Overclocking question

Im not a newbie on overclocking, its just that Ive been a little behind on the subject.
Anyway heres my question...My friend just gave me a of Corsair pc3200 512mb stick of ram. Is it better to run with memory set at 400mhz and stick with my original core speed (1733Ghz - Athlon XP 2100) or lower the memory frequency and overclock to a higher core speed and fsb?

I am not sure I am entirely understanding what you mean when you say memory frequency as it seems to contradict your statement about increasing FSB, so correct me if I am not getting what you are asking correct. Memory frequency and FSB should be one in the same. Thing to remember with an athlon xp is that you will want to run your memory in sync with your FSB. You will suffer a performance hit if you try to run at a different ratio.

All things being equal you will get better performance with higher FSB and a lower mult compared to the same cpu speed with lower FSB and a higher mult. Basically you are trying to get as much memory bandwidth as you can, at the same time trying to raise your cpu speed. Sometimes its a hard balance to strike since an increase in .5 on your multiplyer may be too large, causing you to have to lower your FSB some. When you reach this point it tends to differ from machine to machine, so you would need to make that call after doing some benchmarks to try and determine which way works best for your rig.

Memory timings throw another wrench into things. Tighter timings tend to perform better than loose timings with a higher FSB, but its not ALWAYS the case so again it warrants some testing.

Almost forgot, to the forums!