Question about two Soyo KT333 MB

[DragonFire]

I was looking at Soyo's website today trying to see what cpus my MB (Dragon ultra plat) could take and found something odd.

Why can a Dragon Ultra take a AMD cpu up to 3000+ with a 333FSB but the Dragon Ultra Plat cant? There website says the plat can only take up to a 2600+ (266fsb version).

They both use the kt333 chipset and I thought the only differnce was that the plat. came with extra stuff like optical in/outs for the audio and such.

Am I missing something?

 

[TRUMPHENT]

There are apparently more than one KT333 chipsets. The platinum board uses one and the other board has the KT333cf. The platinum will run Bartons, @ 266mhz fsb. If you have the platinum, stick to the Thoroughbreds.

Soyo does have a special BIOS for the Low Power CPU's for the platinum.

 

[DragonFire]

and what cpus are considered low power?

 

[will889]

Soyo and Shuttle both had the KT333 cf mobos. They are actually KT400 chips that implement 4X AGP, and are fully capable of running any chip (XP range) that a KT400 can. It was actually a smoother running mobo than most KT400' (regular) because the AGP bus was not fighting the 8x problem that VIA seemes to be plaged with with earlier VIA 4 in 1's. KT333 cf is a dam good motherboard, both Soyo and Shuttle.

 

[DragonFire]

ok, so there are two versions of the KT333 but why put the version that can run 333FSB cpus on a lower version of the board? I mean the plat is supposed to be the best board out of all there KT333 boards and yet its lil bro has something far better.

I'm curious, how would I tell which version I really have? Would it say on the northbridge KT333CF ?

 

[TRUMPHENT]

Originally posted by: DragonFire
and what cpus are considered low power?

Good question!

AMD Low Power CPU BIOS link.

I presume they are the AMD Mobile processors that Newegg is selling. Soyo doesn't reply to inquiries from consumers apparently. I asked, still waiting.

Soyo also has a special Applebred BIOS for the Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition. It warns not to use unless there is an Applebred present. Strange times when each family of processors has to have a seperate BIOS for the same mainboard.

 

[TRUMPHENT]

Originally posted by: DragonFire
ok, so there are two versions of the KT333 but why put the version that can run 333FSB cpus on a lower version of the board? I mean the plat is supposed to be the best board out of all there KT333 boards and yet its lil bro has something far better.

I'm curious, how would I tell which version I really have? Would it say on the northbridge KT333CF ?

I read a review from one of the hardware sites. The reviewer did a slew of mainboards. He had to remove the heatsink from the Northbridge processor to verify that the board had the 333cf chipset. Sandra might tell you without removing the cooler.

The Dragon Platinum was targetted at the multimedia enthusiast before the overclocker. It is a feature and accessory rich bundle. You also have to keep in mind when it originally shipped. It obviously was designed prior to the Barton release. It has no PCI/AGP divider capability. It does have a list of very nice things that justified its original retail price. The chipset should have been called something like KT266A1 or plus or something instead of KT333 since it is only able to support fully 266mhz fsb processors.


I find the sound chip onboard the Dragon Ultra Plus Edition is far superior to the Live Value PCI card I had used for years and paid much more for.

 

[will889]

There was only 1 mobo that used the Kt333 CF that was Soyo, 1 also from Shuttle -Soyo's was called the Soyo KT333 Dragon Plus. It says "Soyo KT333 Dragon Plus on the PCB (I use to own the board).

Soyo/Kt333 D+

It is actually just like Soyo KT400 "lite" except for the CF chipset which only allows 4X AGP. And I totally agree with the above rference about the C-Media 8738 onboard sound - it's really good. Very underated and problem free for the most part - clean and loud. After all, people are still popping SB live cards in thier nforce2 mainboards. You can get a C-Media 8738 PCI card, which as as good or better for $8.00-20.00 at newegg from A-Open or Chaintech.

 

[DragonFire]

I dont know why but that still doesnt make sense to me....

The Dragon Plus came out before the plat did, seems like the last model they produced would have the kt333cf chip.

"note to self, do not but soyo boards in the future"

 

[TRUMPHENT]

Originally posted by: DragonFire
I dont know why but that still doesnt make sense to me....

The Dragon Plus came out before the plat did, seems like the last model they produced would have the kt333cf chip.

"note to self, do not but soyo boards in the future"

The K7V Dragon Plus came before the KT333 Dragon Ultra Platinum. The KT333 Dragon Plus! followed the Platinum.