Review: Tyan’s Thunder K8S Opteron Motherboard

Dom · Jun 18, 2003, 09:49 AM

We first took a look at AMD's Opteron processor late last month, in the form of a couple Opteron 242 processors, an MSI K8D Master-L motherboard, and a gig of speedy DDR memory. While we found the Opteron to be a great performer in a number of applications, we're still left with the feeling of un-tapped potential with the K8 architecture, partially due to the lack of readily available AMD64 operating systems on the market, along with a very minimal amount of compatible hardware to go along with the Opteron processor.
While we're still left without a large variety of Opteron motherboards on the market to choose from, especially those including AGP, the variety of Opteron server motherboards is increasing slowly. MSI's K8D Master-F is out on the market, and boards from not-so-well knowns such as Arima and Rioworks are making their way into densely packed rackmount servers. One of the bigger names in the server arena, Tyan, has just started mass production of their entry into the Opteron marketplace, the Thunder K8S. Following in the grand tradition of Tyan's "Thunder" board line, the Thunder K8S includes nearly every onboard feature one could hope for in a server-class motherboard.

In the server and workstation arenas, price becomes less of an issue in comparison to stability, ease of setup, and having the features that your particular hardware setup requires. Tyan is going at this idea full-force, equipping this board with above and beyond what most people expect from their high-end motherboards, and making sure all of their bases are covered. Let's put Tyan's new flagship server motherboard under the microscope for a closer look, shall we?

Read the review at GamePC.com

Jun 18, 2003, 09:49 AM	#1
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Review: Tyan’s Thunder K8S Opteron Motherboard We first took a look at AMD's Opteron processor late last month, in the form of a couple Opteron 242 processors, an MSI K8D Master-L motherboard, and a gig of speedy DDR memory. While we found the Opteron to be a great performer in a number of applications, we're still left with the feeling of un-tapped potential with the K8 architecture, partially due to the lack of readily available AMD64 operating systems on the market, along with a very minimal amount of compatible hardware to go along with the Opteron processor. While we're still left without a large variety of Opteron motherboards on the market to choose from, especially those including AGP, the variety of Opteron server motherboards is increasing slowly. MSI's K8D Master-F is out on the market, and boards from not-so-well knowns such as Arima and Rioworks are making their way into densely packed rackmount servers. One of the bigger names in the server arena, Tyan, has just started mass production of their entry into the Opteron marketplace, the Thunder K8S. Following in the grand tradition of Tyan's "Thunder" board line, the Thunder K8S includes nearly every onboard feature one could hope for in a server-class motherboard. In the server and workstation arenas, price becomes less of an issue in comparison to stability, ease of setup, and having the features that your particular hardware setup requires. Tyan is going at this idea full-force, equipping this board with above and beyond what most people expect from their high-end motherboards, and making sure all of their bases are covered. Let's put Tyan's new flagship server motherboard under the microscope for a closer look, shall we? Read the review at GamePC.com