KT-133 CPU capacity

[Berman]

I have an MSI K7T Pro (MS-6330) motherboard which is based on the VIA Apollo KT-133 chipset. Certain sources have said that the board can handle a maximum of a 1Ghz CPU chip, others have said 1.2ghz, others have said 1.3. Does anyone know for sure? And what would happen if I installed a chip too fast for the board to handle?
Also, my local computer shops are advertising Athlon chips with the letter C after the speed (eg. "Athlon 1200C"). Does anyone know what this means?

Thanks in advance.

 

[njeske]

The KT-133 chipset will support any Duron or Thunderbird Socket A processor with a 200MHz FSB (Not 266MHz). Therefore, it will even take one of the rare 1.4GHz processors that has a 200MHz FSB.

As long as the chip only has a 200MHz FSB you can probably run it. Just make sure you have the latest BIOS.

 

[Berman]

Thanks for the help, njeske. So if the 1.4g with 200mhz FSB is rare, what about the 1.2 and 1.3? Are they more readily available?

 

[njeske]

You are welcome. The 1.4s aren't very rare, however they can be harder to find then the other CPUs. You can find them listed at several shops online, but they may not be in-stock. Check out Pricewatch.com to check the latest prices on those processors.

1.2 200MHz = $83
1.3 200MHz = $103
1.4 200MHz = $113

Any of these processors should work in your motherboard. The only one I would be wary of is the 1.4 since some manufacturers haven't released a BIOS that supports that clock speed yet.

The prices are as of about 2pm on 09-09-01.