Help: Fastest AMD for Via KT266A

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Piotr Makley

I am running a Duron in a Syntax mobo with a Via KT266A chipset.
http://tinyurl.com/yt2an

I want to upgrade to an Athlon but the vendor site has no info on
the fastest cpu I can run.

Am I limited to Palomino's?

---

I can't afford to upgrade my PSU. My PSU can deliver the
following. Is this enough power for a low-end Athlon? Which speed
cpu would be the best?

+12V 13A
+5V 27A
+3.3V 20A
Max for +5v and +3.3V combined is 175W.

http://tinyurl.com/3c4ht


Thanks for any help.
 
Piotr said:
I am running a Duron in a Syntax mobo with a Via KT266A chipset.
http://tinyurl.com/yt2an

I want to upgrade to an Athlon but the vendor site has no info on
the fastest cpu I can run.

Am I limited to Palomino's?

---

I can't afford to upgrade my PSU. My PSU can deliver the
following. Is this enough power for a low-end Athlon? Which speed
cpu would be the best?

+12V 13A
+5V 27A
+3.3V 20A
Max for +5v and +3.3V combined is 175W.

http://tinyurl.com/3c4ht


Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

I read in a recent issue of Australian PC User a table with the maximum
CPUs that different chipsets can take. The KT266a, according to that
table, can take up to a XP 2400+. Palominos stopped at XP 2100+, so I
can only assume that Tbreds are supported (perhaps with a BIOS upgrade,
perhaps not). I downloaded the manual for that motherboard and it isn't
very helpful.
 
" I read in a recent issue of Australian PC User a table with the maximum
CPUs that different chipsets can take. The KT266a, according to that table,
can take up to a XP 2400+. Palominos stopped at XP 2100+, so I can only
assume that Tbreds are supported (perhaps with a BIOS upgrade, perhaps not).
I downloaded the manual for that motherboard and it isn't very helpful. "


On the manufacturers website, there isn't a detailed list of BIOS updates
for that motherboard. All it has is a download link for one BIOS, so you
might be running that one already. I recently helped someone with a similar
query, and they had an Acorp motherboard with the same chipset (KT266A).
The Acorp BIOS update page had a BIOS update for that motherboard which
supported the 266FSB 2400+ and 2600+.

The Acorp motherboard with KT266A chipset:
http://www.acorp.com.tw/Products_information/pro-default/7KT266A.htm

The Acorp BIOS update page:
http://www.acorp.com.tw/BIOS/BIOS VIA/bios-via-462.htm

The 2600+ Thoroughbred is difficult to get hold of, as production was halted
shortly after release. You'd do better to find a (much cheaper) 266FSB
2400+ as they are more easily available. The 2400+ was first designed with
a Thorougbred core, but on release of the 333FSB Barton (2500+ and above),
AMD re-designed its 266FSB range of Athlons with the Thorton core (2400+ and
below). This was purely down to manufacturing costs, as this site explains.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20031022184805.html
 
a lot of older kt266 & kt333 boards had problems using processors that used
multipliers higher than 12.5 so the xp2000+ is the highest one you can
really be sure will work.
 
I read in a recent issue of Australian PC User a table with the maximum
CPUs that different chipsets can take. The KT266a, according to that
table, can take up to a XP 2400+. Palominos stopped at XP 2100+, so I
can only assume that Tbreds are supported (perhaps with a BIOS upgrade,
perhaps not). I downloaded the manual for that motherboard and it isn't
very helpful.
Click to expand...

In addition to the chipset there's also the issue of signal strength on
some lines to the processor. In other words, Australian PC User assumed
only the FSB mattered, but I've had at least one KT266a that wouldn't
accept anything faster than a Palomino, and lesser KT133 boards that
wouldn't run anything faster even at 100MHz FSB. Best course of action is
to hunt down users of that particular board and see what they're running,
or update bios to latest and just buy the CPU from someplace with a good
return policy.
 
Piotr Makley said:
I am running a Duron in a Syntax mobo with a Via KT266A chipset.
http://tinyurl.com/yt2an

I want to upgrade to an Athlon but the vendor site has no info on
the fastest cpu I can run.

Am I limited to Palomino's?

---
Click to expand...
I have the SV266a mobo running a AMD 2400+ (Thorton core)

Regards

Tim
 
Piotr Makley said:
I am running a Duron in a Syntax mobo with a Via KT266A chipset.
http://tinyurl.com/yt2an

I want to upgrade to an Athlon but the vendor site has no info on
the fastest cpu I can run.

Am I limited to Palomino's?
Click to expand...

FWIW my SV266A is happily running a 2200+
 
What is the speed of the FSB for the Palomino?
Click to expand...

133MHz FSB clock rate, often called DDR266.
What is the fastest processor in the Palomino range?
Click to expand...

XP2100, but that model comes in both Palomino and Thoroughbred, if you saw
no mention of it being a Palomino it probably isn't.
Do you know where I can find power consumption figures for the
Palomino's?
Click to expand...

AMD's website? They have spec sheets listing that, or a Google search
might find it.

Offhand I'm guessing an XP2100 is about 70W max, typical closer to 50W,
which at one point was looked upon by Intel fanatics as really hot
running, but now that Intel has 100W+ chips the perspective is a little
different. If anything Palominos are easier to cool now than previously
due to more large 'sinks in the market, and the larger core area of a
Palomino reduces the need for highest efficiency heatsink base... you
might have problems with a $8 'sink but certainy for under $25 there's a
few choices.

