What are your thoughts on the KT266A ?

[jkittlesen]

I was waiting on the SIS 735 but now everything has changed. I want a new board and I wish I had more patience.

[elroy]

I saw a lot of posts concerning problems with the ECS board with the 735 chipset. People couldn't get 1.4 T-birds to run at 1.4. But Amptron and PC Chips has 735 boards out now. The reviews of the KT266A look good but we'll have to wait and see how the real life performance is.

[Tron]

I wonder why Via released the KT266A so qick after the new Sis chipset 735...
I think they alredy had that chip i store
but whaited untill someone else (Ali?)
comes up with someting faster then KT266
that is boring and monopolistic!

Peace Tron

[Peter M]

For one, there are so many posts and questions about the ECS board because this thing is selling like hotcakes. Lots of stuff sold consequently means lots of people have it - and this in turn means lots of people who aren't really up to building a PC in DIY mode have one.

Then, the PC-Chips M830LR is the exact same board, it's just coming from the PC-Chips OEM outlet non-brand instead of being "ECS" branded retail stuff. It's the same thing from the same company. And Amptron is just a reseller of both.

Regarding KT266A (VT8366A north bridge to be exact), that's an example that competition is a good thing. Of course hadn't there been a competitor with a better chipset for a lower price, VIA hadn't ever bothered improve theirs. Neither had ALi.

VIA supporters might want to wait until the updated south bridge 8233A featuring UDMA133 IDE is here too ...

regards, Peter