I'm considering getting the Abit KXR-333 motherboard and here are 2 upgrade questions:

1. Is PC2700 worth getting over PC2100 for use with KT333 mobo and will it be future compatible at such a time when AMD decide to move up the CPUFSB to 333 from 266?

2. I need to replace my current 512mb PC133 with new mobo DDR ram. Is cheaper Generic PC2700 (~£45 for 256mb) worth it over more expensive Crucial PC2700 (~£80 for 256mb)? Thats £90 and £160 respectively for 512mb PC2700.

Right now, as far as an AMD pltaform is concerned PC2700 isn't really necessary. I've heard rumors about a higher FSB for the server part of the Athlon ( AthlonMP ) but it seems the AthlonXP is stuck on 266 for a little while now. The Hammer line is supposed to debut with a 166 FSB but I'm not sure the AthlonXP will ever get to it. The KT333 has very little advantage over the KT266a but it's easier to find now. You can always run your Ram at 266 on a KT333.

I'd rather get some good brand memory rather then Generic. When I purchased my A7V266-e, I've had lots of problems getting generic memory to run with it. I was low on cash so I had bought some TwinMOS memory but it would crash all the time. I also tryed Apacer but it's only when I got Kingston ram that things ran smoothly. I'd rather get good 266 Ram then Generic 333.

Now I have Samsung PC2100 ram & even though it's rated CAS2.5 it's been running at CAS2 since January now withouth a hitch.

yeah, that makes sense.

If the AthlonXP will not ever require more than a 266 bus, then i may as well go for some branded pc2100 ram which is a lot more reasonable to buy at the moment than pc2700 which cost the earth!

In my other post here:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1606

I can assume that my KT333 mobo will last me through to an upgrade to the latest AthlonXP's running up to 3000+ (with newer 'barton' core) and the extra small boost from PC2700 is not justified with only the mobo taking advantage of it and NOT the cpu effectively.

Therefore, even with the Athlon MP rumoured to start using FSB333 and also the Hammer when released, I'll still be using the AthlonXP line of cpus which are aimed at the general desktop market as seen on Amd roadmap.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Questions:

1. I'm considering replacing a 3 yr old 300W ATX medium MIDI tower case. Should I make sure my next case is 350W for future hardware needs?

2. Would it be possible for the KT333 chipset to run the new AMD cpus that would use FSB333 or would they no doubt use a newer designed chipset?

That's probably a very wise decision. The KT266a chipset has been here longer then KT333 since it's almost identical to the original KT266 so the boards based on it are probably more tweaked then those on the KT333. The only reason I can find to get a KT333 board is maybe a much more feature full card like the Abit AT7 or MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU.

A 350 Watts PSU will come in handy in the future but if yours works right now, might as well keep it. As for the FSB issue nothing is certain. If the AthlonXP indeed gets a raise in the FSB department, Via will prolly try to make some more money & reelase a KT333a or KT400 chipset ( just like they did with the KT133a ).

Many boards based on the KT333 chipset have settings to run the FSB at 166 & many do run it on such a speed without any problems so there's no definit answer there.

Final question I have is, does fitting a new mobo require a clean install of OS or can WinXP cope with the sudden major hardware change?

If you're lucky, it will cope with it but you'll most likely get crashes & general stability problems. Even if it does work, you won't be using your system to the fullets of its potential.

I remember once my ASUS A7V had some serious problems ( temperature readings were pretty screwed up ) so I had to send it back in RMA. The store where I purchased it lent me another ASUS board with a 1GHZ P3 ( don't remember the board, it was an SDRam board with a VIA chipset ). When I got home I connected everything to it ( HDD, VGA CARD, RAM, etc ) just like on the A7V & on bootup all the system devices were redetected ( both boards were from VIA so the 4 in 1s were installed ) & on bootup everything was back to normal. Once I got my A7V back, I did the same thing.

I didn't reinstall because at the time I was in a hurry & didn't have the time. If you have the time, I seriously recommend doing a fresh install.

Thats a co-incidence I had to get my A7V replaced with RMA due to a "bad flash" done a while ago (i've since bought a Bios Saviour for foul proof future bios flashing on future mobos, no more bad flashing for me! ) and didn't know about replacing the bios chip at that time. I re-fitted an identical new A7V and it "screwed" everything up with all the hardware getting re-detected with some devices showing as "#2".

Its not really a problem for the time being after a new mobo is fitted but yes, I would agree a clean install will be nice to do after I cd burn some "stuff" off my C: drive before I format (which i've done loads of times in the past).