Live from Taiwan: ATI RD580 Motherboards
by Wesley Fink on March 1, 2006 8:55 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Bottom Line
ATI seemed to turn the corner in having product available at launch with their recent introduction of the X1900XT chipset video cards. Our conversations with Taiwan motherboard manufacturers in late February clearly showed that today's launch of the RD580 chipset will also be accompanied by retail products you can actually buy. It is good to see that ATI is finally able to consistently deliver product at launch. They seem to have turned the corner from the paper launches of 2005.With the introduction of RD580 ATI has a single-chip dual x16 PCIe Corssfire solution to compete with nVidia's top-of-the-line dual x16 PCIe chipset. With a competitive chipset, the fastest current video card in the X1900XT, and the end of paper launches, ATI has had a great start to 2006. The ATI position is further enhanced by the fact that the ATI RD580 is fully compatible with the upcoming AMD AM2 processors alted for relese late in the second quarter.
The Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe will be widely available for purchase today. Street prices are targeted to provide good value in a dual x16 PCIe chipset, with a selling price lower than the nVidia dual X16 A8N32-SLI. The DFI RD580 will follow in 10 days to a week, the Sapphire ships March 20th, and the Abit AT8-32X arrives later in March.
In addition to the Socket 939 RD580 boards, motherboard manufacturers were shpowing a number of AM2 designs based on the ATI RD580 chipset. Many of these prototypes and working models will be on display at Cebit in a couple of weeks. Since RD580 was designed to support AM2 as well as Socket 939 you will see more manufacturers offering the RD580 chipset when AM2 launches in about 3 months.
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bupkus - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
Try the Abit link on page 3. The page 4 link on the drop down list is broke.Gary Key - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
The links have been fixed. Thank you.Beenthere - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
After the long list of mobo problems with the RD480 chipset mobos, which appear to be mobo design issues, not RD480 chipset issues, I wouldn't touch an RD580 chipset mobo with a ten foot pole.AFAIK Asus, Sapphire and other mobo makers have provided no solutions to the long list of problems on their mobos. It's as if the mobo makers have no clue or no interest in their customers? You can go to any mobo maker's website and any hardware review site and find documented problems on these mobos that are inexcusable yet there have been no fixes provided by any of the mobo makers. If a mobo maker can't produce a mobo with a stable Vcore voltage, standard BIOS Vcore voltage options, run standard industry certified PC3200 memory, etc. then they're in the wrong business.
You can be certain if they couldn't fix the problems on the RD480 mobos, they haven't fixed the problems on the RD580 mobos being rushed to market just before the AM2 socket mobos will be released. My guess is if the mobo companies keep dumping crap in to the marketplace, they are gonna kill the market as anyone with a clue isn't gonna buy one defective mobo after another and then have to trash it because it can't even function properly at the default settings of all current AMD mobos. Since PC professionals and hardware review sites have confirmed these problems, it ain't user installation issues, but in reality, mobo design issues. That's why a BIOS upgrade can't fix the problems on the RD480 / RD580 based mobos.
Wesley Fink - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
The RD480 had issues with supplying voltage to the x16 sklots in some Crossfire configurations. It was never really designed for dual slot - which was more an add-on. The RD580 was designed for dual slot from the ground up and is a very robust chipset.matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
Agreed.I have an Asus A8R-MVP, and I've seen the huge variance in the vCore - even at stock. Other than that it's a good value board, but I'll avoid ati's chipsets from here on as a result - not because it's a bad chipset, but because I don't feel the board manufacturers have given proper time to the design.
matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
It was up for a day or so then nothing. I'm guessing it will reappear on launch date.matthewfoley - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
Now there isn't even a page on this review for the Asus A8R32-MVP. What's the deal? NDA?Gary Key - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
The article has been updated. Sorry about Page 1 missing for a moments.DigitalFreak - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
Now if they would get rid of the stupid Master Card requirement for high end Crossfire setups, I'd buy one.DeanO - Monday, February 27, 2006 - link
1st page - "The bargain-priced A8R32-MVP" should be "The bargain-priced A8R-MVP"