a7v333: Why does it support pc2700?

[mcmatt]

This may sound silly or I may be missing something. I bought an Asus A7v333 and I got a stick of pc2700 ram. The bus speed of the motherboard is 266/200 MHz. Why would they support pc2700? Where is the benefit? Why would they even call it the a7v333 if the bus has a max of 266. Just curious since I wanted to buy a barton chip and would like to use the motherboard I had since I had pc2700 Ram until I realized it would not be compatable for the faster bus.

So, am i missing something?

Thanks

 

[mechBgon]

There are several variants of the A7V333, which one do you have? A7V333, A7V333-RAID, A7V333-X or another of the -X family? The "333" comes from the KT333 chipset used on these boards, which supports the DDR333 memory. You can find more info about what CPUs are supported using Asus' CPU Support Tool.

Original-type A7V333's (meaning the A7V333 and A7V333-RAID) do support 333MHz-based Thoroughbred and Barton CPUs if the BIOS is updated to 1016 and if the PCB revision is 2.0 or higher (mine is a 1.02, you can find the revision number printed below the "A7V333" logo on the board).

If you have one of the -X models, PCB 2.01 or later will likewise support 333MHz-based Thoroughbreds and Bartons, too.

Hope that helps! Welcome to the Forums, and if you do have one of the original A7V333's or A7V333-RAID's, you can find quite a bit of end-user info here. There is one update to the info I posted there: Motherboard Monitor can now get you readings directly from the CPU's onboard thermal sensor.

 

[mechBgon]

Ooops, I forgot to edit my link so non-subscribers can access that archived thread. It's fixed now

 

[mcmatt]

That was alot of help. My version is 1.01. So this means I can't get it to a 333 mhz bus right? I am a little dissapointed. I feel misled by Asus the company that I have been so faithful to for years upon years if this is the case.

 

[mechBgon]

You're correct, only the 266MHz-based CPUs will work (officially). On the other hand, in my old 1.02 board, I have run my AthlonXP 1600+ at the 166MHz (DDR333) bus speed, raising it from 1.4GHz to 1.75GHz, so perhaps you could fake it? Dunno myself, if I did have a Barton I would be putting it in Turbo II Maybe in a couple months I can afford a Barton, but what I could use worse right now is a second monitor.

 

[BarryAZ]

At a guess, you purchased that board a while ago or perhaps picked it up recently as a 'like new' board.

But there are possibly two questions here.

1) CPU support -- the 1.01 board with current updates will support up to the XP2400 (and the XP2600 version that works with the 266MHz FSB) as long as you update the BIOS.

2) Memory support -- I believe the PC2700 is supported with even the original board -- not certain of this though.

 

[mcmatt]

Thanks mechBgon for your help. I appreciate it a bunch. Perhaps you have a good link to tell me how to up the bus speed. I don't understand overclocking very well but I do have corsair pc2700 512mb which I understand is good. I also have a Swiftech big honkin heatsink ( I forgot which one but it's the bigee) which means my system could be overclocked some.

BarryAZ: Yep, I got the motherboard a long time ago and I bought it with the pc2700 (which is supported with the original board) in the hopes of upgrading to the then upcoming 333mhz cpus without having to upgrade my motherboard. Oh well. So much for future planning in the pc biz.

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: mcmatt
That was alot of help. My version is 1.01. So this means I can't get it to a 333 mhz bus right? I am a little disappointed. I feel misled by Asus the company that I have been so faithful to for years upon years if this is the case.

Hey - I know the feeling. I bought the Abit KX7-333 without reading the specs only to find out it was basically nothing more than an upgraded KT266A board with no chance for any of the 333FSB processors. Good thing this forum is somewhat anonymous. I felt really stOOpid when I found read up on it. Like my old ASUS, it will run the PC2700 but not the processor to go with it. Man was I hot! Swapped the 3 month old Abit out for the older ASUS which has actually been a better board.

I've been sniffing around for another board. I am in no hurry to upgrade, but with technology being the beast that it is I want to know all that I can before I get another one.

You've come to the right place for your info, bud...

 

[ID]

I have the same problem with my MSI Kt333 Ultra board, supports the ddr333 ram but not the 166 fsb. The funny thing is though that the MSI kt333 Ultra2 board does support the faster front side bus and uses the same chipset. Now I may be a noob here but I fail to understand why the revision number on the board should matter if they use the same chipset. My board came with all documentation stating that it supported the 166 fsb, and I just a bit cheessed that now it all of a sudden dosen't. I feel mislead and ripped off. If someone could explain to me why it dosen't support it at least then I can stop scratching my head and asking why. Would appreciate the help, Thanks!

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: ID
I have the same problem with my MSI Kt333 Ultra board, supports the ddr333 ram but not the 166 fsb. The funny thing is though that the MSI kt333 Ultra2 board does support the faster front side bus and uses the same chipset. Now I may be a noob here but I fail to understand why the revision number on the board should matter if they use the same chipset. My board came with all documentation stating that it supported the 166 fsb, and I just a bit cheessed that now it all of a sudden doesn't. I feel mislead and ripped off. If someone could explain to me why it doesn't support it at least then I can stop scratching my head and asking why. Would appreciate the help, Thanks!

My guess is that it is more marketing hype than anything else. Abit, and probably MSI, played this card to gain part of the market share when the KT333 chipset was released. With many other players now in the higher FSB game, a re-launch of these boards with the higher FSB would keep them in the race. A staged marketing strategy is the key here.

While my Abit box clearly indicated it had the KT333 chipset and supported the memory, they sure did not go out of their way to indicate that the faster FSB was not part of the package. The fault was mine, but I will admit that I read what I wanted and bought it.

Conclusion: Their marketing worked then but it cost them a customer. I am p-o'd now and will never buy another board without checking everything, which is what I should have done in the first place. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fine! I'll take my medicine but it won't happen again!

Abit makes a good board but so do many others, and since an Abit board is certainly not a necessity they are at the bottom of my list now.

Just my opinion.

 

[Wind]

Originally posted by: ID
I have the same problem with my MSI Kt333 Ultra board, supports the ddr333 ram but not the 166 fsb. The funny thing is though that the MSI kt333 Ultra2 board does support the faster front side bus and uses the same chipset. Now I may be a noob here but I fail to understand why the revision number on the board should matter if they use the same chipset. My board came with all documentation stating that it supported the 166 fsb, and I just a bit cheessed that now it all of a sudden dosen't. I feel mislead and ripped off. If someone could explain to me why it dosen't support it at least then I can stop scratching my head and asking why. Would appreciate the help, Thanks!

2 things: -

1. The newer rev mobo had a changed "clock generators" chip tht support a 1/5 PCI divisor (KT333 is capaable of a 1/5 PCI divisor).

2. Some capasitors changes to accommodate the voltage requirement of the XP 333FSB.