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Importance of chipset to memory performance

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goatzool

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2002
Location
Santa Barbara CA
This is my 100th post, so maybe now I can get to the restricted forums. It took me 6 months to get to this point.

My question for the tech experts is this - does the chipset make a major difference in the performance of memory, assuming basic compatibility?

Examples: My first board has an SiS645 chipset and DDR333. I can get the memory up to about 390 before I have to switch to a 4:5 divider and bring it back down around 350-360. So the Corsair XMS2700 goes about 20% over spec before becoming unstable. I have not tried adjusting Vdimm.

My second board has an SiS648 chipset which "unofficially" supports DDR400. I have a stick of Mushkin DDR400 that I got because i heard Corsair did not work with the SiS648 chipset when it was first released. The Mushkin runs fine up to about 410, then it becomes unstable. So it only goes about 2% over spec. I have tried it at alot of different fsb settings and dividers and the top end of the memory is the same across the spectrum.

I'm thinking of replacing the second motherboard with one that has the Intel 845PE chipset. In a test of an Albatron board by Anandtech, the tester was able to get Mushkin DDR400 up to about 450 before it failed (Corsair XMS3200 went to 467!!).

If my DDR400 can only get to 410 with its current chipset, is it reasonable to expect that it can go much higher, like 450, all other things being equal, with the 845PE chipset???
 
Actually, memory generally gets stuck at the same FSB no matter what the motherboard. Some chipsets make more efficient use of the memory. KT266A gets the closest to the full potential bandwidth of pc2100 for AMD chips. Intel chipsets do much better with efficiency than AMD.

Basically, a kt266A at 133fsb will outperform a kt333 at 133fsb. It will NOT make a 133fsb chip outperform a 166fsb chip.
Also, a chip that runs at 145fsb max on a kt266A board will max out at about 145fsb in ANY board you put it in.

P.S. I am not terribly familiar with Intel chipsets....
 
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