Main difference between 266 and 266a chipsets?

[ripthesystem]

Could anyone explain or point me to the main differences between the 266 and 266a chipsets? I just ordered a board with the 266 on it and I want to know if there are many issues with either/or chipset... mainly stability.

Thanks
ripthesystem

 

[Adul]

performance is a lot higher with the kt266a over the kt266

 

[UsandThem]

Here is what you need:

Link

 

[chizow]

D'oh! Too late to cancel? KT266's mem controller (north bridge) was flawed, and barely outperformed the existing SDR KT133A chipset (~5% max sometimes worse). KT266A replaced the north bridge and performance increased 10-20% over both KT266 and KT133A. KT333 and KT400 are nowhere close to the improvement that KT266A made over anything before it.

Chiz

 

[DT4K]

They are correct. The improvements to the memory controller provided more memory bandwidth which is the reason for the perfomance increase. In addition, the kt266a chipset is more stable, has fewer compatibility issues, and is a much better overclocker than the KT266.

Can I ask why you ordered a board with such an old chipset?
Best to ask here before rather than after ordering.

There are KT333 and NForce 2 boards available for very reasonable prices. And I got an Abit KR7A-Raid (the highest rated KT266a board according to Anand) for $64 about 3 months ago.

antiAbit,
Do you actually not like Abit? They are top-notch boards.

 

[Mem]

And I got an Abit KR7A-Raid (the highest rated KT266a board according to Anand) for $64 about 3 months ago.

antiAbit,
Do you actually not like Abit? They are top-notch boards.

Come on Shanti ,everybody knows the Epox 8KHA+ is the best KT266A board 😉.

🙂

 

[ripthesystem]

Can I ask why you ordered a board with such an old chipset?

Actually I thought I was ordering a board with the 266A chipset.
I ordered the Shuttle AK32Lmobo because according to Shuttle's site it has the 266a chipset..

When I got it in the mail though the box said AK32 v2.1 so I went to the site to see what's up and find out that the AK32A is the one with the 266a and the AK32L only has the 266...

UGH!!!
ripthesystem

 

[chizow]

Sh!t man! RMA? What site? Did you make the error or did they? Hmmm tough call if they charge you shipping/restocking fee. If you ordered the L and they gave you the A, send it back. You could also try ebaying it. Some people there don't know/don't care about the differences. As long as you put DDR and FAST in the title somewhere 😉

Chiz

 

[revvy]

the Via KT266A chipset has a better memory controller than that found on the KT266... nuff said

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Mem

And I got an Abit KR7A-Raid (the highest rated KT266a board according to Anand) for $64 about 3 months ago.

antiAbit,
Do you actually not like Abit? They are top-notch boards.

Come on Shanti ,everybody knows the Epox 8KHA+ is the best KT266A board 😉.

🙂

Actually Mem, the Abit got the gold award and the Epox got the silver in Anand's roundup.
I've owned both though. I bought the Epox first when I built my system in February. Because it was a little cheaper than the Abit and I didn't have the cash to get a sound card too.

I killed my 8KHA+ about 4 months later with a screwdriver trying to put a new heatsink on. The Volcano 6Cu+ has crappy clips.
I was going to replace it with another one because I loved that board, but it was still over $100 and I found a KR7A-Raid for $64 boxed retail at Directron. Added a Soundblaster Live 5.1 for $30 and I couldn't pass that up.

The one thing I like better about the Abit is the layout. I didn't like where the power header was compared to the CPU socket on the Epox. It was a pain to keep the power wires away from the CPU fan.

But both of those boards definitely rock.

 

[Mem]

Actually Mem, the Abit got the gold award and the Epox got the silver in Anand's roundup.

That`s true but only one review and opinion from Anandtech and not other sites ,which many have put the Epox on top 😉,but in the end it`s what makes you happy that counts 🙂.

 

[DT4K]

This is getting off the topic, but suffice it to say I have owned both and they are both at the top of the list.

Back to the topic, if you were misled as to which board you were getting, or even if it was your mistake, I would contact the company and see if you can return it or exchange it. And as good as the kt266A chipset is, I would go with an nForce 2 board for the best performance for the Athlon platform right now.

 

[dannybin1742]

a big performance gap