uATX Results

[JKing76]

Unless power measurements are important to you, in which case the real article is still anxiously awaited.

 

[JKing76]

x

 

[deansdad]

the "real article" is obviously, at this point in time, of no concern to AT/gary. Sad state of affairs.
That the fanboys continue to defend their actions is sad.
Gary has steadfastly refused to post his intentions in this thread for way too long....
He initiated the thread, folks took him at his word, and they continue to check the thread on a daily basis, anxiously awaiting the results of what was promised.
Every one of those "hits" is bucks in the pocket...
None of us resent the fact that AT is a business and the "hits" are what pay the bills.
Most thinking individuals do, however, take exception to being used.
If you want to be a legitimate "review website"...AND you promise (as Gary did) a review of these boards...then do what you say you are going to do.
Anyone can understand and accept "personal tragedies" and problems in your personal life.....that card was played and everyone cut the appropriate amount of slack when it was.
When it's abused....as it was here, trust goes out the window.
Fanboys will continue to make excuses.....other fanboys will buy into them..that's sad but understandable...what's even sadder is that gary and AT will lose respect in the eyes of those that understand that a man's word means something.
Reasons why you can't do what you promised are understandable...the first time you use them...the second time they become somewhat suspect but most people will cut you some slack...shxxxt happens...
The third time (or the refusal to address the issue as happened here)..one has to be a fool to not see the arrogance.
"Respect" really does matter.......it's earned by actions.....it's lost exactly the same way

 

[FireTech]

Originally posted by: Kreed
Well, I couldn't hold out any longer and went with the Asus M2A-VM HDMI. Let's hope I don't regret my decision.

I don't think you will (I'm looking at it too) but please post here with your thought.

I don't know what's holding Gary up,...

That's fairly obvious and unfortunately if you're a cynic, partially answered in posts above

.. but I sure hope it's not because the boards are not really ready for mainstream use. Manufacturers shouldn't really be releasing them to the public if they haven't been fully tested.

True, but we still don't know which boards they are at this stage due to the article being M.I.A. for so long.

Gary shouldn't be their guinea pig.

No, that's wrong. WE shouldn't be their guinee pigs. Gary at least gets paid to do this stuff and report on the results. I'm sure he doesn't personally pay for his review boards out of his pocket.
We however, have to work to pay for ours, which is why we were waiting patiently for the review results...

 

[tooat]

Text
Abit AN-M2 forsale at Newegg for $87. Been waiting for this board like so many others for sure. Think I'll wait for a review.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: tooat
Text
Abit AN-M2 forsale at Newegg for $87. Been waiting for this board like so many others for sure. Think I'll wait for a review.

Isn't that the lower end version? For their previous NF-M2 series, IIRC the lower end one wasn't the overclocking monster that the higher end one was.

 

[FireTech]

Correct Zap, the AN-M2 HD is the top spec version. The boys over at abit forums are keeping their eyes on its progress....

 

[deansdad]

Originally posted by: FireTech
Correct Zap, <snip>
The boys over at abit forums are keeping their eyes on its progress....

And if "the boys at AT".....were men of their word - there would be no need for referrals to other sites.
Yeah...I know..."referrals" are ok, good to get other opinions, etc (fanboy pablum spewing).....that's not the point.

edit: just so there is no misunderstanding firetech/zap....present company excluded when it comes to the "fanboy" reference <g>

 

[FireTech]

Originally posted by: deansdadedit: just so there is no misunderstanding firetech/zap....present company excluded when it comes to the "fanboy" reference <g>

No offence taken!
I'm utterly neutral when it comes to kit and hence why I was looking forward to Gary's µATX review - I just want to know what is best for my needs.
Ultimately I'm restricted by what kit is available in Australia [however I am in the UK currently so will see what is available here now ] but with the AMD A64 x2 price cuts due on the 9th July and Intel on the 22nd, the delay may actually be working in my favour

 

[Skott]

Over at XS they seem to have hit a wall at 300 so far on the ABIT AN-M2 mobo. Not sure if that was the HD version or the lesser version though.

