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  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    I've never associated anything from Realtek with "high end".
  • JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    Realtek's ALC1150 chip bundled with motherboards (that also have isolation from the rest of the components) are pretty high end for majority of users. I'd wager that less than 10% of the human population have golden ears and would be able to audibly discern the difference between a Realtek ALC1150 and some other highend DAC/Amp setup in a double-blind test comparison.

    All things considered, Realtek makes pretty good stuff. Maybe not the best, but the quality for the price is pretty good. If their products were that bad, they wouldn't be marketable.
  • romrunning - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    Realtek has definitely improved in quality. I remember back in the day they made terrible (but cheap) Ethernet & audio solutions. But over the years, they've gotten better - kind of like Hyundai.
  • iwod - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    Yeah they are like a "Good Enough" company for most users. They do continue to innovate and bump out better product. And that is the most important part. Although I do prefer Marvell whenever possible.

    The good thing is that it should lower the price of SSD further. The market now has Marvell, SM, Samsung, and Realtek to choose from.
  • Ian Cutress - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    The latest is the Realtek ALC1220.

    But the major benefit that Realtek has over any other audio company (according to my sources) is that when an OEM partner has an issue and needs an update, Realtek can turn it around in 6 weeks or so. Others in the audio industry quote 18 months on average, sometimes they're as quick as 6mo. Completely different time scales as the audio industry is a lot slower. MB vendors need speed
  • ZeDestructor - Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - link

    To add to that from a consumer standpoint: Realtek audio controllers are also really, really easy to find drivers for (just go to realtek.com.tw or guru3d.com and grab the monster universal package, barring a few special laptops like my M4800), while the mases of C-Media/IDT stuff you're at the mercy of the mobo manufacturer successfully begging them to ship an updated version.
  • PeachNCream - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    It depends on the context. For instance, though I also don't associate Realtek with high-performance market segments, I'd gladly take a Realtek network adapter over something with Killer branding in the same way I'd take unflavored oatmeal for breakfast over a bowl of kitty poop.
  • CheapSushi - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    The Killer "branding" are actually higher quality Qualcomm Atheros chips but with an optional router function software stack.
  • Ian Cutress - Monday, June 25, 2018 - link

    Killer hasn't been Qualcomm Atheros based in years - see any of our content about Killer for the last couple of years. The latest Wi-Fi modules are made by Intel. They do have requirements in hardware, it's not just software you apply over any network controller.
  • PeachNCream - Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - link

    You're not the sort to read replies to your comments and you continue to be wrong about the OEM behind Killer products despite being told previously here in comments...

    https://www.anandtech.com/show/12817/killer-xtend-...

    ...and despite Rivet announcing that change like...I dunno, two years ago. Get with the program there Inexpensive Raw Fish. If you're going to prop up a company's products, at least have a clue what you're talking about.
  • bananaforscale - Saturday, June 30, 2018 - link

    Okay, that 5762 benchmark is impressive. Let's see it in real products and on the market.

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