Then again a Thoroughbred or newer might work on your motherboard, I just
don't know. The faster the chip the less likely it is to work from an
amperage perspective too, that board was designed around older CPUs that
used less current. It could run for awhile then fail prematurely. If it
were me at this point I'd be thinking about upgrading the motherboard and
memory, then whichever CPU fits the budget, many people feel a Barton
XP2500 is a good choice.
 
Tim Chapman said:
I have the SV266a mobo running a AMD 2400+ (Thorton core)
Click to expand...


That is exactly the same mobo as I have! SV266A version 1.0.

Did you have to upgrade the BIOS? My Award BIOS is dated
"02/07/2003" and has this reference after the date:

VT8367-8235-6A6LVE1HC-00
 
Lee Enfield said:
FWIW my SV266A is happily running a 2200+
Click to expand...


I just replied to Tim Chapman. As you also have the same mobo
(version 1.0) then can I ask you the same question I asked him:

Did you have to upgrade the BIOS? My Award BIOS is dated
"02/07/2003" and has this reference after the date:

VT8367-8235-6A6LVE1HC-00
 
kony said:
In addition to the chipset there's also the issue of signal
strength on some lines to the processor. In other words,
Australian PC User assumed only the FSB mattered, but I've had
at least one KT266a that wouldn't accept anything faster than
a Palomino, and lesser KT133 boards that wouldn't run anything
faster even at 100MHz FSB. Best course of action is to hunt
down users of that particular board and see what they're
running, or update bios to latest and just buy the CPU from
someplace with a good return policy.
Click to expand...


What is the speed of the FSB for the Palomino?

What is the fastest processor in the Palomino range?

Do you know where I can find power consumption figures for the
Palomino's?
 
I am running a Duron in a Syntax mobo with a Via KT266A chipset.
http://tinyurl.com/yt2an

I want to upgrade to an Athlon but the vendor site has no info on
the fastest cpu I can run.

Am I limited to Palomino's?
Click to expand...
No, as long as you replace the PSU. You'll may even have problems with a
Palomino with that PSU. Replace the PSU and you should be able to run any
133MHz (/266) FSB cpu. Best buy would probably be the 2400+, but you
should also be able to use the /266 MP's like the 2800+.
I can't afford to upgrade my PSU. My PSU can deliver the following. Is
this enough power for a low-end Athlon? Which speed cpu would be the
best?
Click to expand...
Surely you can afford this. Got one. Works well even with Athlon 64 power
hungry cpu.

http://www.amamax.com/psspecial2fnlp6100e.html
 
What is the speed of the FSB for the Palomino?
Click to expand...
Officially 50-133MHz, but will go higher.
What is the fastest processor in the Palomino range?
2100+

Do you know where I can find power consumption figures for the
Palomino's?
Click to expand...

www.amd.com, but it draws considerably more power than the newer cores,
and it won't clock near as high, about 1800MHz tops. IOW's, you don't want
one. Get a Tbred B core or a barton core.
 
a lot of older kt266 & kt333 boards had problems using processors that used
multipliers higher than 12.5 so the xp2000+ is the highest one you can
really be sure will work.
Click to expand...
There's not a problem with the boards, just the people that tried to use
them not knowing what they were doing. There's many ways around that
problem. See link below.
 
Piotr Makley said:
Did you have to upgrade the BIOS? My Award BIOS is dated
"02/07/2003" and has this reference after the date:

VT8367-8235-6A6LVE1HC-00
Click to expand...

I don't think that the BIOS needed to be updated, but I did anyway, just to
be on the safe side.
The latest version being 09/17/2003.
http://64.168.125.230/support/syntax/Motherboard/SV266A/BIOS/2003-0917.zip

I have a 350W PSU, However I have another SV266a running a Duron 1800 using
a 250W PSU, if thats anything to go by.

Regards,

Tim.
 
Tim Chapman said:
I don't think that the BIOS needed to be updated, but I did anyway, just to
be on the safe side.
The latest version being 09/17/2003.
http://64.168.125.230/support/syntax/Motherboard/SV266A/BIOS/2003-0917.zip

I have a 350W PSU, However I have another SV266a running a Duron 1800 using
a 250W PSU, if thats anything to go by.

Regards,

Tim.
Click to expand...

A Duron 1800 runs really well in this board. I have 3 of these setups. Don't
forget that this processor runs at a full 1800 mhz., which is the equivalent
of an Athlon XP 2400 and almost as fast. It's a great choice budget
processor.
 
Did you have to upgrade the BIOS? My Award BIOS is dated
Mr. Slow said:
A Duron 1800 runs really well in this board. I have 3 of these
setups. Don't forget that this processor runs at a full 1800
mhz., which is the equivalent of an Athlon XP 2400 and almost
as fast. It's a great choice budget processor.
Click to expand...

Who is selling a Duron 1800MHz in the UK at a good price? Dabs.com
is doing them for £32 plus about £2 P&P. http://snipurl.com/5hgb

For £39 they sell an Athlon 1800+ which seems much better value.
Or not? http://snipurl.com/5hga

Any info gratefully received.
 
Wes Newell said:
www.amd.com, but it draws considerably more power than the
newer cores, and it won't clock near as high, about 1800MHz
tops. IOW's, you don't want one. Get a Tbred B core or a
barton core.
Click to expand...

I think my Via KT266 chipset doesn't support T-bred or Barton. I
think I am limited to only Palomino.

Do you know where on the AMD site it has info on Duron power
consumption. This is the closest I got:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?A59E11CE7

ISTR there is also a chart on a private website with all the data
on
 
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