KT333 a Hoax

[rmaclean]

After spending 10 days with various MB/RAM combinations, I'm convinced that KT333 is a hoax.

Even the roundups and reviews here on Tom's show absolutely NO performance gain from KT333/PC-2700 MBs vs KT266/PC-2100.

In fact, even the 18 mobo roundup published here (VIA KT333 Put To The Test: 18 Motherboards Compared) shows an older 266 DDR MB running right in the middle of the 333 DDR pack.

My advice: if you want upgrade to a 333 DDR MB - DON'T - it's a complete waste of time and money.

The best MB tested ran only 1.4% better than the older 266 MB, and about half of them were actually slower.

 

[syndicate007]

KT333 has other features, such as ATA133 and USB 2.0 for example. So its not really a hoax.

 

[Crashman]

That's pretty much the way I feel too. Things such as ATA133 which is a Maxtor standard have little use compared to ATA100 used on the best drives.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

 

[bront]

USB 2.0 is the only real feature that is usefull.

The KT400 has AGP 8X too, so that will help as well.

There is a slight performance increase (2-3%) on the better board manufacturers, and Idealy, they will handel higher CPU FSB speeds if overclocking or the Athlon decided to go to a faster FSB.

If ignorance is bliss, then why is everyone so miserable?

 

[rmaclean]

Well, the fact that it's named after the 333MHz memory bus speed and doesn't deliver 333MHz performance certainly makes it sound like a hoax to me.

I didn't buy a new MB and PC-2700 RAM so I could get USB 2.0 or ATA 133.

 

[rmaclean]

Well, I've followed up with a lot of research, and can pretty much confirm that the KT333 provides almost NO improvement in memory transfer rates.

At first, it seemed that switching the PC-2700 DDR RAM from CL 2.5 latency to 2.0 might provide a tangible improvement, but that's simply not the case. After purchasing the new RAM, the system performance was precisely the same as before.

Again, the benchmarks provided by Sandra Pro, and the reviews here on Tom's seem to back up my results.

The KT333 chipset does absolutely nothing - clocking in at almost exactly the same rates as the KT266. Given this, I'm VERY skeptical that the KT400 will do anything either.

FWIW, I'm running the new MSI KT3Ultra2 mobo.

 

[Palpatine]

USB 2.0 is not a KT333 feature. Many KT266A have 2.0 (like MSI K7T266 Pro2)

Naval aircaft don't land, they crash under controlled conditions...

 

[jflongo]

Well, that's why I pretty much skip every other new version. I basically skipped KT266 and waited for KT266A. I will skip KT333 and wait on the benchmarks for KT400. If they come out ahead of KT333 pretty decently then I will upgrade, otherwise wait for the next release, KT400A or whatever.

<i> Where will we be in 2 years, 6GHZ?</i>

 

[tilepusher]

Hey R,

Just my take on the KT333: it is just the new name for the KT266A, much like Ford replaces the 2002 Focus with the 2003 Focus, regardless of how well the 2002 does or sells. I don't believe Via is producing the KT266A anymore, only the KT333.

Is it a Hoax? IMHO: NO, it is not a Hoax. It is just not a lot better than the chipset that it replaces.

Should everyone go out & buy a KT333 mobo, of course not! It is not a great chipset, but it is not a Hoax. If you had a KT266A mobo you could already run PC2700 DDR. This lack of a performance gain running PC2700 over PC2100 is a CPU issue, the Athlons have a 133 mhz cpu bus, & cannot really utilize a higher bandwidth DDR like the PC2700 or higher, regardless of what chipset that you use.

Via has a history of throwing out chipsets that it believes the public wants(even if it is not ready or shows not real advantage over the old chipset). A great example of this is the KT266(not the KT266"A"), mobo with this chipset & DDR did not show a performance improvement over the KT133A mobos running SD-Ram.

Again, I believe that the KT333 is just the new chipset to replace the KT266A, not because it is better, just because it is the latest thing their plants are producing.

Peace Out...............tile

god knows your entire system setup & he would answer your questions if he could just stop laughing

 

[rmaclean]

I'm sure you're right.

The KT333 reports itself as being "KT333,KT266A".

Silly me for believing the new hardware would actually make a difference. I guess a smart move would be to wait for the KT400A. (A smarter one might be to avoid VIA chipsets altogether, in protest of their marketing practices.)

Thanks for the input.

 

[tilepusher]

Hey R,

I wish I was smart! I am just a simple man, who doesn't believe anything anymore. It seems like everyone is making less than truthful claims about their products, that blend out-right lies with great marketing campaigns & beatiful sounding product names. In this game, Via is not the worst offender, & will not be the last. It also makes no sense to sue Via(like the people who are suing Intel over the P4 vs. P3 claims), since we the end-users & consumers will be the future losers as the corporations will just rise their prices to absorb the cost of the lawsuits.

I like that we have choices & competitive prices with all computer related hardware.

As for avoiding all things Via & the KT400A........... I don't know. The best thing seems to wait & see if there is a reason to upgrade(using more than 3 sources). Most likely, unless AMD changes their CPU bus to higher than 133 mhz, there will be no reason to get a KT400A.

For me, I am going to wait until the "Barton's" come out & if my MSI KT3 Ultra ARU bios support's it, I will get just the new cpu. If my mobo does not support it, I will wait until the Opteron's come out, & get a new mobo, cpu, serial ata hdd, 8x video card & ddr all at the same time.

All the same, I'm sure like you, I want to believe the optimistic claims, & it still sucks when you find out first hand, that your new component does not out-perform your old component by anything you could call a real-world measurement............& all you have done is wasted money, & fooled your idiot friends with the new shiny box...........I have made this mistake too many times myself. Good Luck

Peace Out.......................tile

god knows your entire system setup & he would answer your questions if he could just stop laughing

 

[rmaclean]

...and now it's apparent that the KT400 = KT333 = KT266.

New from VIA: The Emperor's New Chipset!