Info on the new VIA KT400 Chipset!!!

[Dreamware]

Hello everyone. Well its time for a chipset update. As some of you may already know, new motherboards are starting to show up based on VIA's new KT400 Chipset. While the KT333 has performed exceptionally well, this new chipset has one major thing going for it: PCI Bandwidth!!!

With the introduction of the KT400 chipset VIA has finally fixed the PCI performance problem that has plagueed olde rchipsets including the KT266a/333 series. The new High speed V-Link architecture allows a stunning 533MB/Sec tranfer rate between the North Bridge and South Bridge for optimal peripheral performance as opposed to the 266MB/Sec spec of the KT333/266a chipsets. We will be testing the new Asus A7V8X motherboard based on the KT400 Chipset sometime this month so I will keep people posted and let you know when its a safe bet to go with.

[Lalaman]

Why am I always too early or too late? You can´t do that to me, now that I´ve just set up your last discovery!
... But ok, over 30 tracks should be ok for now. Yes, it shhhhould.
[img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Dreamware]

LOL, sorry lalaman. There is no real advantage going to the KT400 Chipset unless you are making a new purchase or are having problems with video editing on certain Matrox cards. When you are doing certain work on PCI cards that hog bandwith then the KT400 Chispet will help. We will have to see how this board plays out in PTLE [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Allen Hallada]

Alex,
I wish you better success than www.tomshardware.com had on there first tests of the KT400. All of them under performed the KT333 reference board. I have a feeling there will be a KT400a release just as it happened in the past with the KT133a and KT266a. Let us know how your testing turns out.

Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Dreamware]

Thats because of the DDR 400 memory. You simply just use PC2700 memory or buy PC3200 and clock it to 333.

[jeffreyr]

Don't worry Lalaman. I'll bet the KT400 won't boot up a salami sandwich. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Allen Hallada]

Originally posted by Dreamware:
Thats because of the DDR 400 memory. You simply just use PC2700 memory or buy PC3200 and clock it to 333.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Article Info
Changing Of The Guard:
Four Athlon Motherboards For DDR400

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Created:
September 5, 2002
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By:
Patrick Schmid
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Category:
Mainboard Guide
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Summary:
AMD is back! Thanks to the Athlon XP 2600+, the chip manufacturer is now able to catch up with the fastest Pentium 4 systems over 2.5 GHz. Equally important, however, is a fast platform. VIA's new KT400 chipset promises more performance because it supports DDR400 memory. We put the first four motherboards through intensive testing - and the results are astonishing.


Conclusion: No Advantages Compared To DDR333!

Considering the high expectations, based on previous experiences with DDR, the test results of the first KT400 boards are a disappointment. Even with the pre-production boards and BIOS version, we had expected that the performance would at least be on par with that of a KT333 motherboard - however, none of the three KT400 boards that we tested achieved the performance of a KT333!

This has to do with two factors: the first factor is that the manufacturers still seem to have trouble getting maximum performance with the new chipset - most likely due to the JEDEC specification for DDR400, which are still missing. This means that each manufacturer must test and validate as many memory types as possible, otherwise the differences and problems cannot be ruled out. The consequences are that conservative memory timings are the order of the day for now. The second factor is that the reliable timings are anything but fast - in light of the results, the advantages of high memory clock speeds are completely nullified by the slow timings.

One of the positive aspects, in any case, is that all of the boards run reliably and stably with auto-settings. Moreover, the latest generation of motherboards shine with a full set of features on a scale never seen before. Here, MSI put together the best package: in addition to USB 2.0, FireWire, gigabit-LAN and Serial ATA, the motherboard also provides a bluetooth module for wireless communication. The Asus board does not provide this option, but it allows for more flexible use of the ATA interfaces.

To make it clear: in our view, KT400 has not yet justified its own existence - even the abundant features of the first products are not enough to change this. It cannot be said that KT400 is flexible either, because at 400 MHz, only a single DIM module can be used.

Allen [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[jeffreyr]

I guess its kind of like saying, 'Gee the A7M266 boards really were no good until that BIOS update 1007'.
Of course, it might not hurt to dip your ram in some honey. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Dreamware]

Lets be patient people until we get a final release board. I will post back with results later on.

[Lalaman]

Dreamware
Member
Member # 16579

posted September 10, 2002 04:34 PM
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There is no real advantage going to the KT400 Chipset unless you are making a new purchase or are having problems with video editing on certain Matrox cards.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Phew!
Please let it perform like a 400 MHZ PII system ( 6 tracks without plugs, if you´re lucky ), that would be relaxing.

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Jeffro
Member
Member # 22968

posted September 10, 2002 05:05 PM
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Don't worry Lalaman. I'll bet the KT400 won't boot up a salami sandwich.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]