KT266A vs KT333, KT400 - Been outta the game a while..benefits???

[chizow]

Heya, I been reading through the threads recently and its good to see the majority of enthusiasts here are still pumping out great info on bleeding edge tech.

Anyways, I've been outta the game for a while b/c of work and travel, but I'm looking to upgrade parts of my rig. I haven't been keeping up with the new mobo reviews, but is the major difference between the KT266, KT333 and KT400 just the addition of a 1/5 and 1/6 divider and North Bridge mem controller optimizations? I know there are other bells and whistles like USB 2.0, RAID controllers and AGP 8x, but those aren't my immediate concern.

I'd like to upgrade my mobo or cpu without having to buy $200 of expensive ram. I've got an AXP 1800+ Palomino (Early one from AMD XPP tour) that overclocked very nicely (1.7gigs) with stock multiplier but I'm kinda stuck with 2 x 256 Meg Crucial PC2100. From what I remember from my OCing days, it was the AGP/PCI bus running out of spec that halted my OCing efforts at around 147 FSB. I haven't updated my 8KHA+ BIOS in like 8 months, so I don't know if they ever released that fabled 1/5 divider or not....

If I got a KT333 mobo, would that allow me to raise my FSB to as high as the PC2100 would go? Would it be running at a 1/5 divider by default? I think I could take it to ~160 FSB b/c I could boot into windows when I lowered my multiplier before my system hung. I unlocked my AXP with limited success; all the lower multipliers up to 9, but never the "sweet spot" multipliers from 9.5 to 11.

I was also thinking about waiting for a T-bred Rev. B, as it would allow me to keep my FSB in ranges I've been running in (145-150) and getting crazy speeds because of the higher multiplier and sticking with my 8KHA+.

I know its a lot to read through, but I'm sure lots of you have gone through similar decision processes in the past few months, so any help/insight/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chiz

 

[Smilin]

I skimmed a bit, but here goes.

If buying TODAY get a good KT333. If not buying this very second then wait a bit and get an NForce2. The 400's are just now getting mature enough even tie the 333's. Anand did a round up a while back, go checkit out.

DO buy new memory. The 2100 aint gonna cut it any more. This time get some 3200 or 3500 and put it in your 2700 mobo...you won't be in this pickle next time around.

I'm a fan of the MSI KT3 Ultra2-BR myself.

 

[chizow]

Thanks for the reply, I know its a lot to read through.

I'm not lookin for a complete system overhaul, just a quick fix (yes, its like a long, neglected addiction). With DDR-II, 333mhz FSB Athlon's, Clawhammer and whatever else, I'm not totally convinced I wanna plop down $400-$500 on a new mobo/cpu/RAM when there are going to be MAJOR changes on the horizon. Plus, my machine is by no means slow , its just no longer insanely fast :-/

Basically, I was wondering if the new mobos would allow the current memory I have to run in-spec within the parameters they are currently running under (~145-150 FSB). If I keep my FSB and memory synced in that range, then I should still be able to use my pc2100 to get some nice OC's with higher multiplier cpus right?

Also, like I was saying, I think the lack of the 1/5 divider in my 8KHA+ was the limiting factor for OCing before, not my memory, so would a KT333 board keep the PCI and AGP buses in check?

I think I'm just gonna wait for a lower-rated T-bred Rev. B XP and overclock the bejeezus out of it and see where that goes........

Chiz

 

[KingofFah]

There are always major changes on the horizon; law of computer technology ; however, in this case, I would wait for the nforce2 to come out, and do not buy KT400. Hopefully the 400 chipset will mature to a more powerful state than my kt333 soon.

Agree completely with smilin, get some corsair xms 3200cas2.

Of course, DDR-II is on the way.
Makes you wanna scream "STOP".