motherboards versus processors

[Fruss Tray Ted]

I am looking at a motherboard for myself that supports AMD processors up to Athlon 1.2 gig but it has a 200 meg FSB. The board I currently use supports up to a 2000 mhz processor but has FSB bus freq of 100 meg for a 200mhz processor and 133 meg for a 266 mhz processor. Both boards are pc133 DIMM but mine can go to 1 gig and the one I'm looking at to 1.5 gig. I am using an 850 Duron so:

1: What is FSB exactly?

2: What is my current FSB freq?

3: Would I be better off with a faster processor (w/current board) or to go with the faster system board (less upgradability for processor speeds)?

4: All of the above? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

5: None of the above? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

[old_kid]

Hi Fruss:

Front side bus includes external address & data buses from CPU/MCC to rest of devices, addressing and data busses between CPU and MCC and some would include MCC/RAM interface bus.

Now let's take your AMD 1.2 - if model number ends in A it has a multiplyer of 12 - this means MB is set at 100MHz - 100X12=1.2

Now let's look at you PC133 Memory - It is running at 100MHz NOT 133MHz

Now let's look at expansion bus PCI bus running at 50Mhz

The touted FSB 200 MHz mean that Memory or CPU that could do 2 processes per click could be handled by one or more of these Buses(excluding External Data Bus)

So - many many times - someone adds a faster processor who's speed is achived at by merely using a greater multiplier - but at same MB speed - So Processor can do it's thing faster but everything else same speed - and given that the CPU is talking outside itslef about 5% of the time - not much gain in performance. Theoretically a slower CPU with a multiplier of ?X133Mhz might even speed up machine as PC133 RAM could now run at full speed and PCI Buss could runs at 66Mhz! About a 30% increase in performance!

As far as Max RAM - Up to WINme - about 512Meg is all you can use

Well - there's a place to start LOL http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

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Good Judgement comes from Experience - Experience comes from Bad Judgement - but bad judgement is more fun!!

[saphalline]

Both boards support the same FSB speeds - 100MHz and 133MHz DDR which means 200MHz and 266MHz effectively. That's the way AMD procs have been designed ever since the Athlon debuted in 1999, first 100 then 133 when the T-bird design came out. Durons always use 100/200 tho, so yes, chances are your PC133 is really only running at 100MHz.

So now that we've got that straightened out, do you still want to upgrade your mobo? If your current board supports up to Athlon XP 2000+ model, then the only reason I can think to upgrade would be if you wanted to move to DDR RAM. I mean, you're still happy with that Duron 850, right? And 1GB of RAM is nothing to sneeze at, I'm at 256MB myself. And I have a feeling that I'll be replacing my mobo before I reach my max RAM capacity (I think it's like 3GB).

If you really want to upgrade your mobo for DDR RAM, get a basic (read: cheap) board that can go up to 2100+, and get a 256MB DDR DIMM. That will still put you in the $150 range, tho. Upgrade only if you feel you need to.

By the way, the PCI bus always runs at 33MHz. If you ran any PCI card at 66MHz you'd probably fry it!

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"No, we do not gnaw on our kitty." - Dr. Evil

[This message has been edited by saphalline (edited 06-13-2002).]

[rond36]

Allot of motherboards allow you to run your RAM at a different clock rate than the system clock. My ECS K7VZA with an Athlon 1200MHz 100MHz clock can run my PC133 RAM at 133MHz by setting a jumper on the MB and run the rest at 100MHz DDR 200MHz FSB.
My Soyo P4S Dragon Ultra with a 2.0GHz 100MHz clock can run at 100MHz QDR 400MHz FSB while my RAM is running on a 166MHz clock DDR 333MHz

old_kid Unless you are overclocking, the PCI bus is 33MHz and the AGP bus is 66MHz

Fruss Tray Ted What is the make and model of your board and the board that you are looking at.

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Soyo P4S-Dragon Ultra, Intel P4 2.0GHz(northwood), 768MB Samsung PC2700 DDRSDRAM, 2 WD 100GB HDDs, ATI A-I-W 8500DV 64MB AGP video, SB Audigy MP3 PCI, Plextor 40X12X40 CD-RW, Pioneer slot load DVD-ROM, Multi-boot Win ME, XP Pro, XP Pro striped down for games.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Thanks for the replies,

I am looking at two boards actually and I'm curious to which one will be the best for my situation. I'm still learning and this thread is to help me put things in a better perspective.

As I said, my board allows processors to 2gig (Athlon XP) but it bottlenecks the abilities with a pc133 FSB and I'm still not sure I understand why I'm only getting pc100 effectively at this time. Would a slightly faster processor change the FSB? View my board/361BS model: here (http://www.azza.com.tw/Layout.asp?Page=Products&K=99)

One board here (http://www.computer-show.com/mmcompshow/Images/mob031.jpg) has a slower maximum processor but has a 200mhz FSB but also only uses pc100/133 and VCM technology.

But the board that gets my eyes opening is one that also only allows up to 1.4 gig processors BUT has DDR capabilities as well as SDRAM pc133 here (http://www.computersurplusoutlet.com/viewproduct.asp?ProductID=MOT-CHSOCA). Would this one be noticably faster than mine?

The other reasons for opting to go with these boards are: the fact they are a full sized ATX board and they also have one ISA slot for an older scanner that I have which does larger scans than many of today's that are limited to 8.5"x11" tray. (You can just about fit your whole 'fanny' on it to e-mail to your boss if you so choose! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif )

If anyone would look at these boards and tell me which one would optimize my current processor or any other opinions as well.

Thanks,
FTT