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anastrophe
n00b
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2004
- Messages
- 4
okay, i have an aging but still serviceable rig. i can't afford to do any upgrades at this time, but i do want to get the absolute most i can out of what i have...natch!
msi KT4AV mobo
Athlon XP 2000+, thoroughbred core
micron PC2100 ram, three 512MB sticks
the mobo is capable of FSB speeds up to (and actually beyond) 400mhz, even though it formally only supports up to 333MHZ. it also supports dram rates of 266, 333, and 400mhz.
in various testing, i've found a number of different fsb/core speeds at which the cpu will run stable - 2ghz with 10.5 multiplier and 380fsb, 2ghz with 12 multiplier and 333fsb, even 1.975ghz with 10 mult and 394mhz multiplier.
the dram of course is much more restricted - i can run it either at
266mhz with cas of 2.5 or
333mhz with cas of 3
so what i'm wondering is, since i can't match the dram timing to the fsb over 333mhz, what is the best compromise? run at
cpu 333mhz fsb and ram at 333mhz as well, but with the slower 3 cas
cpu 394mhz fsb and ram at 333mhz, same slower cas
cpu 333mhz fsb and ram at 266mhz, faster 2.5 cas
cpu 266mhz fsb and ram at 266mhz, as above
does this make sense? i realize a 394mhz fsb is excellent on an athlon 2000+, but if the cpu is sitting there snoozing for long periods waiting for the memory subsystem to feed it, i'm not gaining anything. yet strangely i've found that when i run 'synchronous', 333 fsb and 333 dram, i get these intermittent hangs, where the system seems to grind to a halt for a minute, then recovers and goes along fine after that. it could be a totally unrelated software issue of course, but it sure seems like it happens more often when i'm doing what seems like the right thing - running the memory sub system the same speed as the fsb.
of course, i didn't discover the amazing FSB speeds this thing is capable of until very recently - for most of the last year, i was running with a 266mhz fsb and stock multiplier!
anyway, sorry for the long post. wisdom appreciated.
msi KT4AV mobo
Athlon XP 2000+, thoroughbred core
micron PC2100 ram, three 512MB sticks
the mobo is capable of FSB speeds up to (and actually beyond) 400mhz, even though it formally only supports up to 333MHZ. it also supports dram rates of 266, 333, and 400mhz.
in various testing, i've found a number of different fsb/core speeds at which the cpu will run stable - 2ghz with 10.5 multiplier and 380fsb, 2ghz with 12 multiplier and 333fsb, even 1.975ghz with 10 mult and 394mhz multiplier.
the dram of course is much more restricted - i can run it either at
266mhz with cas of 2.5 or
333mhz with cas of 3
so what i'm wondering is, since i can't match the dram timing to the fsb over 333mhz, what is the best compromise? run at
cpu 333mhz fsb and ram at 333mhz as well, but with the slower 3 cas
cpu 394mhz fsb and ram at 333mhz, same slower cas
cpu 333mhz fsb and ram at 266mhz, faster 2.5 cas
cpu 266mhz fsb and ram at 266mhz, as above
does this make sense? i realize a 394mhz fsb is excellent on an athlon 2000+, but if the cpu is sitting there snoozing for long periods waiting for the memory subsystem to feed it, i'm not gaining anything. yet strangely i've found that when i run 'synchronous', 333 fsb and 333 dram, i get these intermittent hangs, where the system seems to grind to a halt for a minute, then recovers and goes along fine after that. it could be a totally unrelated software issue of course, but it sure seems like it happens more often when i'm doing what seems like the right thing - running the memory sub system the same speed as the fsb.
of course, i didn't discover the amazing FSB speeds this thing is capable of until very recently - for most of the last year, i was running with a 266mhz fsb and stock multiplier!
anyway, sorry for the long post. wisdom appreciated.