need an opinion for athlon XP and KT133A

[chuchII]

hey guys, i need to get my hands on a cheap motherboard with the KT133A chipset that doesn't have issues w/ the athlon XPs. i know some of them do. i was gonna get the IWILL KD266 but i want to make sure that there isn't a compatibility issues befor i do anything. any thoughts?
thanks guys.

 

[Revx]

There are plenty of cheap ddr boards out there on the kt266a, why cap the performance of the xp with sdram?

 

[TranceBear]

There are plenty of cheap ddr boards out there on the kt266a, why cap the performance of the xp with sdram?

Well said!

 

[chuchII]

mainly because there isn't much difference in price between the the KT133A and KT266A boards but i have a ton of PC133 laying around that won't cost me a dime to put in this system, where DDR prices are expensive right now and i don't have any extra DDR laying around.

 

[sangram]

Soltek SL-75 KAV or KIV (KT133A)
Soltek SL-75 MAV or MIV (KM133A, in case you don't have tons of Vid cards laying about. I would stay away from this chipset otherwise, though.)

 

[chuchII]

are you sure that those boards are compatible with an athlon XP? what about the Iwill KD266?

 

[sangram]

Not so sure about the KM boards.

The KAV/KIV are XP compatible.

I've never ever used Iwill before, so who knows. But chances are that it is compatible.

Sang

Edit: Whoop! Heads up. KT 133A chipsets could identify the XP incorrectly as an Athlon. I've used an XP 1600+ on the KAV, where it was correctly identified so it's possible the board shipped with the correct BIOS. But it may still be an issue. soltek on its website does not expressly state that the board is compatible with XP. Sooooo...

 

[Sonny]

If You Really Have To

The KT7A-/RAID rev 1.3 would be my suggestion. Great MoBo, tons of options & who can complain with SOFT MENU III

How about selling the the SDRAM you have laying around & buying DDR?

 

[dvj81]

What about the ECS K7S5A mobo? It can use either pc133 or DDR ram. And you can pick it up for under $60 bucks brand new. Built in LAN and audio on most commonly available versions. It uses the SIS735 chipset. Got good reviews from Toms Hardware.

Here is the conclusion of a review from Tom's Hardware , it's rather dated like Aug 8th, 2001, but since you're looking to use PC133 ram...

 

[SickBoy]

I'd recommend a K7S5A or else a MSI K7T Turbo.....

The KT7A is always a good board but like sonny said, make sure you get a rev 1.3 or later board for AthlonXP compatibility.
FYI, the KD266 is a dog. It's an ALi Magik1 board with only 168 Pin slots (the board could have had 168 AND 184 pin slots if Iwill had implemented it) and the memory controller on it is fairly low performing and weak.

If memory serves me, the KK266 is AthlonXP compatible as well. I think Hoot runs an XP1600+ on his.

SB

 

[chuchII]

thanks guys the ECS board is looking good, i'm gonna do some lookin into it. i like the idea of being able to upgrade to DDR later