Asus A7M266 + 256MB PC2100 vs Asus A7V133 + 384MB PC133

[Noriaki]

<Edit> You can make it MSi K7 Master vs MSi K7T Turbo if you want, or ABit...don't really care, the question is AMD760 vs ViaKT133A</Edit>

AMD760 + 256MB DDR or KT133A + 384MB SDR...

Which would be better...the extra 128MB of RAM or the faster RAM? 256MB is already quite a bit...how useful would that extra 128MB be?


Assume in either case it's a 1.0Ghz TBird with 133Mhz FSB, running under Win2k Pro or maybe Win XP Pro (with that new hideous RAM-eating UI fully disabled).

Hard drives will be two IBM 75GXPs running on a Promise Ultra100 PCI (or in the onboard Promise chip if there is one) and I have a CDRom, CDRW, DVDRom and Zip250 running on the southbridge IDE controller. So AMD766 vs Via 686B isn't really an issue (any IDE controller is good enough for CD drives and a Zip).

 

[Noriaki]

bumpity!

 

[SiliconVandal]

KT133A + 384MB SDR...

personal opinion though..

 

[Dulanic]

The A7M266 would be the faster. 256 is all the memory you need unless you do video editing or LARGE photo editing.

Personally I would go KT133A because of the price difference if I had to pick now. However my real choice would be wait for KT266 since it will likely be faster then AMD 760, and it will support SDRAM and DDR.

 

[gzollinger1]

There is not much of a price difference. I just ordered my Asus A7M266 board for $179 +shipping. You are going to pay almost the same price for a KT133A board. PC1600 DDR RAM is exactly the same price as PC133 RAM. Lots of people are recommending the KT133A route and I personally don't see any good reason. The DDR solution is almost exactly the same price and it is faster than the KT133A solution, plus you have the added advantage of upgrading your RAM over the next year or two without replacing your board. On top of that if you are into overclocking, the odds are that you will be able to run your PC1600 DDR RAM at PC2100 once you upgrade your processor to a 266MHZ.

 

[LXi]

I think 760+DDR in most cases, because anything above 256MB wont show much of a difference in general usage, but if you work with photoshop or things to that nature, then more RAM would be preferrable.

 

[velvetfreak]

The differential isn't that great between the two platforms... and I think the KT133A chipset is more overclockable (how's that for good grammar) which I think ultimately gives it the edge, and is why many people are taking that direction (if I'm wrong, please post).

Going on that assumption, the question is whether you want an edge now, or an early investment in DDR RAM.

 

[AdamK47]

I'd wait for a KT266 too.

 

[Noriaki]

Will KT266 support SDR and DDR SDRAM?

That's sweet...

 

[AdamK47]

I believe so. I think there were pics about a week ago on a Japanese site with KT266 boards and DDR-II RAM. Some of the KT266 boards had SDR and DDR memory slots on them.

 

[KameLeon]

God damn you guys!
I just ordered and then cancelled the Iwill KA266!
Now I'm waiting in line for the KT266 boards!

 

[blues008]

Man, that's how I feel too KameLeon...

SDR...DDR...SDR...DDR...SDR...DDR

blues

 

[Planktune]

Just get the KA226 r and some 1600 ddr and forget about it

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Go for KT133A + 512M (256M x 2) PC133.
If you don't overclock, go for Crucial, it's very cheap, 512M almost = 256M Mushkin rev 3.

How useful is the extra 256M?
Already said so many times, don't want to say again.
Just buy it and try just 256M, and then 512M, you'll see big difference.

 

[AncientPC]

I don't know of the differences between the mobo's, but 256mb RAM is all you need for most applications.

Also, since DDR doubles your FSB speed, and FSB speed controls your PCI card speeds (right? I remember hearing this somewhere) so DDR well turn out better than PC133 SDRAM.

Besides, 256 sounds better than 384.