KT600 vs NForce2

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

I was all set to buy an epox 8rda+ with the nforce2 chipset when the kt600 was suddenly released.. There haven't been very many review on it, but from what I have seen, it is on par (or pretty much) for performance with the nforce2 chipset, and it only uses single-channel ddr.

So that leaads to the chase. If the performance is as good as it seems, isn't it more cost effective to go with the KT600 over the Nforce2? You can save a lot of cash just using a single ddr stick as opposed to a matched pair of ddr sticks for dual-channel operation. Unless of course, the kt600 is picky about what brand of ddr to use like the nf2?

The other thing is, how well does the kt600 overclock? I was going to crank up my barton 2500+ on the epox with my watercooler, but does anyone know how well the kt600 will oc?

jlin453 · Jul 24, 2003

I don't think enough people own KT600's yet. Wait a couple of weeks.

I didn't even know the KT600's were even out...

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

Ya they came out about a week ago. I know that Gigabyte already has one for sale.

TheMatrixHasYou · Jul 24, 2003

You can use a single stick on a dual channel board too, you just don't get the dual channel benefits, so I don't get what you're saying. It's not good that the KT600 only supports single-channel, it's bad.

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

How can that be bad? Hardocp.com did a review on the board and it ran just as good a the dual channel nforce2, so how can single channel be a bad thing? You can save money not having to buy a matched pair of ram and if the board runs just as good for less money, Isn't that better?

Sonny · Jul 24, 2003

Give it a few months. When VIA has made a reliable set of 4in1 drivers for the KT600 & the manufacturers have fixed the major problems with their BIOS & such then you can do a proper comparison.

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

I'd wait if i could. I have to sell my stuff in 2 weeks and upgrade or the opportunity slips away (not to mention the prices are climbing)

james.miller · Jul 24, 2003

you dont have to buy matched pairs anyway

regardless, they are good performers for the money, but time will tell if they are good overclockers.

Graphic67 · Jul 24, 2003

The only down side to overclocking a KT600 board is that VIA neglected to add either a pci lock or a 7-2-1 divider (6-2-1 is as high as the chipset can go).

Abit has a basic KT600 board, the KV7. http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/techspec.php?categories=1&model=125

TheMatrixHasYou · Jul 24, 2003

Junglebizz said:
How can that be bad? Hardocp.com did a review on the board and it ran just as good a the dual channel nforce2, so how can single channel be a bad thing? You can save money not having to buy a matched pair of ram and if the board runs just as good for less money, Isn't that better?

You don't have to buy a matched pair of RAM. You don't have to. It runs just as good for the same amount of money, but you don't get the extra bandwidth of Dual Channel, which makes it slightly worse. You can't really use Sandra to determine this, since it can't detect the dual channel setup.

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

What i was saying is that matched ddr costs more and the perfromance difference between dual and single in this case is pretty much negligible

james.miller · Jul 24, 2003

who cares if matched cost more? nobody in their right mind would buy a matched pair. certainly, i wouldn't.

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

So you're saying that the whole matched pair for dual channel =better performance is just a marketing gimmic?

james.miller · Jul 24, 2003

yes. i am. Well, infact we all are. its a gimmick.

here's something to try. everytime you see somebody running dual channel, pm them and ask them if they brought a matched pair. You'll be suprised

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

OK, well then i think i'd just get one 512MB kingston hyper-x 3200 stick and run single channel. The difference is going to be so small, but that will save me about $60

I have herad that single channel is more stable for overclocking as well. Any take on that?

RobP4P · Jul 24, 2003

you can find plenty of reviews that show nforce2 on par or beating the kt600 with both using SINGLE channel memory interfaces.

nforce2 is:
more mature
faster

kt600 is:
too little too late
only good thing is that it has native SATA interface so you dont use up PCI bandwidth running SATA drives

if you're really hurting for cash get nforce2 with a single stick of ram, then upgrade later to 2 sticks and get twice the amount and the increased performance of dual channel. You know you will want more ram eventually, so why not get the dual channel with it?

Junglebizz · Jul 24, 2003

Why bother? The difference is pretty much theoretical between single and dual, it's not worth $60 to me to have that little bit more. My original plan was to get an nf2 board anyways.

So anyone know about an overclokcing stability issue between dual and single channel?

breez · Jul 24, 2003

I have only single stick, but this is probably the same for Dual Channel. The other memory controller can run my PNY PC2700 512MB stick at 180MHz 11-3-2-2 while the other can run it at 200MHz and few MHz beyond. If I'd use DC (with two sticks), I'd be limited to 180MHz.

TheMatrixHasYou · Jul 24, 2003

Yeah, matched pairs are a gimmick. The only reason I bought a matched pair from Mushkin was because it was actually cheaper.

drunksquirrels · Jul 24, 2003

newegg already has some KT600 boards for sale and they are quite a bit cheaper than the nforce2 boards, besides 8rda+ but it has problems with high FSB without vdd mod. Im not too into every single last bit of preformance so i might just get it. BTW with 1/6 divider you can reach as high as 230-240 FSB before you pci/agp devices go whack, depends on your system though

KT600 vs NForce2

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