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Is it worth having faster memory bus than CPU bus?

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scg

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Joined
Dec 17, 2001
Location
UK
I currently have an XP2400 (266 FSB) and 512MB TwinMOS DDR333 RAM. So at stock speeds my memory is on a faster bus speed than the CPU.

I can get the RAM up to about 365Mhz and the CPU to around 2.3Ghz without any problems with stock cooling etc. However would I notice any significant increase by upgrading to DDR400 RAM (which I could obviously push higher than my DDR333)? The memory bus speed would then be a lot higher than the CPU bus.

Or would I be better off getting a CPU which runs on the same bus speed as my current DDR333 RAM?

Or should I just play more with what I've got? I'd like to get the CPU FSB up to match the memory. I've gone to 155 ok, but 166 seems a bit risky. Multiplier is locked at 15

Also, slightly O/T Q: would I benefit from having more than 512MB RAM for games like Doom 3, Half Life 2 etc?
 
I have just been looking at the XP2500 which has more cache, the barton core and 333 default bus speed. I reckon I could sell my 2400 on ebay and buy the 2500 for little cost. Would it be worth the bother? The FSB and RAM bus speeds would then match and I've also got the option to get DDR400 RAM and run the CPU at 3200 speeds in the future also.
 
In XP-land, the most popular and practical approach right now is buying a mobile CPU (the most popular being the 2600+mobile with a good stepping), then grab at least a PC3200 ram that is worth OC'ing and not very expensive. That is if you still want to stay Athlon-XP (Barton Core) for your immediate upgrade. If you really want to try something new with a comparatively higher performance, you can always join the A64 crowd. Even in a 32-bit environment the Athlon64's perform way better than the ancient but well-proven AthlonXP, that is if you're willing to shell out a bit of cash. But it is worth it.
scg said:
Also, slightly O/T Q: would I benefit from having more than 512MB RAM for games like Doom 3, Half Life 2 etc?
Definitely! Most definitely.
 
scg said:
Also, slightly O/T Q: would I benefit from having more than 512MB RAM for games like Doom 3, Half Life 2 etc?

If you have a decent video card, going from 0.5GB to 1GB for DOOM3 is a great idea. Beyond that, you won't see gains.
 
Thanks. I have a 9800 Pro. I've been running Doom 3 at 1280 X 1024 in high detail with antialiasing on. It's coping pretty well although I get the odd slow down when I walk into a new area or when something big bursts through the wall. I was hoping that more/faster RAM might help stop this, or maybe I'm just asking too much from my system?
 
I've just discovered that my XP2400 is unlocked so I've now got it running at the same bus speed as the memory and noticed immediate improvements in benchmarks, 3d mark etc. Now I know this I will play with my current setup a bit more before I go out and buy anything else.
 
Having memory faster than your bus speed will allow you to have better timings in many cases; i.e. you can run PC2700 memory at 2-2-2-6 on a 133MHz Bus.
 
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