K8X800 Pro II Bios:

As you can see the bios give the user complete voltage control over the AGP, CPU, DDR, LDT, SB, and NB. In addition the K8X800 Pro II allows the user to reduce the multiplier and set the CPU Host Frequency in 1mhz steps from 200 to 300. Normally this combination would make for an ideal overclocking conditions. Complete control over all chip voltages and in small increments. Unfortunately the K8X800 Pro II lacks a working AGP/PCI lock as discussed before. This means that beyond a certain range of overclocking your PCI and AGP slots are working way out of range and devices will begin to fail and lock the system. Depending upon the quality of those devices and their tolerances you will either get more or less overclocking. The K8X800 Pro II did very well for not having a working AGP/PCI lock. The system managed an overclock of 2239 mhz at an HTT of 235.8 mhz. Anything above this and the AGP and PCI were too far out of range and would produce errors or system locks.

 

The K8X800 Pro II has the annoying quirk of having a particular message playing after the system locks. (This happens much more often when you review hardware as TWL does, stress testing and overclocking until hardware will no longer function.) The K8X800 Pro II would often recover from a system lockup with the message that something may be wrong with the hard drive. While this message only occurred after a system crash, it was annoying that the system couldn't manage to restart immediately without an error. The error 1 out of every 5 system restarts that occurred after a crash or lockup. In defense of the K8X800 Pro II, this error was always overcome by a simply hitting the system reset button. The K8X800 Pro II never lost system bios settings, nor required a CMOS clear during TWL testing.

Albatron Support:

Something that consumers often forget when purchasing a motherboard is manufacturer support. The Albatron website offers some of the best support in terms of finding the information you need. Support for the K8X800 Pro II includes the ability to download your manual online, device drivers for every onboard component, Bios versions, and FAQ. Check out the full listing here. All of the drivers available are dated and have revision notes, making the selection of needed drivers easier. Albatron has its customers covered very well. This is certainly a major factor in selecting the board you will want at the heart of your system. Lack of support can lead to problems should a user lose the driver CD, need to update the bios, or seek information on compatibility and features in the future.