Need your thoughts = Board and RAM - DDR333/PC2700 – 4023 days old

[serlv]

A couple of things.

If you were to buy a KT333 board today, what would you buy. Overclockability AND stability would need to be part of the package. It doesn't have to be the absolute fastest, but no less than the second or third. Additional features , ie USB 2.0, RAID, etc are nice and desireable but secondary. Please give your reasons.

What boards will be compatible with Barton and Hammer?

Who makes the best DDR333 RAM, or PC2700. Are they the same thing? So who makes the CL2, true PC2700 ( not just selct OCed 2100 ). If you were to buy some today, what would you buy and why.

Also, is it that much faster than PC2100?

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Yes the latest and greatest Intel's look sweet, but I'm not going there.

Thanks for any knowledgeable help,
Scott

[ImaginAsian]

Have you seen the KT333 Mobo Review at Tom's Hardware Guide? Lists just about all contenders in the market.

http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboar...509/index.html

Many guys here will tell you either MSI or ABIT. I like the Gigabyte myself but it uses the AMI bios which is a bitch to tweak. ABIT has the best BIOS by far.

As for which boards will be compatible with Hammer...that's too early to call. Barton may simply require a new BIOS since its would sitll be based upon the Athlon core with increased cache.

As for True PC2700, Samsung is the first manufacturer to offer it and reviews on it are fabulous. I know Kingmax has some now and so does Crucial. I would choose Samsung but I don't know if any has CL2 atm.

PC2700 is faster then PC2100 when its using CL2. If its using CL2.5 and PC2100 is at CL2 you won't see much difference at all.

[serlv]

Hi IA,


Yes, read Tom's last night. However, I regard most of you guy's hardware knowledge. Between the lot of you, I doubt an article or review goes unnoticed. Tom's seems to point to Gigabyte or Epox, though they said they had some crashing with the Epox.

Regarding memory, does Samsung sell through online resellers?

I've always used Crucial, but I do want CL2 PC2700.

I am used to Award BIOSes and Abit boards. Did build my old roomie an Asus a while back and I think that was an AMI, definitely different, but I spent so much time in there I learned my way around.

If you arm was being twisted what board and RAM would you buy today. I realize this is probably not the best time to buy, however...



TIA,
Scott


PS To others, do chime in.

[ImaginAsian]

Samsung does indeed sell through resellers...check out NewEgg! 0-60 has the Samsung sticks and he loves it.

If I HAD to buy a board right now, I would buy the ABIT AT7 or the ABIT KX7. ABIT boards are fickle but if you know what you are doing they are usually one of the fastest boards if that's what you are looking for. And since you are use to ABIT BIOS, it shouldn't be too hard to get another one. If Gigabyte used the AWARD BIOS, that would be my choice no question.

Strangely, IWILL has been quiet from the KT333 market.

As for RAM, im not sure who offers CL2 atm but I think Corsair or Mushkin has some but they aren't cheap. I would choose Samsung over Crucial.

[AmStoned]

In case you want some Samsung PC2700, SVCompucycle.com has them at:

256MB = 69.99
512MB = 134.99

USPS Priority Mail + Tax (for CA peeps)

[serlv]

I know the Corsair PC3000 is more $$. How does it stack up vs the Samsung? Will it go higher? Worth the expense? Gonna clock the hell out of this system.

Sticking with what I know, going with the Abit KX7333-R, unless I hear some compelling reason not to.

Scott

[AmStoned]

First of all check out DK's Crucial PC2700 Vs. Corsair PC3000 Review

Next, prices for the two brands

Crucial PC2700 (Crucial.com)
256MB: $111.59
512MB: $223.18 (No 512MB module)

Corsair PC3000 (NewEgg.com)
256MB: $125
512MB: $220 (PC3200: $228)

As for the mobo selection, you can see what DK used. If you're not planning on Vmem mod, I do believe Epox is the only company that gives you 3.0V on the Vmem.

This is irrelevant, but Crucial has a PC2100 deal. Looks like they are dumping stock for PC2100 modules.
256MB: $56.49
512MB: $140.59

[serlv]

I need more help understanding the various RAM producers.
OK, I understand that Crucial and Samsung ( and maybe 2 or 3 others) are manufacturers. They make the modules themselves, they are producers.

Then their are others Corsair, Kingmax, etc. that put out a product. From the way some talk, it is almost like the repackagers are looked down upon by some. For instance in the case of Corsair PC3000, I am told by some that that is not true PC2700, but handpicked, overclocked PC2100. Yet in the tests ( like the one at Icrontic and others I've seen ), Corsair and others sometimes ( often? ) beat out the manufacturers RAM, at least as far as overclockability. I'm told bt some to stick with true PC2700.

Any thoughts on this and maybe some clarification and illumination for my dense brain would be appreciated,

TIA,
Scott

[James]

Scott:
Hand picked RAM,is just that.Each chip is tested individually,at higher clock speeds untill it fails,then it's given a speed rating and sorted with others of the same quality.

When the chip is made,many things influence it's ability to preform to it's "Designed for Specs".If a few traces are too close to oneanother,crosstalk,happens and the data is corrupted.
Hand picking trys to find the bad and the better.Mushkin also tests all of thier RAM,before shipping but some bad will always slip through.

