I currently have a Pentium IV @ 3.06Ghz with 512MB of DDR PC2700 ram. After running some benchmarks I learned that my ram is creating a bottleneck for my processor. I would like to get faster ram (PC3500 or higher) but I don't know what the fastest ram is that my motherboard will support. Everywhere I check just tells me the type of ram and maximum size for my motherboard, no speeds. My question is, do motherboards support any speed of ram up to and including the bus speed? For example, my bus is 533Mhz so does that automatically mean I can make full use of ram that is 533 Mhz or slower?
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DDR ram MB support question
- Thread starter Scn64
- Start date
Heres the deal. Your processor is a 533MHz part. Your motherboard however may or may not support 800+ FSB speeds. If it doesn't you will NOT be able to make use of memory over 333MHz unless you plan on overclocking. In which case you can make some use of it. But you'll never hit the max speed of that memory.
If your motherboard supports 800FSB CPU's then you can use memory modules over 333MHz. Such as DDR400 and up. Officially the chipsets only support DDR400 modules. Many boards say DDR400+ and things like that to let you know that they are overclocking freindly.
However. If your processor is a 533MHz part it will not use DDR400 memory settings without going nuts with your FSB. Due to the ridiculous multiplier of the 3.06GHz processor don't count on ever attaining such speeds.
So in short your memory is a bottleneck but it is more the fault of the 3.06 than it is the ram. The 3.06 wasn't designed to operate on an 800MHz bus. Since memory, FSB and processor speeds are all values that are more or less linked your limited on what you can do.
The nice thing is with the 3.06 part however is that if you have DDR400 ram and a board that supports the 800MHz FSB you have some nice overclocking headway with that processor. You can overclock the chip but you'll still be running within spec of the ram and motherboard chipset so the only component your actually overclocking is the CPU itself.
It can be argued that you'd still be better off taking your chances and OCing a 800MHz FSB cpu to a 1000+MHz FSB and gain even more performance. This is certainly true. But if you can get a 3.06 part for the right price you can get a nice OC on stock voltages and cooling. See sig That's what I did. I got my processor for around $100.00
If your motherboard supports 800FSB CPU's then you can use memory modules over 333MHz. Such as DDR400 and up. Officially the chipsets only support DDR400 modules. Many boards say DDR400+ and things like that to let you know that they are overclocking freindly.
However. If your processor is a 533MHz part it will not use DDR400 memory settings without going nuts with your FSB. Due to the ridiculous multiplier of the 3.06GHz processor don't count on ever attaining such speeds.
So in short your memory is a bottleneck but it is more the fault of the 3.06 than it is the ram. The 3.06 wasn't designed to operate on an 800MHz bus. Since memory, FSB and processor speeds are all values that are more or less linked your limited on what you can do.
The nice thing is with the 3.06 part however is that if you have DDR400 ram and a board that supports the 800MHz FSB you have some nice overclocking headway with that processor. You can overclock the chip but you'll still be running within spec of the ram and motherboard chipset so the only component your actually overclocking is the CPU itself.
It can be argued that you'd still be better off taking your chances and OCing a 800MHz FSB cpu to a 1000+MHz FSB and gain even more performance. This is certainly true. But if you can get a 3.06 part for the right price you can get a nice OC on stock voltages and cooling. See sig That's what I did. I got my processor for around $100.00
BillLeeLee
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2003
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- 13,486
Yes, basically what Sir-Fragalot says, though there is something that is a little confusing to me in his post.
If your motherboard supports 800 Mhz FSB Northwoods, you'd need an 800 Mhz northwood to take advantage of PC3200, since they are set to 1:1 synchronous clocks by default. So Northwood Bs like the 3.06 Ghz have a 133 actual FSB, so your PC2700 is probably operating at 133 Mhz x 2 instead of at actual DDR333, because the memory and FSB are operating at the same speeds. Same with Northwood Cs. PC3200 runs at 200 Mhz actual, the chips have a 200 mhz FSB, so they run synchronously.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
You'll have to overclock to get better memory performance, or probably buy a northwood C proc, new RAM, and mobo (if you don't have one compatible with 800 Mhz FSB). And that'd be costly.
If your motherboard supports 800 Mhz FSB Northwoods, you'd need an 800 Mhz northwood to take advantage of PC3200, since they are set to 1:1 synchronous clocks by default. So Northwood Bs like the 3.06 Ghz have a 133 actual FSB, so your PC2700 is probably operating at 133 Mhz x 2 instead of at actual DDR333, because the memory and FSB are operating at the same speeds. Same with Northwood Cs. PC3200 runs at 200 Mhz actual, the chips have a 200 mhz FSB, so they run synchronously.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
You'll have to overclock to get better memory performance, or probably buy a northwood C proc, new RAM, and mobo (if you don't have one compatible with 800 Mhz FSB). And that'd be costly.
