Quick Question

[Chez]

Which would be the quicker system (assuming all components except the processor are identical) -

P4 2.66, fsb = 150MHz (3GHz), Memory FSB = 400MHz

Or

P4 2.26, fsb = 160MHz (2.7GHz), Memory FSB = 427MHz

What I'm getting at is whether a P4 system would benefit from a little more Processor speed or a little more memory bandwidth.

Thanks
Chez

[Chez]

Obviously not such a quick question!!!

Surely someone can give me an answer??

Which is preferable a slightly faster CPU speed or a slightly faster memory speed?

Thanks
Chez

[Chez]

Anyone??

[batboy]

Most of us, including myself would need to compare the benchmarks of both systems. It also depends on what applications you plan on using the most. I would be inclined to go with the faster proc and faster overclock speed, but try to increase the memory speed more. If you're using RDRAM, then even at 150 FSB if you're using 3X, that will give you 450 MHz memory bus speed. If you plan on using DDR, then I don't know why you're quoting 400 and 427 memory bus speeds. If you are planning on using DDR, then buy fast RAM and run aggressive settings for more bandwidth using the faster CPU.

[Chez]

Surely a 2.26 processor with an FSB of 160MHZ and a 3:4 divider would give DDR427?

[FIZZ3]

I'm fairly certain that the 300Mhz faster running system would win out in most if not all tasks. Especially considering the FSB discrepancy is only 10Mhz and the ram only ~13Mhz DDR. In relative comparisons: the fsb is about 7% higher on the 2.7Ghz, where the 3.0Ghz gets 11% more Mhz.

Oh, and the DDR427 figure was indeed correct.

[Chez]

Thanks FIZZ3

I made those numbers up as an example.

Say that one setup had a 10% higher Memory FSB and the other a 10% higher CPU FSB, would the processor overclock count for more than the memory?

Thanks
Chez

[jdmcnudgent]

this is what ddr 428 looks like.:D could be a little faster with faster ram, to use faster timings. i had to slow my timings down to get my mem to run this fast, but im happy.:p
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/1102/1.JPG

[jdmcnudgent]

as you can see, RDRAM is a little faster.:p
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/1102/889.JPG

[FIZZ3]

Originally posted by Chez
Thanks FIZZ3

I made those numbers up as an example.

Say that one setup had a 10% higher Memory FSB and the other a 10% higher CPU FSB, would the processor overclock count for more than the memory?

Thanks
Chez

Yes I think it would. The extra cpu Mhz would result in a direct increase of processing ability, while the extra ram bandwidth would only result in more efficient use on that lower clock... which is more indirect and thus the lesser choice of the two.

[Chez]

Thanks Fizz3

[FIZZ3]

No problem Chez. =)