what speed should my FSB be?

[monsterx]

A noob question

Here's my set up:

Athlon 2800 Barton
Asus A7N8X-X
Corsair Value 512MB DDR PC-3200
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
ANTEC TRUE330 PSU

When I run CPU-Z, it tells me my FSB is at 166MHz. Bus Speed of 332MHz. My memory is at 200MHz. do I have it set up right? Shold FSB and emory speed be hte same in my mobo/cpu/ram configuration?

thx!

[The Lodge]

Yeah, memory and cpu should be running the same. You are probably all right. Make sure cpu-z isn’t reading the spd settings for your ram. In that case it would be telling you what you have installed, not the actual speed it’s running at.

Edit: I just checked it with my system. Under your memory tab it should read as 166. If not there should be an auto setting for your ram in the bios you can set.

[SnomanJack]

You have a 200mhz FSB, 200mhz memory and a CPU that runs 166mhz (333mhz). Since your processor will max at 166 (333) in stock settings the memory is probably underclocking to match. To effectively get the 400mhz speeds you'd need an AMD processor that runs at 200mhz (not the Barton, I think those top at 166). No big deal, I've done the same type setup with my machine and it's fine. Someday I'll get a 200mhz processor when they're cheap as dirt just to max out my motherboard/memory combination.

[Strawbs]

Your CPU-Z figures are correct!

166MHz fsb = 333MHz DDR = Double Data Rate.

166 is the actual speed of the fsb! 333MHz DDR is the effective speed of the RAM\FSB because the data is read\writen twice per cycle.

Your RAM is capable of 200MHz fsb (or 400MHz DDR), you can choose to run it at that speed or in sync (166MHz fsb\333MHz DDR) with the CPU (which is "apparently" better for overall throughput! :confused: ).

Benchmark @ both speeds to find the best solution for you.

Edit: latter Bartons also come in 400MHz fsb flavours. ;)

[monsterx]

thanks for hte replies. I dont know why I thought my fsb was faster than that. I thought I needed to change somehting in my bios to get it to run faster manually. mabe not. thnaks!

[SnomanJack]

Nothing says that you can't adjust the speedsfor memory and cpu faster in the BIOS, just understand where you might hit a limit. The memory and motherboard are good to go so dependent on the flavor of Barton that may be your limiting factor.

Thanks for the update Strawbs I didn't know later Bartons went to 400. :t

[computer_kid1]

what fsb should a 2500+ run at?
what fsb should a 2400+ run at?

[The Lodge]

166 and 133.

[Midknyte]

Originally posted by computer_kid1
what fsb should a 2500+ run at?
what fsb should a 2400+ run at?

Before you ask about every single cpu.....
http://www.muisejt.com/axp.php :D

[Strawbs]

I always use >This One! (http://www.thedigerati.us/info/amdcpuchart.html) :D

[Midknyte]

Ooh. dat one is mo' betta. :D

[tweakerpc]

I would try the 166x2 (333) for starters!

[RQS]

monsterx, from one Junior member to another, start looking through the old threads. I've spent a lot of time here and learned a lot. When you get up to speed you might want to consider selling your XP 2800+ and getting an XP-Mobile 2200+, 2400+, 2500+ or 2600+ - $77-$95 from NewEgg, etc. (SnomanJack, these ARE your 200MHz processors cheap as dirt! Get 'em while you can.)

(I'm assuming your 2800 is Superlocked so you can't drop the multiplier from 12.5 down to 11 or 11.5. But if you got your 2800 in 2003 then there's a good chance it is unlocked and you wouldn't need to swap CPUs. Whichever way, once you can drop the multiplier to 11 you probably can run your FSB and memory in sync at 200/DDR400 and see a decent increase in performance. It is a good thing to run them in sync especially since you already have DDR400.

It is possible that a locked 2800 would run at its factory 12.5 multiplier and FSB200 but not likely. However the XP-Mobiles often run at 12.5x200 if you have good cooling, good RAM and motherboard. They almost always run at 11.5x200 which would be like a Barton XP 3400+ if there were such a thing.

After reading many of the posts here and the links, I bought two XP-Mobiles, 2200+ and 2400+ this month and both run great at 12x200 however I backed off to 11.5x200 to be sure. I've ordered a 2600+ that should arrive tomorrow (that's how sold I am on them - once I learned right here how great they are).

Anyway, get good at the math and learn to tweak your BIOS settings and you'll start seeing doors of opportunity open!

Good luck and have fun!

[monsterx]

Originally posted by RQS
monsterx, from one Junior member to another, start looking through the old threads. I've spent a lot of time here and learned a lot. When you get up to speed you might want to consider selling your XP 2800+ and getting an XP-Mobile 2200+, 2400+, 2500+ or 2600+ - $77-$95 from NewEgg, etc. (SnomanJack, these ARE your 200MHz processors cheap as dirt! Get 'em while you can.)


RQS, thanks for the detailed response. My processor is indeed from 2003, and i can adjust the multiplier in my bios. I'll be playing with that this weekend!

[RQS]

Way to go, monsterx! Bet you can run 11x200 and your BIOS and Windows will think you have an XP 3200+. From there, who knows?

Replying to stay one post ahead of you... :>)

Actually we're both long in the tooth to be junior members, you joined in 2001.

[Strawbs]

Originally posted by RQS

Replying to stay one post ahead of you... :>)

Actually we're both long in the tooth to be junior members, you joined in 2001. get to 50 & the "junior" tag disappears! ;)

[willywonka]

Just thought id say i had that mobo an and in bios just set ram by spd if your cpu is stock and it will run @200mhz=ddr400.

[RQS]

Will do, Strawbs! I wondered how many posts it would take.

Anyway, for anyone newer to this than I am or thinking about ordering XP-Mobiles from NewEgg, I thought I'd pass on info about the chips they are selling currently. Each of the following CPUs were bought in December:

XP-M 2200+ AXMD2200FJQ4C AQYHA 0427 DP0W
XP-M 2400+ AXMH2400FQQ4C AQYHA 0440 UPGW
XP-M 2600+ AXMG2600FQQ4C AQYHA 0421 FPMW

I've tested them in two systems, A7N8X 2.0 Deluxe and A7N8X-E Deluxe and they all run Windows XP stable at 12x200 at vcore 1.65. None of them are stable in Windows (reboots) at 12.5x200. All are much better than my old Barton XP 2500+ which won't run Windows at 11.5x200.

Sorry, straying off topic. But hope anyone wondering what steppings are being sold now will see the above.

Good luck, monsterx...