Chipset advice

[Grecian2000]

Hi all. Currently I own a Via KT266a / Thoroughbred 2400+ based system. Along with the 1GB of memory and Radeon 9000 pro video card it is more than quick enough for anything I want it to do, and it has demonstrated rock solid stability since the day I put it together. I have no cause for complaint over any aspect of it's performance.

Naturally, I am desperate to upgrade.

I want to keep my 2400+ for the time being, so a Socket A motherboard is the way to go. I am almost sure I want an Nforce2 ultra 400 chipset, however, I have a couple of questions:

1. Does Via's KT600 chipset offer any advantage (at all) over NForce 2 Ultra 400?
2. Do you think it is worth waiting for the upcoming revised Nforce 2 southbridge? (I really like the idea of native SATA support, GigaLan and extra USB ports in addition to all the other goodies MCP T offers.)
3. I currently have a RAID 0 array of 2 x Mator 40GB ATA100 DiamondMax drives. Would a single Western Digital Raptor offer me better performance than my array?
4. My 2400+ runs at 133MHz x 15. Without modifying the chip could I run it at 166MHz x 12 on current NForce 2 400 boards? (esp the Asus A7N8X)

Thanks in advance.

 

[Boonesmi]

personally i really like the kt600 chipset

its true that the nforce2 ultra 400 is a little faster (but only very little faster)

people like to rip on via based boards, but ive found them to be very stable and trouble free... plus they tend to be more forgiving if you use generic ram, and/or a generic powersupply

newegg has the asus a7v600 for about $90 shipped (if good quality sound is important this board has a killer setup.. about the best you can get onboard sound)



but the nforce2 is a totally awesome chipset, and if you want the absolute fastest chipset available then the nforce2 would be the way to go

 

[Boonesmi]

as for #4
either chipset will have no problems running your cpu at 166mhz or even 200mhz
and most tbred cpu's (which your xp2400 probably is) are factory unlocked, so you can set the multiplier anywhere you like, (ie. 10x200mhz for 2ghz clock speed)

 

[Corporate Thug]

i like nforce2 over kt600...

 

[novice]

I believe the consensus is the Nforce 2 chipset will still be the fastest, even after the KT600 is released. And if you are not interested in the soundforce audio, SATA, firewire or the other strange extras the more expensive boards are offering, newegg has the Shuttle AN35N for $63 shipped. I am very happy with mine, and am intrigued to try some higher quality ram to see just how it will run with a 200 Mhz front side bus and the XP1700+ T-Bred B. This is my first non Via AMD motherboard and I had no problem getting it set up. And while I still like my Via KT333 boards (MSI KT3 Ultra2's), this new Nforce 2 motherboard is faster.

 

[novice]

dp- sorry.

 

[Grecian2000]

Thanks everyone.