Review of the Albatron KM18G Pro - So, What's the Verdict?
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Conclusion
Albatron has a hit and miss producthere with the KM18G Pro. It is an nForce2 board that ismicro-ATX, has onboard video capable of playing most games, has 6-channelsound, and LAN - all good things for someone looking to make a smallLAN or HTPC. However, its lack of overclocking options is ratherdisappointing. I know many people would say a Small Form FactorPC does not need voltage options because the goal is quiet computing, and while I agree with that, due to the growing number of small watercooling kits out there, I'd still like to overclock my SFF PC. Heck, ABIThas just announced a line of SFF PCs that have full overclockingoptions via Soft Menu III.
I was looking forward to reviewingthe Albatron KM18G Pro. I am planning on making a Home Theater PCin the near future and thought this board might be the cornerstone ofit. Unfortunately, its lack of voltage options makes it less thanappealing. The XP2100+ that I used for testing this motherboard iscapable of overclocking to greater than 2400MHz, but I was only able toget it to 1950MHz on the KM18G Pro. The CPU needs a little more voltageto do this. I should point out that this may not be the goal ofall the people considering this motherboard. It is stilloverclockable and has numerous BIOS tweaks that will appeal tomost. Finally, it's small size and numerous onboard goodies makeit a good motherboard for building an affordable PC.
PROS
CONS
I may have been hard on KM18G Pro,but that is primarily due to the reputation Albatron is trying tocreate for itself. They are moving closer and closer to the levelof respectability that ABIT and ASUS today enjoy. Because of that, Iwas really expecting a lot from this motherboard. I guess even Albatronhas been dissatisfied with this motherboard; they lack ofBIOS updates for it. I think they are preparing an nForce2 Ultramotherboard to take its place.
Overall, I feel the KM18G Pro is asolid motherboard, a few oversights away from being ideal. Hopefully Albatron's nForce2 Ultra motherboard will also be micro-ATXand address these problems.
Thanks to Albatron for supplying thisreview sample. Also, thanks to you all for stopping by and reading thereview. If you have any questions feel free to stop by the DHW/OCA forums.
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