computer motherboard/ram question

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Prowler

Super Moderator
alright, here's the deal. i bought a new MSI K7N2-Delta motherboard that supports 400mhz fsb. I also got a new AMD 3200+ processor. that's my new stuff, waiting ot be installed this weekend. my old stuff is 768mb of 2700 ddr ram on my current computer (AMD 1700+). since that ram runs at 333mhz(166), do i need to set my fsb to 333mhz to match my ram speed? is there separate fsb settings for ram and the cpu? also, if i set the fsb to 400mhz(200), will it fry my 2700 ram?

if the fsb on the cpu is set to 333mhz, will i see a drop in processing speed?

on my current computer, the motherboard came set at 100mhz fsb, so my computer said my processor was a 1.0ghz. once i adjsuted it correctly to 133mhz, it said 1.43 (a 1700+ operating speed). since my computer showed different operating speeds on different fsb settings, does that actually affect processing speed?

should i wait til my next paycheck to pick up 512mb of 3200ddr ram so i can have a 1:1 fsb ratio? it is worth the cost in performance seen?

i want my new board and cpu to work with my old ram for the time being. what exactyl would i have to do to make it perform best w/o killing my ram or processor potential?
 
since that ram runs at 333mhz(166), do i need to set my fsb to 333mhz to match my ram speed?


Not nessicarily... If the RAM can handle the extra speed you should be ok... The only thing is I doubt it can handle that much of a boost. You'll probably need new RAM.

is there separate fsb settings for ram and the cpu? also, if i set the fsb to 400mhz(200), will it fry my 2700 ram?


RAM can be clocked seperately on many new motherboards, but not all of them... Check your bios settings. There's always a chance you could hurt the RAM, but I doubt it. I'm not an expert on DDR RAM as I'm still running with PC133 :) Maybe someone elase could answer the ram questions?

if the fsb on the cpu is set to 333mhz, will i see a drop in processing speed?


Probably. Processing speed is the FSB speed times the CPU multiplier.

on my current computer, the motherboard came set at 100mhz fsb, so my computer said my processor was a 1.0ghz. once i adjsuted it correctly to 133mhz, it said 1.43 (a 1700+ operating speed). since my computer showed different operating speeds on different fsb settings, does that actually affect processing speed?


Yes, that's called overclocking. You need to be careful though as you create more heat the faster you go. 100 to 133mhz is a good overclock... Don't go higher though without better cooling.

should i wait til my next paycheck to pick up 512mb of 3200ddr ram so i can have a 1:1 fsb ratio? it is worth the cost in performance seen?


If your PC2700 can run at 200 then stick with it. If not get the better ram... no sence in lowering the new motherboard and cpu to run with the slower ram... the speed increase you paid for is almost completely negated.
 
you should have bought ram that matches your max FSB speed. ram is backwards compatible, but it doesnt work the other way.

aka -

try sticking a 100mhz dimm into a 133mhz fsb clocked board. chances are, unless your board/cpu combo supports that multiplier, its not going to work. beep beep

you can set your mobo to the lower setting for now, but i suggest getting the 400mhz ddr ram.

you wont fry your 333mhz ram if you run it at 400mhz fsb. the computer just wont post or boot. it will most likely beep. :)
 
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