Not so long ago we came across a comment on the recently announced VIA KT266A chipset. One of our readers said that if it went on like that, VIA would have to introduce P4X266A, KT266B, etc. very soon.
Well, you probably wonder what the whole thing is about, eh? According to Digitimes, VIA is going… to launch P4X266A chipset with the performance improved by 10%-15% than that of the current P4X266 (besides that, there are no other differences, just like in case of KT266 and KT266A). The new solution will have to outperform SiS645, which has become the most popular chipset for mainboards lately. As for the due dates, the schedule for P4X266A is unknown yet, however, we suppose that it will take place before the launching of the new P4X333, i.e. within the next three months. Of course, this supposition makes sense only if the entire rumor about P4X266A is true.
All in all, this info pushed us to the following couple of comments:

• It is really sad that the chipset makers learn to develop high-performance solution at the expense of mainboard buyers.
• On the other hand, the competition between the chipset manufacturers forces them to make their solution faster that is why all the user needs to do is to have patience and to refrain from buying unready products (though it is still a question how to find out if the product is ready or not?).

By the way, we wonder how fast i845 B-step will be (as you remember, the chipset should start shipping in mass this month). Intel hasn’t yet taken any part in the performance competition, as they launched only a slow i845 (not to mention the good old buddy i850).