VIA Chipset Motherboards

[michaelst]

I'm doing a new build this summer, and wondered about using a board with a VIA chipset, specifically the PT890.

So, I do a search, and not one reference to VIA.

What's the deal?
Do any of you guys use them? They are a lot cheaper than boards with Intel.
They seem to support all FSB speeds.

are there any drawbacks?

 

[PCD]

Via chipsets are slower then Intel and nVidia and unusable for OC'ing. Via missed the train seriously back when Athlon 64 hit the shelves (yes, it's that long ago).

 

[rodney_ws]

Unless you have a VERY specific reason for wanting to go the VIA route... DON'T!

 

[HYST3R]

we sell those boards at my tech shop, they are the bottom of the budget barrel as far as im concerned. some even have the CPU soddered onto the board itself eliminating future upgrades entirely. if your looking for OK performance at the cheapest price possible go with VIA, anything above that stay away from it.

 

[michaelst]

So.. other than NOT being Intel, and perhaps a cost vs speed trade-off, no one has sited anything specific. Asus makes quite a few VIA boards, and they seem to all have the same other periphrials and capibilities as thier Intel and nVidia boards.


They wouldn't make them if they didn't sell, and they wouldn't sell if they didn't perform. So, is it perhaps a bit of hardware snobbery?

 

[jajig]

is it perhaps a bit of hardware snobbery?

I believe it to be partly that.

Via used to make great chipsets back with the original Athlon and early AthlonXP (eg KT133a) but now pretty much just make average performing chipsets at great prices. I don't have any of their newest boards, but I do have several socket 754 systems using via chips and they perform well are stable and have a reasonable overclocking ability.

Having said that all my experience with via is with AMD systems so it maybe a different story with Intel.

 

[TSIMonster]

So, is it perhaps a bit of hardware snobbery?

Dude, why did you even register for the forums? They are bottom of the line. For the same prices you can get decent Nvidia, ATi, or Intel chipset boards in comparison. Choose VIA b/c you have to... not b/c you want to...

Also, Pentium 4 sucked and it sold. Ford Escorts sucked, and they sold. Just because something doesn't perform, doesn't mean it won't sell..... :roll:

 

[utaka95]

Via makes reliable boards, and their all in one driver pack and simple layouts actually make them decent boards for first timers. And there are a LOT of hardware snobs on this forum - don't kid yourself Tsimonster. I've RMA'd far more Nvidia boards than Via's.

 

[TSIMonster]

I am not saying their bad. I have a 6 year old VIA board just chirping along. I've never had an nVidia board so I can't comment there.

I think ViA makes some good stuff for budget systems, but you can't tell me you think they perform well for gamers. Like I said, if you need something unsual, VIA probably offers it. If you need a decent budget board for office work, VIA is the way to go, but when you can get a better chipset board for the same price.... well

 

[TSIMonster]

And there are a LOT of hardware snobs on this forum - don't kid yourself Tsimonster.

Hey, I agree, but this guy is trying to make more of VIA then there is to be made. Kinda like Baron is the AMD...