Abit KN8 opinions?

D

dejacky

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
346
I'm about to purchase a Abit KN8 based pc with a AMD 3200 Venice CPU. The computer will not be overclocked, but I need it to be stable. Consistent and reliable important is Priority one. How reliable are these motherboards? It will have the following specs:

CoolerMaster Centurion Case
Abit KN8 nForce 4 Motherboard
AMD 3200 Venice + Zalman 7700 Copper HSF
Kingston x2 512mb (1Gb)
Western Digital Caviar 160Gb Sata 3.0Gbs / 8Mb Cache
Samsung Lightscribe Dvd/CD RW Burner
Radeon X300SE GPU 256Mb
D-Link Wireless Netword Card
RaidMax 450w PSU
Logitech Cordless Keyboard/Mouse Combo (Black)
Logitech X-230 Speakers 2.1 ( Left/Right + Sub)

Does anyone have any problems or compatibility issues with these motherboards and above setups? I need to install a dial-up modem. Is there one you all recommend in particular that is compatible?
 
I don't own that motherboard personally, but I own the AN8-SLI and the AN832-SLI and both of them are very stable. I have yet to see a BSOD on both of them. So I wouldn't see why the KN8 would be any different.
The only issues I see with the NF4 chipset in general is memory compatibility. I have seen many threads of people hoping to solve the memory issue by swapping motherboard vendors to no avail. So if you memory is good quality you should be good to go.
Edit: Your PSU might be a problem, as I wouldn't recommend that brand, but I would try it first and upgrade if needed.
 
The KN8 is solid but like any performance mobo it likes good, clean power & decent RAM.
As lgestle mentioned RaidMax wouldn't normally be considered great PSUs.
 
They make KN8 Ultra's now, haven't seen the KN8 in a while.

The network controllers can be an issue. I've got one and had to replace with a NIC
in a matter of months. Personally I'd go with a Jetway GT4L.
 
They use the same ethernet controller that everyone else does on their nF4 boards so there is no reason that there should be more problems on the KN8 than on any other comparable mobo.
 
There's 5 separate comments about the flakey LAN on just the first 2 user review pages
at newegg.

'LAN Controller crapped out after 4 months'
'Onboard LAN is worthless!'
'onboard LAN no good, didn't work at all'
'The onboard LAN isn't the best'
'Onboard LAN is worthless, disable it in bios and use a PCI NIC'

There's something going on.
 
My Abit KN8 Ultra is working flawlessly for just about one year now.
It has proven to be rock-stable and I've never had any problems with the integrated NIC.
 
abit has some solid boards and generally the same rules apply for all nf4 boards.they are quality p/supply and good ram.if your not going to be o/clocking then a good abit,asus or msi board would be fine.also check out the asus a8n-e as its a solid board and the layout is better than the abit board.the price is about the same for either board.go with whichever board you like better as you cant really make the wrong decision.they are all winners.....
i know for a fact that the asus board works with kingston 2/512 ddr 3200 ram as i built a couple with that ram.your p/supply could be better.raid max is a low line psu.both the asus and abit boards will give you some moderate o/clocking too with stock voltages and still be a stable platform.you should be able to get to 2500mhz with no trouble if your interested.why not free speed and no temp increase.well have fun with your rig and good luck...its a very nice mid level 939 setup.
 
arcturus said:
There's 5 separate comments about the flakey LAN on just the first 2 user review pages
at newegg.

'LAN Controller crapped out after 4 months'
'Onboard LAN is worthless!'
'onboard LAN no good, didn't work at all'
'The onboard LAN isn't the best'
'Onboard LAN is worthless, disable it in bios and use a PCI NIC'

There's something going on.
Click to expand...
let's face it nF4 wasn't particularly known for trouble-free ethernet although that's largely down to drivers & the nVidia NAM.
 
Then you would expect the controller complaints to span other NF4 boards with the
same degree as Abit. That's not happening.
 
well I've had several abit nF4 boards & didn't have any ethernet problems on any (other than NAM related).
However, if you look you will find reports of ethernet problems on Asus, DFI, MSI etc. etc.
 
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