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Ram Question

C

carblow12

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 14, 2003
Messages
345
If i buy a ABIT NF7 with DDR400 and i have a 2400+ with 266mhz FSB and i buy Pc3200 (400mhz), will the ram run at 266mhz b/c of my FSB or will it run at 400mhz? Just wondering b/c people say differrent things.
 
400Mhz is the "effective" speed rating of DDR because it transfers data on the rise AND fall unlike SDRAM which if its rated for PC133 thats its actual speed.

PC3200 is 200Mhz by default. You will be able to overclock it some though depending on what brand you buy. Mushkin, Kingston, and Corsair are the top brands.

Because that processor is a 266MHz FSB processor then the RAM will only run at 133MHz speeds by default. PC2100 will be plenty fast for that processor but i would buy PC3200 so that if you upgrade to a new processor you can keep the RAM and it will also leave you more room to overclock.

Instead of the 2400+ i would buy one of those 2500+ mobility processors and overclock the hell out of it. And because the multiplier is unlocked i would buy PC3200 or PC3500 RAM and raise your FSB as high as you can with that RAM with aggressive timings and then raise your multiplier till its running at 2.4-2.5Ghz.

They are a great bang for the buck when your going with a cheaper Athlon XP setup.

Hello?
Click to expand...

Hi lol
 
Sorry burningrave101, you are wrong.;) My CPU is at 333 (2x166) and my ram is at 400 (2x200). Every DDR board that I have had allowed the ram and cpu to be set at seperate FSB.

cpu-mem.jpg
 
Originally posted by NascarFool
Sorry burningrave101, you are wrong.;) My CPU is at 333 (2x166) and my ram is at 400 (2x200). Every DDR board that I have had allowed the ram and cpu to be set at seperate FSB.
Click to expand...

OK so you have a 3000+ and its set at at 166Mhz while your RAM is at 200Mhz. Whats your point and where am i wrong? lol.

AMD processors run best in a 1:1 syncronous ratio. At least thats what i've heard for a long time now but i use primarily Pentium 4 systems so i havn't been really testing any Athlon XP's :).

And there is only one FSB so you can only set one FSB speed :p.
 
My board has a FSB setting in the bios for the ram and processor. :) My ram options are 200, 266, 333 or 400.

The statement in bold is wrong.

Because that processor is a 266MHz FSB processor then the RAM will only run at 133MHz speeds by default.
 
Originally posted by NascarFool
My board has a FSB setting in the bios for the ram and processor. :) My ram options are 200, 266, 333 or 400.

The statement in bold is wrong.

Because that processor is a 266MHz FSB processor then the RAM will only run at 133MHz speeds by default.
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Well by default thats what speeds its going to run at. You dont just buy a motherboard and stick the processor in and it start up at all different speeds by default. You have to adjust all those settings manually in the BIOS. I didn't mean that was the only speed he could run.

And there is only one FSB speed but you can adjust the speed in which the RAM runs in accordance to that setting. Usually as a percentage or a divider and so forth. The Processor will always look to the system clock speed and run in accordance with it.
 
Stick with your Intel product. My MSI board at default settings runs the CPU at 333 FSB and the ram at 400 FSB. If I had PC2100 ram, it would have put it at 266. The only changes I made in the bios pertaining to the ram was the CAS from 2.5 to 2.0 and I bumped the mem voltage to 2.6v. I didn't have to mess with the FSB. On second thought, maybe you should get an AMD system and do some testing. ;)
 
Are you sure about that? I know that when you use PC3500 or PC4000 on Intel systems it just runs at 200Mhz till you overclock it because that is the default system bus speed and the system is always default at 1:1.

So your saying that with AMD boards the RAM and FSB are already asyncronous by default? I think you better go do some checking cause i just asked several people with AMD systems and they said that at DEFAULT until you adjust the ratio its 1:1 and if you have a 266FSB processor then your RAM is going to run at 166Mhz.

But there is only ONE ONE ONE FSB speed lol. Your CPU runs at the system clock speed times its multi and the memory runs at the same speed as the system clock or at a ratio of it. The one system clock speed defines the speeds of the rest of hardware.

FSB is not a measurement. Its a physical bus on the motherboard. So there can only be one of those. What you mean to say is your FSB is 166Mhz and your RAM is 200MHz. CPU-Z shows your RAM as being 166Mhz + 33Mhz and as far as i know that shouldn't be a default setting. But im no AMD expert so maybe someone else can say.
 
