I need information on AMD's T-birds please

[Siddhartha]

I was at a computer show last weekend and I had my wallet out to buy an AMD T-bird 1.2 gig (266 FBS) cpu and an ABit KT7A-Raid mb for around $381 (plus $15 for a heatsink). It seemed like a good deal but I did not buy them because I realized I needed more information...

I would appreciate it if someone could help me with these questions:

1. I read somewhere about C and B(?) chips,
a. what are the differences?
b. how important are the differences
c. how do I differentiate between the two?

2. Which heatsink should I get?

3. I remember reading about the Tbird being damaged by improper heatsink installation, is this still a problem?

4. Is anyone running the Abit KT7A board? Do you recommend it?

5. What memory should I get?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Boonesmi]

b and c chips are identical except that c has a lower multiplier and runs on a 133mhz bus where the b runs on a 100mhz bus for example c chip is 7.5x X 133=1ghz b chip is 10x X 100mhz=1ghz

the kt7a board you looked at supports both 100 and 133mhz cpu's

and yes you need to get a good heatsink/fan unit.
i like the global win fop32-1
if you are carefull its very easy install and wont hurt your cpu

as for memory thats a preference thing, i like crucial pc133 cas2 free shipping for less then $100 at www.crucial.com


side note: many people on this forum have had problems with the abit kt7a board, lots of returns, i use the asus a7v133 many also love the iwill board

 

[j@cko]

1.) a. B is the 200mhz one, C is the 266mhz.
b. In my opinion, not very important, since you can overclock a 200mhz chip way beyond 266mhz.
c. You will be able to tell by the codes on the chip. B or C

2.) N/A. Some one else....

3.) Yes. But installing with care, then it should not be a problem. Just have to be careful.

4.) Here, it's an awesome board. But people say the RMA rate is high, but I haven't had any problem with Abit.

5.) Mushkin/Crucial/Kingmax/Other good brands. Some one else will answer this one. But personlly, I use Kingmax.

 

[SammyBoy]

Hey,

If it is a 266mhz machine then it is a "C" chip.
A lot of people are buying them now, but Tons of people are also running their B chips at 133fsb anyways,

right now im running my Tbird 900 @7x143fsb (1gighz), and my chip was only rated to do 100fsb.

As for the motherboard, people say it is the best, accept when yours just doesnt work, Abit has a pretty high RMA rate.

Personally I use the new VolcanoII for a heatsink, and so far I really like it, It is relatively quiet and keeps my cpu at decent Temps, and thats with asus's temp. monitor which reads high,

on pricewatch the prices for your stuff are:
Tbird 1.2- 227 shipped from upgrade planet
KT7A-R- 152 shipped from Beatprice
Volcano- 16 shipped from accessmicro i think they are called, its where I bougth mine.

Total 395

so it is the exact same price, although if you are gonna buy it from the show, you will probably need a better heatsink,

also, people do have problems with heatsink installation, my volcanoII is said to have "THE DEATH CLIP" but I had no problem, and if I wasnt so goddamn worried it woulda been no sweat to put it on

but that is a good deal,

if you get it have fun with it,

hope this helped


-Sam

 

[Siddhartha]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the information!

More questions:
Is anyone running a DDR board?
Do you recommend one?

At first I thought about waiting another upgrade cycle before considering one but maybe it is worth looking at DDR now.