PC133 is making a comeback!

[erwin1978]

So I lied.

It wasn't that long ago when PC133 was the talk of the town. I remember my grandma talking about it with her bingo friends at the YMCA like it was yesterday.

Now, it seems 99% of all motherboards I find only support DDR ram. So I need some help since I'm looking for a good mobo that supports PC133. You might scratch your head and wonder why I don't get a DDR mobo when they can be had for the same price. Well, here lies my dillema: I recently purchased 640 MB of PC133 ram; the good stuff. So I want to put this to good use for a little while.

I've found Shuttle AK32L, but I'm looking for others. I'll be using an XP or Duron(1.3 GHz) cpu with it.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

MSI K7T is quite good and stable... Or maybe an Abit KT7A...
I've got both, and are quite happy with them

 

[SilentNoise]

Try to find an ECS K7S5a (SiS 735 based). It has two SDRam DIMM slots & two DDRam DIMM slots.

You can't mix SDRam with DDRam on it & I think it can handle a maximum of 1GB for each memory type (two sticks of 512mb).

PS. I don't think those boards will work MrG. The Duron 1.3 uses the Morgan core (similar to the AthlonXP) & I don't think there are many kt133(a) boards that can make them work in a stable manner.:blackeye:

 

[erwin1978]

I already have a Shuttle AK32L with the KT266 chipset. What's the main difference between that chipset and the KT133A chipset? I see the MSI K7T Turbo 2 costs $30 more than my Shuttle despite mine having a more recent revision of the VIA chipset. Does this mean the KT133 is a superior board?

So you're telling me that if a board has KT133(A) chipset, then it might have difficulties running Palomino/Morgan CPUs?

 

[Vehementi]

Perhaps this would help?

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Originally posted by SilentNoise
I don't think those boards will work MrG. The Duron 1.3 uses the Morgan core (similar to the AthlonXP) & I don't think there are many kt133(a) boards that can make them work in a stable manner.:blackeye:

Well, according to Abit the KT7A does supports the XP core... (though it doesn't say anything about morgan...)

From Abit's FAQ:
ABIT KT7A / KT7A-RAID V1.3 mainboard is hardware compatible (ready) and can support AMD Athlon XP processor via BIOS update.

As for MSI, it too supports XP...

From K7T Turbo's product spec:
Support Socket A for AMD® Athlon™ / Duron™ / Athlon™ XP
Processors
- Supports 600MHz~1.4GHz / Athlon™ XP 1800+

 

[Didou]

Check out this page from www.amd.com -> bleh

Many sdram boards that accepted the Duron 1.2 didn't accept the 1.3 because of their lack of an 13x multiplier ( all Durons run on a 100 fsb ).

Whatever board you decide to go with, make sure it has a very high revision number.

 

[StormBringer]

If you look around a bit you might find a mobo/cpu combo for about the same as just the board. I've seen some at tigerdirect.com a few weeks ago. They were all closeouts but they might still have some.

 

[erwin1978]

According to AMD website, the XP cpu runs at 333 fsb. Isn't that overclocked since the standard fsb is 133?

 

[Rick]

333 FSB means that it should be run on a board that supports 166Mhz FSB, which is 333Mhz with DDR memory.

 

[SilentNoise]

There are XP cpus that run on a 166fsb ( very few of them, AFAIK the 2700+ & 2800+ ) & there are XPs that run on a 133fsb the same way you have P4s running with a 100fsb & others at 133fsb.

The 166fsb XPs aren't available yet, so you won't "stumble" on one.

 

[erwin1978]

Rules: PC133 support, Athlon XP support, up-to-date bios

The competition was fierce, and judges(me) were unforgiving. But six finalists arise to the top to compete for the prestigious title of, "erwin1978 worthy." These contestants should all be proud to make the list. Only one round left in the competition before the elite of the elites goes to my final shopping list.

Here they are:

Epox 8KTA3+
Iwill KK266Plus
MSI K7T Turbo2
ECS K7S5A
Shuttle AK32L
Soyo K7VTA Pro

You are now to judge which of these mobos deserve the coveted title of, "erwin1978 worthy."