 

[deansdad]

Originally posted by: FireTech

I'm utterly neutral when it comes to kit and hence why I was looking forward to Gary's µATX review - <snip> - but with the AMD A64 x2 price cuts due on the 9th July and Intel on the 22nd, the delay may actually be working in my favour

Odd sort of way the "delay" worked in my favor/favour as well - kinda, sorta <g>. After what seemed like hundreds of hours trying to come to a decision on the "best" µATX I finally threw in the towel-found a decent enough looking case (NZXT) that would take full size ATX mobo and went with tried and true Gigabyte DS3/E4300.
Since the whole HTPC thing is uncharted territory for me and I still don't really have a good handle on exactly WHAT I want/expect this box to do I figured it was just time to get off the proverbial pot...quit waiting for promises to be kept that likely never will. HD is still a ways off in the future and it quickly became obvious that there is a ton to learn just on the SD side so dive in and get started.
I'll let the dust settle on the cutting edge stuff, try and wrap my mind around exactly what it is I want/need, wait out the next round of price cuts, and maybe even wait til the fat lady sings<g>.
FWIW....if I had gone micro now it would have been Abit F-I90HD

 

[FireTech]

Agree on the 'jump in and get started' attitude

Originally posted by: deansdad
FWIW....if I had gone micro now it would have been Abit F-I90HD

Hmmm, true but it seems to be having issues on the original release and recent bios releases (non-beta bios #13 is due soon) but doesn't really matter to us.

With the delay, Gary might even have time to include the G35 chipset MB's in the review. I think it's officially launched in around 90 days time isn't it?

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: deansdad
the "real article" is obviously, at this point in time, of no concern to AT/gary. Sad state of affairs.
That the fanboys continue to defend their actions is sad.
Gary has steadfastly refused to post his intentions in this thread for way too long....
He initiated the thread, folks took him at his word, and they continue to check the thread on a daily basis, anxiously awaiting the results of what was promised.
Every one of those "hits" is bucks in the pocket...
None of us resent the fact that AT is a business and the "hits" are what pay the bills.
Most thinking individuals do, however, take exception to being used.
If you want to be a legitimate "review website"...AND you promise (as Gary did) a review of these boards...then do what you say you are going to do.
Anyone can understand and accept "personal tragedies" and problems in your personal life.....that card was played and everyone cut the appropriate amount of slack when it was.
When it's abused....as it was here, trust goes out the window.
Fanboys will continue to make excuses.....other fanboys will buy into them..that's sad but understandable...what's even sadder is that gary and AT will lose respect in the eyes of those that understand that a man's word means something.
Reasons why you can't do what you promised are understandable...the first time you use them...the second time they become somewhat suspect but most people will cut you some slack...shxxxt happens...
The third time (or the refusal to address the issue as happened here)..one has to be a fool to not see the arrogance.
"Respect" really does matter.......it's earned by actions.....it's lost exactly the same way

Man the way you have put it makes me feel used.

I once sent him G.K an email and he promptly replied to it, gave me a feeling of hands on diligence.
Could it be that he has forgotten this thread that he started?
It seems out of character for him but then again I don?t know him personally.
You would think that he would respond to this thread to stop his reputation from sliding.
I?m not a fan boy of anyone; it?s hard for me to accept that A/T is resorting to Vapour Reviews employing gutter tactics to get more site Hits.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I gave up on the review back in early May.
The 690G article came out in early March and commented on how it would be compared with the GeForce 6100 and 6150 in early April in the form of a motherboard roundup.
Gary created the roundup request thread in mid March (3/14 to be exact) and to date, there has been nothing!

At this point, I just don't rely on AT for any hardware news or reviews. It is pathetic how many excuses were made (waiting on new BIOS, failed boards, family issues, corrupted hard drives, etc.).
Why not just be honest and say it was too much work and other things sounded more interesting.
I wonder if anything was ever done in terms of testing. This could have been nothing more than a theoretical discussion as far as us consumers/readers are concerned.

There will be no roundup, nor will there be any uATX motherboard reviews. The only reason I keep checking this thread is to laugh at how pathetic it is. We all patiently wait for something that just won't exist. If I weren't active in F@H, the lack of committment from Gary would leave such a sour feeling that I think I would ignore AT all together.

 

[FireTech]

The sad thing is how easily this whole stuff-up has damaged Gary and Anandtech's reputation....

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: FireTech
The sad thing is how easily this whole stuff-up has damaged Gary and Anandtech's reputation....

Its water off a ducks back, no one from Anandtech has even tried to address this thread.

 

[erwos]

I'm still waiting for more mATX boards with 2-3 PCI-E x1 slots. The F-I90HD is a nice little board, but the insane reliability problems and lack of firewire make it very hard to buy. More and more stuff is available for PCI-E at this point, including some more interesting things like ExpressCard adapters and (soon) TurboMemory modules.