Just be sure you order from a good vendor (you already have all the best (now) on the list) and i see no problem getting an RMA from any of them,if you get a bad stick.

BTW,we want to see pics and BM on the new BEAST,when it's complete.

[AmStoned]

Just to clarify, KingMax doesn't repackage RAM, they are one of, if not the only one memory company that uses and brought BGA (ball grid array) RAM into the mainstream, as seen in recent high end video cards. On the other hand, Overclocking specialists like Mushkin, Corsair, OCZ pick out top RAM chips from major manufacturers like Samsung and Micron whom actually produce the RAM.

[James]

What a SMUG little sheep

[ImaginAsian]

Pretty much if they advertise it as TRUE PCXXXX, then it is. Many manufacturers offered OC'd PC2100 as PC2700 initially until they started offering the true versions.

I would stick with the True ones.

[serlv]

Ok, thanks for the correction on the Kingmax ( wasnt sure about them ). I knew they were instrumental in getting BGA going. Now it seems like the rest are fallimg in with it.

So I'm sitting here saying Abit - Epox, Epox - Abit, etc,etc. I'm not much of a technician and I don't know if I can do a VMod, so I'm somewhat limited with the Abit. With the Epox I've read ( widely ) of video tearing at the extreme edge of successful overclocks. So, I'm still mulling it over.

Any input here would be gladly accepted ( even begged for ).

James:
I don't have a camera I know how to use. There is a 3 megapixel Olympus my Dad left behind when he succumbed to cancer. It is sitting in the closet. Guess I'll have to get the friggin' manual out. Have never really benchmarked but I'm sure I can learn.

[026TB4U]

Abit KX7-333R and Samsung PC2700

[frombadtraverse]

I have the Soyo KT333 and though it's not the best over clocker, it doesn't do badly. I didn't unlock the bridges on my XP1900+ but with the soyo board FSB at 146 it does nicely at 1.75 G (or 2200+ as the Bios says). I've had to take it down to 1.7 G for now as I don't want to run my air conditioner yet this year, and the in house temps are getting to 95 F now. I have the core down to 1.71 and the FSB at 142 and it's running nicely at about 122 F or 50 C. Just trying to get some power without breaking the bank on the electricity.

I have two sticks of Kingmax 333 DDR, and wouldn't recommend them. One stick would go to 170 Mhz and the other would barely go to 167 Mhz at Cas 2.5. I would try the Corsair, even though it's at a premium, they guarantee their PC3000 at 185 Mhz Cas 2. I would also go with one stick of 512 over two sticks of 256.

I bought the Soyo because I liked other features like the USB 2.0 and the toslink digital in and out. It had what I wanted, Raid, Sound, Network, and USB 2.0. But all of that comes at a premium price. I've had no problems at all so far except for the memory won't overclock well. If you aren't interested in the features, then another board may serve you better.

I haven't personally used the Corsair memory, and 0260 has experience with the Samsung, and I value his opinion.

[serlv]

Well my last 3 boards were Abit so I went with the KX7 333-R

I usually use Crucial, but even with a 15% discount from Simmtester they couldn't compete with the pricing on the Samsung. Heh, now my RAM will match several monitors.

Have a new AX-7 sitting right here in a box waiting for the board, RAM, Antec 400 watt ps and XP1900+ ( and the rest ) . Newegg owed me from sending me a mislabelled HDD on the last system. So I ordered it all from them as they're tossing in free shipping to make up for that last goof (sent me a 30 gig Maxtor labelled as a 40).


Let you know how things go.

[ImaginAsian]

Hey Good choices Swerlie!! Keep us informed on the setup and the results. It certainly looks like you did your homework and I picked up all great products including the HS and PSU.

If you run into problems, you know you can count on us to get you up.

Great another overclocker on DDR while I am still on SDR

[026TB4U]

Thanx FBT

Good choices vserl, let us know how it goes.

[serlv]

Thanks all for your help and input.

Been burning up the credit card . Luckily, I've been stashing some green away so I should be able to pay it off when the bill comes in ( won't be able to eat, but, hey, what's more important?)Ordered a Skyhawk aluminum mid server case yesterday. The thing is sweet, has 2 12cm fans and 2 8cm fans. Ordered Vantec rounded cables, 3 liquid bearing Maxtor HDD's, and threw in a 40X Plextor. This should hold me til the Opteron( jeez, I hate that name!). It's a good thing I don't have kids or a wife, I couldn't afford them.

I'm probably gonna try a VMod on the Abit, but not right off.

Scott


IA - I'm already overclocking my KR7A-133.

[ImaginAsian]

Dayem swerlie talk about opening the vault hehe....sweet sounding setup. Which Skyhawak case is this that has 120mm fans?

[serlv]

MSR4610AP-D. Just got it today, it is sitting just inside my front door. Haven't had time to open it yet.

Hard to find distributors for Skyhawk, but I tracked 'em down via a phone call to Skyhawk.

Got it from www.800PC.com

I told them exactly what I wanted as I didn't see it on the site ( in that particular model config ) and to call me if I couldn't get EXACTLY what I wanted. Apparently, they are now using (4) 80mm instead of 2 12's and 2 8's, but they said they could still get a few that were already made. So I said sold. That was Tuesday, the case came today.