amd 333 board or 266a?

[bockchow]

i'm building a computer and i want to have minimal noise and i want it to be as cheep as possible. i've decided on every component except for the mobo. if i put a 1600+ onto a kt333 board does it default at 333 fsb or does it default at 266 and you have to overclock to 333? does a 333 board cause the cpu to run hotter than it would in a 266a board?

i'm asking because i want decent performance but i'm going to have almost completely passive cooling exept for a panaflo on the cpu and an almost silent PSU. and have paxmate all over the inside of the case. i don't need any of the new gadgets that the 333 boards have like ata133, usb 2 , that FSB divider thing. i want it to be cheep, and i don't want to overclock in anyway because it gets hot here and i don't want to listen to a bunch of fans and i'm not paying for water cooling.

 

[MichaelD]

Aside from bells and whistles (onboard LAN, etc) the main advantage of a KT333 board over a KT266A is that the 333 allows you to run the memory asynchronously at 166MHz, to the CPU at 133MHz. That's the main difference.

The difference in heat production b/t the two is negligible, at best.

With a KT333 board, w/no overclocking, you would run your CPU FSB at 133MHz (stock) and your Memory bus at 166MHz. You would need PC2700 memory though! Don't know if you know this or not. Most PC2100 memory will not do 166MHz.

If you're upgrading from say, a KT133/A mobo, I would definitely go for the KT333. The performance difference b/t the 266A and 333 boards is noticeable, but small.

I have a KT266A board (Shuttle AK35GTR) and it's great. I'm tempted to get the KT333 version, but it would be a waste of money for me.

Good luck.

 

[bockchow]

ahh it was thae asynchronously part that i wasn't aware of, thanks.
but after reading this more specificaly the comments by rand and insane 3d it sounds like the there is hardly any benifit to running asynchronously. so if thats the case would i be better off just getting a 266a board and pc2100 and saveing the cash? i have no doubt that the 333 out performs the 266a but when you throw in the latency of running the memory asynchronously how much of a performance bump are we talking about?

and yes i am upgradeing from a 133a system.
kt7a and a 1gig tbird. soon to be linux only, no more dual boot crap.

 

[Insane3D]

bockchow -

Check out this thread...


Silent Athlon XP Project

Sounds like something similar would suit your needs. Let me know if you have any more questions...

 

[Feskar]

I'm wondering about the same thing, so I ask in here instead of making a new thread.

Is it possible to run 166 fsb with a viakt266a mb? I thought of buying a xp 1600+, and run it at 166 fsb with 2700 ddr memory. Do I have to get a viakt333 mb to do it?

Oh, forgot: And what about the SiS 745 chipset. Is that any good, and can it run 166 fsb?

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Feskar
I'm wondering about the same thing, so I ask in here instead of making a new thread.

Is it possible to run 166 fsb with a viakt266a mb? I thought of buying a xp 1600+, and run it at 166 fsb with 2700 ddr memory. Do I have to get a viakt333 mb to do it?

Oh, forgot: And what about the SiS 745 chipset. Is that any good, and can it run 166 fsb?

It is possible to run the KT266A chipset @ 166mhz FSB, but it lacks the correct PCI dividers, so your PCI and AGP bus will be fairly far out of spec, resulting in instability.

The Sis745 chipset however, does have the correct dividers for 166mhz FSB operation, but there aren't too many choices when it comes to the 745 chipset....only ones I know of are the MSI 745 Ultra and Aopen also has one I believe. The newer KT333 boards will have much more features, are faster than the Sis 745, and you have many more choices as far the boards go.

 

[Feskar]

Then the kt266 isnt a option, as I want a stable system too. I'll probably try the kt333 then, from asus. Thx alot for your help