KT266A or KT333?

[The Doors]

Well, tired of the thermistor prob on the two Shuttle AK35GTR got and RMAed (fortunatly I've got my money back), I've to choose another Mobo, and I'm thinking to an Abit KR7A-133-Raid (KT266A) or the newer Epox 8K3A+ based on the KT333, so my question is, which one is the best for you, and why?

P.S. just for your info, the thermistor prob on the AK35 seems to be a prob of all the Mobo manufactured into the Shuttle's German factory. Infact on ten Mobos checked by the Italian Shuttle's dealer coming from that factory, the prob is always present.

Thanks in advacnce for your support
Adriano

 

[Sonny]

I would vote for the KT266A. With the 1/5 divisor you lose all the FSB gains when it kicks in & the current CPUs don't seem to have a substancial gain with the increased bandwidth. I do hope that I am wrong, I just want to be sure.

Adriano - I started a thread that would hopefuly find the real advantages & disadvantages of both chipsets. Hopefuly you can contribute in it. Please look HERE when you have the time.

 

[The Doors]

I would vote for the KT266A. With the 1/5 divisor you lose all the FSB gains when it kicks in & the current CPUs don't seem to have a substancial gain with the increased bandwidth. I do hope that I am wrong, I just want to be sure.

Adriano - I started a thread that would hopefuly find the real advantages & disadvantages of both chipsets. Hopefuly you can contribute in it. Please look HERE when you have the time.

Thanks Sonny for your point of view, I was thinking about the Abit KR7A too, and for sure I'll partecipate to your thread when I'll have my system working again, ASAP I hope

 

[nikhsub1]

As far as the 333 and 266A go there is really not a big difference. I went from an 8kha+ (266A) to the 8k3a (333) for reasons other than the chipset! The Epox 8K3A/+ offers these features that made me want it, I would have wanted it if it was a 266A!

ATA133
VCORE to 2.2V
VDIMM to 3.2V
1/5 divider

This board is only around $100 too. With 2.2Vcore I can get my CPU up another 100-125 Mhz than with a VCORE of 1.85. Plus, I have had this board running at 200FSB with no issues! The ONLY problem so far with this board that I have found is the in socket thermistor seems to read 10C hotter than it should. Many people are finding this to be true, not really a big deal though.

 

[vandersl]

Nikhsub1 - are you really getting in-socket thermistor readings that are too high on the 8K3A+??

From my readings, my thermistor is reading around 10C lower than it should.

What BIOS are you using?

 

[The Doors]

Come on Guys, no other suggestions? How is it possible?

P.S. Thanks nikhsub1

Adriano

 

[13rian]

a short overview of how ][ c it is that the kt266a is stable and very o/c-able while the kt333 is newer, but also stable and o/c-able, but probably not as dependable as the kt266a [having the bugs ironed out]. But i'm with nikhsub1 b/c of the extra features and all Epox's mobo's currently are quite reliable and have little issues with anything...so u can't go wrong either way.

but since ur more concerned with faulty temp. readings, kt266a [8kha+] doesn't have any problems with that to my knowledge and the 8k3a+ does have a known +10C reading, but i heard at the aoaforums.com, epox has a bios to correct this. i think there was also going into the bios and messing with sumthing in there, but i dunno the specifics

so many run-ons, ugh...

 

[rivercom9]

Does the 8K3A come with 4 IDE Channels?

 

[Kendan]

Does the 8K3A come with 4 IDE Channels?

The 8K3A+ does it has 4. Two regular and two raid and has the little diagnostic readout onboard. the 8K3A has two and n o diagnostic readout.

 

[Emericana]

i have a 8k3a+ and love it. however the 1 bad feature is on rev 1.0 boards, like the one i have myself, the bios gives around 10C above what it should supposed to be.I get 50C Load w/ a alpha and a 50cfm sunon and on a 8kha + i got around 40C load... however, i can not be 100% sure until i get my compunurse.

 

[rivercom9]

Can you use those RAID channels for normal setups like CD drives like the Abit KR7A-RAID?

 

[Gilgamesh]

Can you use those RAID channels for normal setups like CD drives like the Abit KR7A-RAID?

You can only use them with hd's no ATAPI drives such as CD's, DVD's or Zip drives

 

[The Doors]

a short overview of how ][ c it is that the kt266a is stable and very o/c-able while the kt333 is newer, but also stable and o/c-able, but probably not as dependable as the kt266a [having the bugs ironed out]. But i'm with nikhsub1 b/c of the extra features and all Epox's mobo's currently are quite reliable and have little issues with anything...so u can't go wrong either way.

but since ur more concerned with faulty temp. readings, kt266a [8kha+] doesn't have any problems with that to my knowledge and the 8k3a+ does have a known +10C reading, but i heard at the aoaforums.com, epox has a bios to correct this. i think there was also going into the bios and messing with sumthing in there, but i dunno the specifics

so many run-ons, ugh...

Thanks 13rian,
at this point I'm really considering to go with the new Epox 8K3A+ if no other suggestions are available

Adriano