Fsb?

[Dillinger4]

Front Side Bus. What is it? Is it more important than the cache size? When building a system on www.voodoocomputers.com i noticed that the Pent 4's had a fsb of 800Mhz but the AMD processors didnt have a spec on that. And does fsb have anything to do with the memory speed? I think PC 100 runs 133 Mhz right?

[siyan]

Do not fall into the P4 propaganda trap now...

The P4 has a faster FSB and a higher overall clock speed (usually) but its rather "inefficient" compared to the Athlon XP.

FSB and Cache size are BOTH important.

FSB and Memory speed are somewhat related, though your memory speed does not have to equal your FSB.

PC100 runs at 100, PC133 runs at 133. But for a new computer don't get anything less than PC2700 (runs at 333DDR, so 666Mhz effective.)

[Tygur]

Think of FSB as the clock speed of your motherboard, because that's basically what it is. Memory usually runs at the same clock speed as the Front Side Bus, but that isn't always the case.

The ACTUAL fsb clock speed of most modern computers doesn't get any higher than 200 Mhz, except for overclockers. That 800 Mhz for the P4 you're seeing is the effective fsb speed, not the actual speed (at least I think they're calling it "effective"; whatever the case, it's not the real speed). To get the actual speed, divide by 4. In the case of AMD processors you divide the effective clock speed by 2 to get the actual clock speed. This means that when an AMD processor is advertised as having a 400Mhz fsb, it's really 200 Mhz, and when a P4 is advertised as having an 800 Mhz fsb, it's also just 200.

PC100 runs at 100
PC133 runs at 133
PC2100 runs at 133
PC2700 runs at 166

siyan got it wrong.

[Edneeis]

Its like Tygur said its more or less the speed of the motherboard and the motherboard divides it up or multiples it for different speeds. For instance the AGP slot runs at 66Mhz or the FSB 1/2 of the FSB (depending on the FSB) and PCI slots run at 33Mhz. Now that part is kind of not important but the speed of the computer is controlled by the FSB x the multiplier set on the CPU. So a AMD running at 1.33 Ghz is FSB 133 x 10. Both AMD and Intel have different things they do with the FSB to hype it up but really its either 66,100,133,166,200. AMD times it by 2 so they generally have 266 (133x2), 333 (166x2), or 400 (200x2) and Intel does basically the same but x4; 400 (100x4), 533 (133x4), 800 (200x4). Anyway now I'm just rambling but in general the higher the FSB (the core part at 100,133,166,200) the better even if the over all speed is lower. This increases the speed at which the other components operate like memory or whatnot as well. So a computer running (166x12) will seem slower than one running (200x10) even though they are both running at basically 2 Ghz.

[siyan]

Originally posted by Tygur
PC100 runs at 100
PC133 runs at 133
PC2100 runs at 133
PC2700 runs at 166

siyan got it wrong.

whoops...i should have caught myself when i typed 666....

[Dillinger4]

Im glad somone knows about this stuff. At least when im ready to order my voodoo system i can consult the local tech gurus that reside here.

[siyan]

ick...OEMs...

[Dillinger4]

Lack of time, Lack of patience == OEM

[siyan]

Can't you order from a local computer shop and have them assemble it for you?

It'll probably be cheaper...

[Dillinger4]

Yeah you are right about it costing less money. My friend worked at a local computer shop and could have built me a system but now he works for Agfa setting up their servers. The voodoos are very expensive with the lower end comp starting at $1400 and the f-510's and f-550's going well over $4000. The AlienWares are much cheaper but im not too sure i like those cases. They do have a cool gaming system with a small form factor though.

[siyan]

IMO you're wasting your money with the "specialty" OEMs.

[Sastraxi]

Only 2 things take time for build-your-own gaming PCs:

1. Putting the mobo in place
2. Cooling setup

The cooling is the worst... you have to put the heatsink and fan on your CPU, and then put in your case fans, (possibly) using your dremel to cut out holes for them.... =/

[siyan]

Software setup takes forever too, especially if you're using something like Gentoo. XP is okay...~2 hours for installing the OS + "normal" software + drivers but on a brand-new computer you'll likely spend more time getting everything right.