this problem? BTW this happens at the desktop with no programs running, as well as WoW, Quake 4, and Excel (that's all I have on the machine till I fix the stability issue). Should I just warranty the board?
 
If any of you want the Beta BIOS they sent me last night, drop me an email to [email protected] and I will pass it along. No promises though.
 
sounds like not ready for prime time, when a beta BIOS and USB fixes are part of the purchase/install.

After reading the review I am kinda dissapointed with Abit on this one. i have come to expect more from them. after all, Abit courted the enthusiast specifically and they have delivered some good stuff, but from what i have read, i will look elsewhere if i am buying a 570 based board.
 
update: I am now running SLI and my ram stable so far :) looks like a good fix. It also lockd the PCI bus which will help in OCing
 
xxGriff said:
sounds like not ready for prime time, when a beta BIOS and USB fixes are part of the purchase/install.

After reading the review I am kinda dissapointed with Abit on this one. i have come to expect more from them. after all, Abit courted the enthusiast specifically and they have delivered some good stuff, but from what i have read, i will look elsewhere if i am buying a 570 based board.
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as amdmaddness mentioned BIOS 14 is out today & initial reports are promising.
13 apparently didn't have a PCI lock implemented properly so that's probably why the overclocking was so poor.
 
Beta BIOS' won't fix the issue with this board and PC2-6400 RAM from various manufacturers, according to my source at OCZ. It is a shame that Abit flunked with this board, they have been dissapointing as of late. I've heard nice things about the Foxconn and new Asus Crosshair, those sound like two of the more stable boards out.
 
If you look over at the OCZ support forum there are threads popping up that it is working. I am working with OCZ S.O.E 2x 512mb 800mhz in dual channel and before ver 14 I could only run one at a time. It looks like it does fix it maybe not perfect but so far so good. Who is your source at OCZ Marcus Z.?
 
amdmaddness said:
If you look over at the OCZ support forum there are threads popping up that it is working. I am working with OCZ S.O.E 2x 512mb 800mhz in dual channel and before ver 14 I could only run one at a time. It looks like it does fix it maybe not perfect but so far so good. Who is your source at OCZ Marcus Z.?
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Aww, the issue seems to be with modules that have older SPD files, not just with the motherboard. Two things to look out for. The only problem now is the default voltage is just 1.8V whereas most DDR2-800MHZ needs 2.1V+. Too bad that is not something that can be fixed via SPD, with the exception of EPP-based memory.
 
You know what I wish there was?

On each sub-section, like Motherboards, Video Cards, etc...

I wish there was some kind of "top three editors choice" and "top three readers choice" because I'm getting frustrated lately with [H] constantly saying "You know, this hardware is really really good, but given some issues here and there, we feel there are better choices out there for you with an AM2 processor".

To me, I feel like there is something missing from that last line such as, "... like the XYZ SuperDeluxe from SomeCo."

I just wish that if [H] were going to take the liberty to semi-rip on a product and then state there are better options that the better option just be named point blank and period.

I read all your guys articles but I still feel that there is no bottom line across the board. Is it so wrong to just want to open up you [H]Enthusiast page or motherboard section and at a glance see what is currently the "cream of the crop" / "most desired/recommended" motherboard for AMD solutions / Intel solutions?

Just my 2 cents.

Good review nonetheless and my buddy who is a channel distributor for these guys picked one up and had the same issues you all had.
 
I agree with Knaledge, if something is significantly better (and compareable in price, etc) then what it is!? Having a post/list of current "Editor's Picks" is a great idea, especially if you can break it down by price/performance ranges. :)
 
Quick question:

Have you tested any nForce 570 / 590 boards that overclocked well? I agree the stability issues and delivery of a board with half-baked firmware are a problem -- just wondering if ABIT dropped the ball on the layout or if this is more of a chipset issue.
 
i just picked this board up at my local frys as a combo with a am2 4600 x2.. Dont have it setup yet but will report here shortly.
 
damn thing wount post.. whats the deal?

anyone got any suggetions?
 
so after reading for hours, it looks like its my gold ocz 2gig memory.. ugh... back to frys for something else..
 
Oh well. I love my Abit board anyway. Even though my Abit AN8 board can't OC for ****, I use clockgen and it's been at 2.4ghz stable for a long time.
 
so far so good.. swapped out my ocz ram for some expensive ass xms2 pro and it booted like a champ.
 
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