Shuttle AK32L Motherboard Same as AK31?

[Guest]

I currently own a AK31 rev 3.1 motherboard, and like it a lot, my friend is looking for a new motherboard so i recomended the board to him, but he doesn't want to have to buy new DDR memory to replace his SD memory. So he saw the AK32L on shuttle's website(it supports SD and DDR). I was wondering are these boards pretty much the samething or is there something else different. I was just wondering, becuz I've heard a lot about the AK31 i bought, and there's a lot of reviews for it, but I couldn't find a single thing on the AK32L.

-Mark

 

[tilepusher]

Hey M,

NO.

When looking at mobo's the main thing to look for is not the brand, but the CHIPSET. The AK31A or Version 3 uses a Via KT266A(this is the enhanced/faster chipset, noted by the "A" suffix by Via). The AK32L uses the slower Via KT266 chipset, & some say has major conflict problems. The best performing SD-Ram mobo is the ECS mobo using the SiS735 chipset, but many people myself included have had DOA ECS mobo's, so unless you have a lot of free time & know what you are doing, I would not get this mobo. The Ali Magik 1 is another good chipset that is found in dual ram platform mobo's, most people say it is very stable, but it does not perform that well.

Bottom line the Via KT266A is light years better than the KT266 chipset. There is no "Great" chipset for SD-Ram. If you buy a SD-Ram mobo(yes, even the dual ram setups), you will get sub-par performance.

Peace Out.............tile

It would be nice if everyone gave too much information about their system & problems.

 

[Guest]

Ok, he decided to get the AK31 now, and just pay extra for new DDR memory, thanks for the help.

-Mark