Most AMD boards will let you set the memory speed independent of the FSB.

usually, the "spd" or speed setting will clock your memory to its native frequency, such as 200mhz in the case of pc3200/ddr400 ram.

But AMDs typically run faster with the RAM sync'd to the FSB.

In my case, my memory benchmark scores were HIGHER with the memory clocked down to 166 to match the 166FSB of my xp2500+, than when it was set to 200 running on the 166FSB.

that's before I started overclocking my cpu :)


So always run your memory at the same speed as your FSB.
 
No, you can run the ram at 400MHZ DDR and the CPU at 266MHZ FSB. In the bios there is a setting that allows you to run each at their own speed.

~SlaYa~
 
Just a quick question. Should i stick with mt pc2100 until i buy a new processor? Or buy pc3200. But u guys are saying that the Pc3200 will run at 133mhz (266mhz effective) . So i should just wait until i get a a processor that is 400 mhz like the barton 3000+ or 3200+? The main question is should i when i get my new mobo (NF7) should i keep the pc2100 or buy pc3200? I am just wondering if i buy pc3200 will it make a difference from the pc2100 in the abit nf7?
 
Originally posted by carblow12
Just a quick question. Should i stick with mt pc2100 until i buy a new processor? Or buy pc3200. But u guys are saying that the Pc3200 will run at 133mhz (266mhz effective) . So i should just wait until i get a a processor that is 400 mhz like the barton 3000+ or 3200+? The main question is should i when i get my new mobo (NF7) should i keep the pc2100 or buy pc3200? I am just wondering if i buy pc3200 will it make a difference from the pc2100 in the abit nf7?
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Usually, by default when the mobo looks at the SPD of the memory and sees DDR333 or 400 and a 266 CPU, it will run the CPU and the memory at its rated speed, i.e. memory running asyncronously from the FSB.

But this is next to useless for the Athlon because its FSB limits the amount of useable bandwidth and NF2 boards seem to incur a latency hit running the memory asyncronously and almost negate the already small and unnoticeable performance gain. Dual channel is also pointless for Athlons, but does not negate any performance. It's just a whole crapload of wasted bandwidth is there :D

So for now, PC2100 would be sufficient as long as you don't plan on overclocking the FSB. Whether you want to be able to drop in a Barton and have the mem work at 400MHz or not is up to you and your wallet.
 
NascarFool, SYNC for best performance. Sync FSB/Memory speeds on K7 chipsets WILL outperform both async speeds that run the memory slower than AND faster than the FSB.
 
Well which Anthlon Will run with pc3200 fully. I was planning on overclocking but i can just Raise the Multiplier for now. If u guys can show me a Anthlons that will fully use the pc3200 ram fully u can just give me a link b/c i don't know which Anthlons has 200 fsb.
 
The Athlon XP 3200+ and 3000+/400 are both 200MHz

Just buy a lower end one like a XP-M 2500+ and clock it 200. It's the same as dropping a regular 3200+, considering that lower end processors like these overclock to such speeds and higher easy and usually without need for extra voltage or extreme cooling.
 
Usually, by default when the mobo looks at the SPD of the memory and sees DDR333 or 400 and a 266 CPU, it will run the CPU and the memory at its rated speed, i.e. memory running asyncronously from the FSB.
Click to expand...

Ok so by default on ALL AMD boards, when you install the RAM and CPU they automatically run their rated speeds? What happens if you put PC3500 or PC4000 in there? Is it going to run the FSB at 166Mhz and the RAM at 217Mhz or 250Mhz or is it just that way up to 200Mhz (PC3200)? I thought that by default it runs the ran synchronously with the FSB no matter what speed it is. And i asked a couple of people and thats what they said too. Hmmm...interesting.

No, you can run the ram at 400MHZ DDR and the CPU at 266MHZ FSB. In the bios there is a setting that allows you to run each at their own speed.
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Yea i know there are settings to run the RAM independent from the FSB but i just thought by default it would be run at 1:1.

I would buy the XP-M 2500+ and overclock it.

Also why is the barton 2500+ the only mobile chip rated for 1.25v on newegg? Why are the others that are faster and slower then it all 1.45v?
 
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