KT266A or KT333 chipset?

[BBY125]

I'm planning on building a new computer but I dunno whether I should stay with the ABIT KR7A mobo that I originally decided to get or if I should go ahead and get the new ABIT KX7-333 motherboard. The new motherboard will cost about 20 bucks more plus the pc2700ddr ram is about $20 more also. I wanna hear a couple different opinions and also if you guys notice a big difference between the 2 mobos. Is it worth spending the extra 40-50 bucks to get everything? Also any ideas of other mobos you guys recommend? all ideas and opinions are welcome, thanks.

 

[jazzhound]

 

[jazzhound]

Sorry about that.

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to purchase the 1800+ XP from AMD and want to know but someone in another thread said AMD's are not much use beyond 233 so that got me thinking twice. I'm doing my first system so I'm not too knowledgable.. hoping others will comment on this.,

 

[ShinSa]

Im using the KR7A-RAID right now and I love this board. The KX7 does include a 1/5 PCI divider so it might help a bit if your planning to clock that high.

My personal opinion would be to go for the newer chipset or else try to find the KR7A for a cheaper price.

I remember when newegg had refurbished KR7As for 60 bux. Sold out pretty quick though.

Price on KT266A boards should all be coming down so look for a hefty price cut.

Heres a quick review on KX7

review

 

[murphy55d]

You can find cheap 266a boards on the for sale forum now, since everyone else is buying KT333. I got a Soltek board for ~$60.

Not gonna be a huge difference between the two. Save some cash, get a 266a one.

 

[HardWareXpert]

I myself have just brought a MSI KT-333 and for the price (£97) it's a good buy, the DDR2700 memory is not worth it as Athlon's 133Mhz FSB is the bottleneck, 166MhzFSB would take advantage of the DDR2700.

I've upgraded from a KT-133 mobo so this was a natural choice, I would recommend a KT-333/DDR2100 for a new buyer like youself but not to a KT-266 owner.

See the Anandtech review HERE

 

[Necrolezbeast]

or you can unlock your cpu and then sync the fsb to ram...whether it only be at 145 or higher....You will notice a difference then, other than that there shouldn't be a significant advantage of the kt333(except usb 2.0 and firewire).

 

[TheCorm]

I just upgraded from a KT133 + Tbird to a KT333 + XP and am very happy. But I agree, a jump from KT266 to KT333 won't give you that much of a boost.

 

[classy]

I pondered that same question a few days ago. The price difference is only a few dollars so I went with Abit's KX7333r. It is the only one with official 166mhz support with the 1/5 divider. I think Epox does as well. I think with driver updates make KT333 boards the better buy. And again they bring a lot more features to the table for only a couple dollars more.

 

[CRH]

Necrolezbeast tossed in:

You will notice a difference then, other than that there shouldn't be a significant advantage of the kt333(except usb 2.0 and firewire)

Is the 2.4.18 kernel reliable at picking up USB 2.0 devices or does the kernel have to be recompiled to add support. I find USB 2.0 very appealing but have not purchased any device/s yet. I'm shy when it comes to buying bleeding edge hardware for Linux. I'm also shy about trying "non-stable" kernels.