K7TPro2A or K7T Turbo?

[andyjz]

My MSI K7TPro motherboard stoped working under warranty so I returned it. The company I bought it from doesn't sell it anymore so they are giving me store credit and I have to buy a different one. Should I get the K7TPro2A or the K7T Turbo? Or is there a better Duron/Athalon MB I should get?

Also I have the ATI AIW Radeon video card that I have never got to work right. Would I be better off with a chipset other than the KT133?

Thanks

 

[dave127]

i would go with a board by epox...they have been getting great comments and they are fairly cheap...i recommend their 8K7A, and buy some ddr ram from crucial

 

[SnoopyDog]

I did exately the same as you. I got it changed into a MSI KT7Pro2A and I have never regretted it. Its a good MB. No question about that.

Snoopy Dog

 

[andyjz]

No offence Dave127 I appreciate the help but that isn't even an option. I am only replaceing the Mother board. I don't want to get into having to buy new ram for a DDR board or anything else for all that matters.

What is the difference between the K7TPro2A and the K7T Turbo? And also what is the difference between the KT133 and KT133A chipsets because I believe the Pro and Pro2A have the 133 and the Turbo has the 133A.

 

[Geekbabe]

I have the K7T Turbo and am most pleased with it.It isn't the best overclocker's board but it is amazingly STABLE.

 

[erikiksaz]

i'm not sure what via changed in the turbo, but if it's about the same as the pro2a, might as well take it. it's the kt133a chipset, meaning it will run 266mhz tbirds and the like.

 

[S0me1X]

no reason to get pro2a now, get the turbo. (kt133a chipset, built-in raid)

 

[Maverick]

kt133A has about the same performance as DDR systems using only SDRAM
its a much better choice than the KT133

 

[LXi]

The difference between the two boards is the chipset. Pro2A uses KT133, and Turbo uses KT133A, the latter supports 266MHz Tbirds, the earlier does not. The Turbo also has optional IDE RAID. Other than that, there isn't much changed, both boards are extremely stable, the Turbo is better for overclocking.

 

[mgpaulus]

One other thing I have noticed, at least from the pics (My Pro2A just went out, also under warranty). I am using a Taisol GCK760092, and it's very tight on the Pro2A, kind of interfering with the torroidal inductor (The little round washer thing with wires wrapped around it), and with the (north/south??)bridge heatsink/cover. According to the pics, it looks like they slightly redesigned the socket area on the Turbo to accept the larger heatsinks. I chose to upgrade to the Turbo, so I will let you know when it arrives (hopefully it ships/arrives soonly, as I lost my system over the weekend).

 

[Sugadaddy]

Definitely get the Turbo. The name of the Pro2A is misleading, it still uses the KT133 chipset, so no support for 266mhz FSB CPUs. The Turbo uses the KT133A, I don't see why you'd want to get the older chipset...

 

[andyjz]

thanks for the help I think I'll go with the turbo.

 

[soulm4tter]

The performance increase of the higher bus speed is quite impressive, but you'll probably have to unlock your Duron so you can change the multiplier if you want to run at 133mhz bus.

You could always try for 7.5x133=1000MHz

 

[LuNoTiCK]

The iwill kk266 is another good choice.