Soltek SL-75KAV w/ Athlon XP 2600+ 333MHz FSB (Thoroughbred)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Albert Finchly
  • Start date Start date
A

Albert Finchly

Howdy. I know the SL-75KAV will work just fine with
something like an Athlon XP 2400+ running a 266MHz
FSB, or an Athlon XP 2600+ running a 266MHz FSB, but
will it support the Athlon XP 2600+ 333MHz FSB? The
FAQ at http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/FAQ/75KAV.html
is unclear on this. (It does state that 333MHz Barton cores
are unsupported, but makes no such caveat regarding those
with a Thoroughbred core.)

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Albert said:
Howdy. I know the SL-75KAV will work just fine with
something like an Athlon XP 2400+ running a 266MHz
FSB, or an Athlon XP 2600+ running a 266MHz FSB, but
will it support the Athlon XP 2600+ 333MHz FSB? The
FAQ at http://www.soltek.com.tw/soltek/FAQ/75KAV.html
is unclear on this. (It does state that 333MHz Barton cores
are unsupported, but makes no such caveat regarding those
with a Thoroughbred core.)

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Firstly, those FSB speeds are 133MHz and 166MHz respectively. Don't get
suckered into quoting DDR figures.

If the board (which I'm not familiar with, all my Soltek boards are nForce2
Ultra 400s) doesn't support a 166MHz bus for a Barton then I'd think it
won't support a 166MHz bus Period. There is very little difference in the
architecture between the XP and the Barton, other than the size of the L2
cache. I'd say that when the FAQ was written there were no XPs with a 166MHz
FSB.

It's confusing I know but there were three different XP2600+s made. The
first, which was only made for a short while, ran on a 133MHz FSB. It was
quickly superceded by a CPU that ran on a 166MHz FSB and now there is an XP
Barton 2600+ that runs on a 166MHz FSB and has 512KB L2 cache.

I would say that the mention of the board supporting the XP2600+ refered to
the early (and now *very* hard to get 133MHz version).

The final analysis, based on information available, is that your board will
only support CPUs that require a maximum of 133MHz FSB. Meaning a 2400+ or
less these days. Unless you can find an older, 133MHz FSB 2600+. (Good luck
with that, they're sought-after by people in the same position you're in and
no longer available new).
 
Firstly, those FSB speeds are 133MHz and 166MHz respectively. Don't get
suckered into quoting DDR figures.

If the board (which I'm not familiar with, all my Soltek boards are nForce2
Ultra 400s) doesn't support a 166MHz bus for a Barton then I'd think it
won't support a 166MHz bus Period. There is very little difference in the
architecture between the XP and the Barton, other than the size of the L2
cache. I'd say that when the FAQ was written there were no XPs with a 166MHz
FSB.

It's confusing I know but there were three different XP2600+s made. The
first, which was only made for a short while, ran on a 133MHz FSB. It was
quickly superceded by a CPU that ran on a 166MHz FSB and now there is an XP
Barton 2600+ that runs on a 166MHz FSB and has 512KB L2 cache.

I would say that the mention of the board supporting the XP2600+ refered to
the early (and now *very* hard to get 133MHz version).

The final analysis, based on information available, is that your board will
only support CPUs that require a maximum of 133MHz FSB. Meaning a 2400+ or
less these days. Unless you can find an older, 133MHz FSB 2600+. (Good luck
with that, they're sought-after by people in the same position you're in and
no longer available new).
Click to expand...

The OP's board, being a KT133A, simply can't run stable at 166MHz FSB.
With a lot of tweaking and cooling, it might do 155MHz, at which point the
USB ports will likely start flaking out and the more sensative PCI devices
will as well. It would be theoretically possible for a board that doesn't
officially "support" barton to run one considering the manufacturer may
not be testing such a [barton - KT133A board] combination and thus not
"supported", but in this case it just won't work period... The OP was
lucky the board even works with a XP2400 T'bred.
 
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