This is the first Albatron board I’ve looked at and is one of two recently submitted for review. As most people, I’ve heard good things about the company and its products but have not had the privilege to work with one. Albatron video cards are well known for their great overclocking abilities and I look forward to seeing if the board can continue the short tradition. I must say after reading up on the KX18D Pro II that I’m impressed. As the Athlon XP appears to be on its last leg, it’s refreshing to know that the manufacturers are still out there trying to improve what’s available for the tons of people still using these chips, myself included.

It’s also nice to see that prices are still low on the boards and chips. This makes it easy for anyone to upgrade their current machine and get into a near top of the line chipset board for an easy on the wallet price. If you’ve been thinking of upgrading and have a little bit of dough burning a hole in your wallet, read on as we’ll fill you in on Albatron’s latest Socket A board.

Albatron began its life as Chun in 1984. They were best known for their monitors which, at the time, were all they manufactured. They opened a US facility in 1997. By 1998 they had already staked their claim by winning a large deal to furnish the Salt Lake City Airport with all Flight Display Information. It was not till 2002 that they changed their name to Albatron and entered more markets. Their current CEO is a past bigwig from Gigabyte and his experience with a top 5 mobo manufacturer will certainly be helpful when competing in this market with the likes of Asus, Abit, MSI Gigabyte and DFI. They’re one of only 3 companies in Taiwan to be an Intel Direct Account and an nVidia Certified vendor. This year they proved they were not a follower by being the first to hit 800FSB.

Albatron has impressed quite a few already with their products and we look forward to reviewing these and many more from the other boys in blue!