Abit KN9 Ultra

[pipe13]

HI Michael! Nice review, but you left out mention (other than in the spec list) of the one feature that sets Abit apart from *all* other enthusiast board makers save Asus: support for ECC memory. Me, I like multiple PCIe slots and dual GigE and SATAII and high-def audio as much as the next guy, but my idea of "enthusiastic" computing is multi-hour (or day) HPC modelings & simulations, and ECC is a requirement. Overclockability is of interest only as a general indicator of engineering quality, and stability at stock speeds. Competition is good, but Abit isn't going to continue to make the not inconsiderable effort needed to support ECC if they don't get any feedback that their efforts are noticed, appreciated, and used.

To that end, last March I found myself in the market for a home for a new Opty 170. I *wanted* cool, quiet, reliable, 2xPCIe x16, high-def audio, GigE, SATAII, and firewire -- but I *required* ECC. In the S939 market ECC meant Tyan, Abit, and Asus. Cool & Quiet meant ATi RD480 or RD580. Reasonable cost meant RD480. Best audio (ALC882) meant Abit AT8, so that's what I went with and no regrets: 4GB Crucial ECC with (afaict) all the requisite bios support settings. Fedora Core 5&6 no problems, though I've had it from an Nvidia support engineer that the RD480 requires kernel 2.6.14 or later. Just to boot. Whatever.

My experience thusfar is that Abit does ECC right (or is that correct?), a fact that we should help become known outside the confines of their labs and Asus.

Thanks!

[shadowplay]

In the review I've see that, Abit KN9 Ultra, can suply the memory at least 1.8V (In the images of bios).

I know Abit KN9 SLI support memory with 2.0Volts, and this Abit KN9 Ultra, can also support? This is very important for me.

Thanks ;)

[Michael]

In the review I've see that, Abit KN9 Ultra, can suply the memory at least 1.8V (In the images of bios).

I know Abit KN9 SLI support memory with 2.0Volts, and this Abit KN9 Ultra, can also support? This is very important for me.

Thanks ;)

Welcome to the forums.

The KN9 Ultra BIOS supports up to 2.30V for the DDR2 memory.

[shadowplay]

Michael Larabel, congratulations for your great review of Abit KN9 Ultra and thank's for the information.

[riotnerd]

I am setting up a new system
Abit KN9-sli AMD X2 4600
1Gb(2x512)Corsair TwinX PC5400
3DFuzion 7600GS 256MB PCI-E

After installing Fadora core 5 x86_64bit the system hangs when loading the firewall.
?any help?

I have tried Kubuntu 64bit Alt CD the install works but I can not login and the system kernel panics.

The Abit is on the latest 1.5 bios.
New system If I new hardware I can exchange at Frys

Thank you.

[Michael]

Are you using updated Fedora ISOs, or the original ones? If you're running the original ones, you can grab the updated ones from the Fedora Unity project. After the installation it should run smoothly. Likewise, Fedora Core 6 will be out in a matter of weeks.

[riotnerd]

Yes I down loaded the iso files from http://fedora.redhat.com/ Yesterday Sep 21 2006, I would like to have a workstation ASAP I have been with out for a week and its driving me MAD.

AnyWay I only have 13 day left to return my hardware if it does not work.

Thank you.

[Michael]

http://torrent.fedoraunity.org/unity/FC-5-x86_64-DVD-Unity-20060818.torrent/view Give that respin a shot to see if it will boot right. It's all the updates applied up to last month. It should fix the situation.

[riotnerd]

Thx.
Q. so my video card is not going to be a problem for me?

PS I realy like the review on this site.

[Michael]

Thanks.

A NVIDIA 7600GS? No, it shouldn't be a problem at all. You can install the closed-source drivers from NVIDIA.com. If you run into any other problems just create a thread with the issue.

[riotnerd]

Michael,
Thanks for all you help with this board on the fourm
I was able to insall linux just only after setting the Corsair twin2x1024-5400c4 memory to 533mhz in the bios, I have also tried (675mhz 4-4-4-12 setting) and 400mhz no change in stablity. WORKED :) for the install

My problem now is that both windows and linux locks up after 10-15 min uses.


I have a 7 day to return part or all of my system. any thought. Can you suggest another system more stable? or maybe should I just try to return the KN9-sli for a new one.

Thanks for your time

[Michael]

riotnerd,

Are you doing anything in particular when it locks up? Even if the system is idling will it still lock up? It actually sounds like it might be a RAM issue. Did you try flashing the BIOS?

[riotnerd]

The bios is current.

It has lockedup just sitting, I also use guild wars to test windows. and that dump tile game (which is adictive) in linux.

What would you suggest for memory.

Thanks for your help

[Michael]

It's surprising to hear issues from Corsair XMS memory.

Have you tried removing one of the sticks, and then turning it on and letting it idle to see if the problem occurs, and then to swap the sticks and see if it goes away? That could mean one of the sticks is defective.

Try that out and see what happens, or possibly swapping it for a new set at Frys.

[riotnerd]

Ok I tried on stick at a time One worked most of the time. the other would not post. just long beep pause the long beep.

I exchange the memory pair

Tried it again same thing some time one stick worked other times long beeps.

I will try to exchange the mother board. after that I'm thinking a new brand.

Thx.

[Michael]

Did you exchange the memory for the same pair or a different model? If it was for the same model, it could be a compatibility problem since it sounds like one stick works partially.

Otherwise, you could try a different motherboard.