Help with Kt333 mobo & Ram

[dannyaa]

First, in short:
1.) What's an excellent kt333 mobo (and price) for use with athlon xp 1800, preferrably w/RAID (not going to be doing OCing)

2.) best/fastest RAM to use for it and its price

-- please answer some of the more specific questions in this post if possible... read below...


I am looking for a very good kt333 mobo - i will NOT be overclocking, at all, but I want a good, high quality board that will keep my system stable, that is fast, and has plenty of slots. I would like to keep the price $175 or below if possible. Could anyone give me a couple of suggestions and the pros/cons of the board and the price please... what do you guys recommend (as always, lower price is better so long as quality does not suffer).
Also, I would very much like it if the mobo had support for RAID.
Next, RAM. What is the best, fastest DDR ram I can get for this board? How much will it cost? Honestly I am clueless about the RAM situation here... if someone could please explain it to me... I've been gone from the whole comp building seen for a while, whats happen since DDR ram was first introduced.


Thank you!!

 

[dannyaa]

also... i have one more question...

im looking for the right kind of RAM to get for a kt333 board and I'm not sure what to get...
there's PC3200, PC3000, 2700, 2400, 2100, 1600, 150, 133, 100... whats the difference between these and whats the best...

if i got a kt333 asus board with pc3200 ram would that be the best/newest mobo & RAM combo?

PLEASE HELP!!!

thanks

 

[quarkmachine]

I don't think that pc3000 or 3200 are even in production yet, let alone mobo's to support them. PC2700 cas2 from corsair is probably your best bet. As for kt333 chipset mobos I havn't checked em out, but I bet there is an article and comparison of all of them right here somewhere.

"Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory."

 

[quarkmachine]

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q1/020220/index.html

try this link..

"Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory."

 

[dannyaa]

Yeah, I read that article first... however it doesnt really compare the mobos, just shows a pic of each and moves on...
about the 3000/3200 RAM... I saw it at www.pricewatch.com under memory/system.
also, one more question: I was just wondering, whats the best darn kt333 mobo with RAID?
Well anyway if someone could just answer these questions and help me find the right board and match the right RAM that would really ROCK MY WORLD!

thanks



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by dannyaa on 04/09/02 11:05 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dannyaa]

ummm.. can someone please answer???
i really need to know.....

 

[AMD_Man]

Since you won't be overclocking, I recommend the ABit KR7A-133-RAID and PC2100. It's cheaper and only 1 or 2% slower.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[danielwong125]

I'm not sure how anyone can possibly have real experience with a good unmber of these motherboards (especially since it's kinda new), but isn't it true that from board to board, the difference in performance will be less than 3%? I don't really think you need a specific model to go after, just look at features and prices and if you have a brand preference, go with that. I saw something that you might like from dealtime.com for about $135 so it's about 40 less than you expected. Search for "kt333" when you get there

After putting in my two cents-worth I'm wondering about something. In the article about the kt333 chipset on tomshardware, it says it supports 8x AGP support by the kt333 chipset, but when I went looking for mother boards, none of them claim to have this feature. Is there some kind of mistake?

 

[Guest]

If you are looking for a motherboard with all the features I would suggest the Soyo SY-KT333 DRAGON Ultra, which was release of Friday. Tom's Hardware gave the KT266 version of this board the highest ratings, and I am assuming that the KT333 version will be as good. This will be the motherboard I am going to purchase for my new pc.
The Asus VIA A7V333 is also a very good board, and it has dropped in price to $140 on newegg.

As far as memory goes, I still haven't decided which way to go. As you can see in this cut from an article on Tom's hardware the advantage to PC2700 memory is the Latency (CAS) can run at 2. Now if this was possible it would be worth it to get the PC2700. The problem is that I have yet to hear of anyone getting the memory to run at CAS=2 at 166mhz clock, which is where you are supposed to see the difference. So you may want to think about PC2100 instead. Here is a cutout of an article on this from Tom's Hardware.

"Never before has VIA produced a chipset with such new functions as the KT333. Significant improvements include the increased memory clock (166 MHz), which supports DDR 333 and DDR266 modules as well as DDR200. However, optimal performance with the VIA KT333 is only attainable when used in conjunction with a fast DDR333 module and CL2.0. In our laboratory tests, however, we were unable to get the hand-picked memory module (PC2700) from Corsair (CM64SD256-2700CX2H) to run in CAS latency mode CL2.0 at 166 MHz memory clock, regardless of the motherboards we used (Asus A7V333, MSI KT3 Ultra, Gigabyte GA-7VRXP and the VIA reference board VT5615A). When set to CL2.5, there were no problems."

You may also want to read this article on kt333 mobos and memory http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q1/020220/index.html.

