Newbie

[Stormwind]

Well I have a few questions!

1) If the FSB of the RAM is lower then the CPU, what would happen? And also what would happen vice versa?

( e.g. If I overclock a atlon (FSB 133) say to FSB 140, would I need to get new ram with PC 140< ??)

2) Can anyone explain clearly here about how overclocking affects the frequency of teh PCI bus? I can't seem to find an article here in overclockers.com. Maybe I mislooked!!!

3) What is the FSb of Duron? Is it 100mhz?

 

[Hugo 59]

Well with ram it depends on the quality. I have crucial pc 133 it runs at fsb of 155 with all of the fastest settings. When you overclock your fsb you overclock your whole system memory included. Running pc133 ram at 100 fsb does nothing ram is backward compatible.

The pci bus is 1/3 or 1/4 of the fsb. 1/3 for 100 fsb and 1/4 for 133 fsb. Raising your fsb will raise your pci bus raise it to high and you are likely going to get an unstable system but most pci devices can handle a moderate raise in bus.

Yes Durons run at 100 fsb.

Hope this helps some and welcome to the forums!

 

[Stormwind]

I also have some other questions!

1) What is the L1 and L2 cache? Can this be explained in detail!!!!!!!

2) IS the CPU backward compatible? Can the FSB of the CPU be larger then the RAM or would the system become unstable if this happens?

 

[Monaco]

L1 and L2 cache is small amounts of super fast memory built in to the CPU. The most commonly executed instructions are held here so they are ready to go when needed, without looking on the slower system RAM or still slower Hard drive.
There is a LOT more to it than that tho, this is just the basics.

Depending on motherboard, you can run RAM at the same FSB of your CPU, or 33 mhz above\below it. So- a Duron 100FSB can work with old 66mhz RAM, or newer 133mhz RAM, if you set the BIOS correctly.
I hope this is what you were asking about.

Oh, and the PCI bus is changed when you up the FSB, via a ratio to the FSB. for 100mhz, it is 1/3. 1/3 times 100mhz FSB is 33mhz PCI clock. You get a 1/4 divisor if you use 133mhz FSB.

So- 115 mhz FSB times 1/3 equals a PCI clock of 37.95, or 38 mhz. Easy!

There is a lot more to this as well, but this is the basics. Spend a day reading the archived articles on the front page and you will pick up most of what you need to know. Worked for me!!

-the monster

 

[eobard]

Stormwind (Jul 27, 2001 12:50 p.m.):
I also have some other questions!

Can the FSB of the CPU be larger then the RAM or would the system become unstable if this happens?

Different motherboards have different settings. My board has 2 choices:

1) memory speed= FSB (100)
2) memory speed= FSB +pci speed (133)

My FSB is currently 117 so I have to choose between 117 memory speed or 156. My memory craps out somewhere in the 140 range so I have to use the lower setting. Different boards will have different options an capabilities. Check your manual.

 

[Hugo 59]

My understanding of l1 and l2 cache is that it is memory that is part of the actual cpu so that cpu does not have to access the ram when it needs certain info thus making the cpu faster. That's about all the detail I can give you on that.

The Front Side Bus is going to be the same it is set on your mobo on most newer motherboards it can be changed from 100 to 133 and on some you can go in 1mhz increments, from lets say 100 to 200. Again fsb is not determined by the chip it is rated by the chip. Lets say you have a 800mhz duron with an 8 multiplier x 100 fsb that's how you get 800mhz if you put it on a mobo set at 133 fsb your chip will be clocked at 1064 mhz. This might or might not be stable their are many variables the major one being cooling.

 

[Stormwind]

Still more questions!!

1) How do you know if the mobo could go in 1mhz increments?

2) What is the L1 + L2 cache for the AMD duron, athlon, P3 and P4?

3) Can I use PC 100 + 133 ram together with my Duron overclocked to say 110 FSB?

P.S Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Bobby Manus]

Read the mobo manufacturers site, but typically if its a mobo recomended by the people in this forum, then it will have very nice overclocking features, such as small mhz increments adjustments.