is KT266 really that bad?

[acidvoodoo]

if so why would a big computer company use them (i think they do). it's hard to clarify what board they're using. www.meshplc.com can anyone tell me? u'd have to click more info on the motherboard, theres no definet name :S

if these board are bad, why?

 

[WhiteWizard]

Yep, Anandtech makes 3 test, and everyone shows that performance with KT266 was equal or inferior than KT133A, so let it rest in peace (hheheh).

 

[MoFunk]

I am not sure how bad it really is because I avoided it like the plague! Went the 761 route!

 

[acidvoodoo]

whats the difference between the KT266 and the KT266a, if i know that, i should be able to tell which comes with the system, i 'might' get.

 

[rickn]

the difference is VIA got it right the 2nd time around.

 

[acidvoodoo]

what happened first time around, and how long ago was this?

 

[Ionizer86]

Yes, KT266 was a disgrace.

It was loaded with bugs. If I recall correctly, the MSI board had performance that was like 30% less than AMD760 boards at first. The problem was helped slightly via a bios, but it was still buggy. I think they had to switch a capacitor or something to get it to work better. Some companies were even selling the later K7T266 Pro boards as the "Bug-free version."

Via KT266, even without bugs, was only about 5% faster than KT133. Now, with the KT266A, they improved the memory controller drastically, rid it of bugs, and the northbridge outperforms AMD760 by like 5-15%.

 

[gerrick]

Since it was made by VIA then yes.

 

[acidvoodoo]

well i emailed the company to ask


would a big reliable company with loads of awards really be dumb enough to use a bugged board?


when the original come out?

 

[Boonesmi]

uhhh everyone is ripping on the kt266... its not a "bad" chipset, it just didnt have much performance

its not like it had all kinds of stability and compatability problems, its just slow

 

[goog]

<< when the original come out? >>



January 15, 2001.

There's a simple rule to follow when buying VIA chipset motherboards, and that rule is always wait for the "A" version.

 

[InterWebGuy]

<< There's a simple rule to follow when buying VIA chipset motherboards, and that rule is always wait for the "A" version. >>



Amen

 

[Mark0999]

Actually, some of the KT266 boards are quite good. For example, the MSI K7T266 Pro with one of the tweaked BIOS' floating around benches (Sandra 2002) very close to the KT266A standard.

 

[Agamar]

True...I have the Soyo Dragon + KT266A and it runs great. I tweaked my memory to the highest settings in the bios, and everything is still running rock solid. No lockups or blue screens in Win2k since I built it (going on 5 days now, running 24hrs a day). I can honestly say that I think I made the right choice for this upgrade (from a Abit-BE6 with P-III 667)

 

[Wind]

The KT266 chipset is something VIA came out w/ the primarily objective of supporting DDR RAM. Thus, u can see from various sources tht the chipset had similar performance w/ KT133A. Most of the performance gain is due to the DDR RAM rather than the performance enhancement of the KT266 chipset.

The real optimisation is in the KT266A chipset. It is significantly faster than the KT266 chipset w/ a much better memort controller, PCI controller and lower latency in bus communication.

Go for the KT266A chipset mobo.

 

[k900]

sounds like kt266a is the way to go but which motherboard manufacturer would you recommend?

 

[moosey]

asus makes the best 266a board hands down.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

look at the current price of KT266A chipset mb, why do you want a KT266 chipset mb?

 

[zodder]

EPoX (8KHA+) would probably disagree with you.

 

[Stevem627]

I'd look at warranty, features, then performance on the KT266A boards. Performance differences an very minimal in real world use. Great to debate benchmarks, but reality is that I'd rather have a board with the features I want from the Manufacturer I like to deal with first.