For info on the Soyo motherboard:
http://www.amdzone.com/releaseview.cfm?ReleaseID=831
http://www.soyousa.com/sykt333.html

Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

To Danielwong125....the reason that the AGP 8x is not mentioned is because there is no card that uses it and there is no planned use of it yet. So I guess the maufacturers don't see that as a selling point.

 

[danielwong125]

well, I would want support for a technology that hasn't come out yet so I can be ahead of the curve. I think that's a great selling point, but my real question is "is there such thing as 8x AGP support?"

 

[Guest]

There is such a thing http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q1/020220/kt333-06.html

The problem is that there is no product out or even mentioned as a future product that will use the 8x. It seems like its still along time away from being put to use, but you never know. I would not buy a MB just for that, but its nice to have it as an additional feature.

 

[danielwong125]

That's where I read about it. My question is does it exist? Because I've never seen it and I'm pretty sure (not totally) that they would mention something like that about their product since it's so excelent.

 

[papasmurf]

"I don't think that pc3000 or 3200 are even in production yet, let alone mobo's to support them."

I have a 256mb stick of pc3200ddr ram from OCZ in my system, though im trying to find a way to use with my epox 8k3a witch uses the kt333, its fsb goes up to 200mhz wich is the rated speed for my ram! i just need to unlock my proc's multipliers now so i can make use of that bus speed.
any suggestions on how that can be done cheaply? with homemade stuff, no conductive ink or what not. it must be possible!!! hmmm maybe if i mix shortening with peanut butter.....EUREKA!

Introducing Tapeworms! The new big thing for weight loss!

 

[rcj187]

if u want stable and good performance go with gigabyte everytime... GA-7VRXP looks pretty good although it has raid i think. also has onboard lan.

how do you set a laser printer to stun?

 

[dannyaa]

Ok... I am thinking of going with the Asus A7V333 w/RAID for about $150 or the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP for about $130 they both have all the features I want for pretty cheap w/the new kt333.
As for RAM, I am considering DDR2100 since it seems the corsair 2700 doesn't work to its potential and thus has no benefit over 2100 RAM, correct?
What do you think of this setup, and would you recommend the Asus or the Gigabyte?

ALso, I was looking at the soyo kt333 board - will that support the corsair 2700 (or will we find out when a review is released here)? If it will work with the 2700 is it worth the extra money to get that more expensive mobo w/the more expensive RAM?

And finally, this is just kind of a random question, but how is the sound on the Asus/Gigabyte boards? Would you recommend buying a soundcard or just using their onboard sound? If you recommend a soundcard, what would you recommend? I think the audigy is the newest one and is around 140-150 or so just the platinum, is this worth it, or should i be fine w/a live card... what do you think?

Thanks all!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by dannyaa on 04/16/02 11:39 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[rcj187]

i personally recomend gigabyte. ive used their mobos for years and ive never had a system crash due to mobo problems or incompatibility problems. they are absolutley stable. it depends on wat yor going to use the comp for... if u r doing audio work then u will want a decent soundcard. if u r just playing games or surfing etc u can stick with the onboard sound although i recomend at least a live! 1024

how do you set a laser printer to stun?

 

[DEEPNATION]

N CIST I WOULD HAVE ADVERTISED IT AS AGP 8X READY

 

[rcj187]

N CIST I WOULD HAVE ADVERTISED IT AS AGP 8X READY

please turn off your capslock. its considered to be shouting and it annoys people. thank you :frown:


how do you set a laser printer to stun?

 

[Decado1]

"Gigabyte GA-7VRXP for about $130 "

Stay away from that mobo if you have a Radeon 8500 retail video card. Apparently there are difficulties w/ the GF4 MX and maybe a few others. Nothing but problems.

 

[dhlucke]

bump

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>

 

[silverpig]

bump for spammage clearing

If my baby don't love me, I know, I know, her sister will.

 

[Guest]

Well I guess I was wrong. I found this link to the first AGP 8x video card http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwbcgi/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1019150108,42238,

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2002/triplex/xabre/xabrep1.htm

 

[Guest]

The one board I havent seen mentioned here is the reference board used in The Final Battle: P4/2400 vs. Athlon XP 2100+ (2400+) - Soltek SL-75DRV5 (KT333) Revision: 1.0. Does anyone have any info on this??

Thanks

-If you, your sister, aunt, and cousin can sit at a table for TWO, please dont reply!!-

 

[jedge78]

Are u positive that this kt333 board actually suppports AGP 8x? I read somewhere that none of the kt333 boards actually support it although many stores were mistakenly advertising this. Supposedly, it is going to be an addition to VIA next chipset, maybe the kt400. I could be incredibly wrong though.