I dream of an X38 mATX board with 2 PCI-E x1 and 2 PCI-E x16, but that seems like a pipe dream. Too bad.

So, Gary, do any of the P35 mATX boards you're looking at have more than one PCI-E x1 slot?

 

[Mr Vain]

Originally posted by: erwos
I'm still waiting for more mATX boards with 2-3 PCI-E x1 slots. The F-I90HD is a nice little board, but the insane reliability problems and lack of firewire make it very hard to buy. More and more stuff is available for PCI-E at this point, including some more interesting things like ExpressCard adapters and (soon) TurboMemory modules.

I dream of an X38 mATX board with 2 PCI-E x1 and 2 PCI-E x16, but that seems like a pipe dream. Too bad.

So, Gary, do any of the P35 mATX boards you're looking at have more than one PCI-E x1 slot?

Just send him an email with your question and also get some clarification about this thread and the Mobo roundup.

gary.key@anandtech.com

We will be waiting for some feedback from you.

 

[Gary Key]

The uATX articles start next week. In fact, the rest of my June and early July schedule starting next week is dedicated to uATX articles except for a USB flash drive roundup. I deeply apologize for the delays, but the NV7025/7050 boards needed a new series of drivers to come up to speed, had not expected the Computex show, and to a certain degree, I bit off more than I could chew up front. Also, I brought the ASRock, abit, and Foxconn 7050/7025 boards back with me from Computex along with a couple of G33 boards from Intel and Gigabyte.

 

[Wirrunna]

Gary, we are all looking forward to the series.
I hope you include connecting the motherboards with HDMI outputs to 1920x1080 capable TVs using HDMI cables as this is what most will be used for rather than gaming.
I have yet to see a review that actually has connected a mobo via HDMI to a Sony Bravia X or Samsung at 1920x1080 and commented on the playback of DVD, HD-DVD or Blu Ray.

 

[renethx]

Gary, one problem that should be definitely addressed is if GeForce 7050 PV has enough power to decode H.264 1080p. There are so many contradictory reports.

• HARDSPELL.COM tested it and confirmed that it has enough power for H.264 1080p with X2 3800+.
  
• ASRock ALiveNF7G-HDready explicitly states "Supports 720p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback". The minimum hardware requirement is X2 5200+, DDR2-800 2 x 1GB, Vista 64. It's just for 720p.
  
• Most users have not succeeded in playing back H.264 1080p contents smoothly yet.

 

[tomatom]

The uATX articles start next week. In fact, the rest of my June and early July schedule starting next week is dedicated to uATX articles except for a USB flash drive roundup. I deeply apologize for the delays, but the NV7025/7050 boards needed a new series of drivers to come up to speed, had not expected the Computex show, and to a certain degree, I bit off more than I could chew up front. Also, I brought the ASRock, abit, and Foxconn 7050/7025 boards back with me from Computex along with a couple of G33 boards from Intel and Gigabyte.

! GO , GARY , GO !

1. CHEAPER MEMORY +

2. CHEAPER CPUS < 7-07 > +

3. 690G + HDMI MOBOs

! ITS GONNA BE A ~ MUST READ ~ ARTICLE !

 

[FireTech]

Originally posted by: Wirrunna
Gary, we are all looking forward to the series.
I hope you include connecting the motherboards with HDMI outputs to 1920x1080 capable TVs using HDMI cables as this is what most will be used for rather than gaming.
I have yet to see a review that actually has connected a mobo via HDMI to a Sony Bravia X or Samsung at 1920x1080 and commented on the playback of DVD, HD-DVD or Blu Ray.

Seconded!
I really want to know which of these boards has the the best HTPC credentials - using the onboard graphics of course.

and it's all going to be decided in time for the next round of CPU price cuts

 

[bpt8056]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
The uATX articles start next week. In fact, the rest of my June and early July schedule starting next week is dedicated to uATX articles except for a USB flash drive roundup. I deeply apologize for the delays, but the NV7025/7050 boards needed a new series of drivers to come up to speed, had not expected the Computex show, and to a certain degree, I bit off more than I could chew up front. Also, I brought the ASRock, abit, and Foxconn 7050/7025 boards back with me from Computex along with a couple of G33 boards from Intel and Gigabyte.

Looking forward to the 7050 results especially with H.264 1080p performance.

 

[yehuda]

Gary, please remember to mention, for each of the boards, how you like the chipset cooling.