Topic: Which motherboard / CPU?

[Tony]

Cheers Sandra

my little liefraumilch [a term of endearment ] don't ask but it sounded good at the time, many moons ago.

I've book marked that site I ans shall look in more detail over the weekend, of to watch the footy soon.

Thanks

catch

[bat69]

...will help you understand what Bat was saying in a longer more simplistic way

Ohh Sandra, how could you  :'( :'(
and I thought I was being simple

[Sandra]

It was simple to anyone called Einstein I suppose Bat  

[Tony]

I'm with you Sandra,

it was a clear as shall we say, errrrrrrrr mud   I've read easier to follow self assembly instructions at MFI  

catch

[bat69]

Sowwy Catch  :'( :'( :'( :'(

I've just been thinking about your CPU thing, and an AMD XP 2000 is rated at 1.67GHz, I can't find the actual figures, but I'm sure this has a multiplier of 12.5   that means with a FSB of 133, it would be running at 1.67, but with a FSB of 100Hz it will only be running at 1.25GHz, which is a significant loss of performance.

Now if you are using RAM rated at 266Hz DDR (which I'm assuming you are) then it appears your mobo is wrongly configured.

In your BIOS if you can find the PCI and AGM divider settings, do you have the option for setting the PCI to 1/4 and the AGP to 1/2 ? if this is the case you can run 133 FSB as ..... 133/4=33Hz (PCI speed required) and 133/2=66Hz (AGP speed required)  The RAM speed should be FSBx2 for 266Hz DDR RAM

Now this will probably be double dutch again, but it is the basics of how the various parts of the system interact.


I'll also have to look for your mobo details, as there may be a jumper on it that allows the FSB to be taken beyond 100Hz. I know this is the case for some mobos, if there is a jumper (check your manual) try moving it to the 133Hz setting and see what happens under the AUTO settings.

[Simon]

Don't know if you're using XP, Catch, but on this months Practical Internet magazine cover CD, there is a program called Tweak XP, which is supposed to optimise many XP settings, including CPUs and other hardware.  I tried it, and can't say I've noticed much difference, but it might be of interest to you, or anyone else with XP, for that matter.  

[Tony]

Cheers Lads,

Bat, taken from the manual

CPU FSB Clock.

This item allows you to select the CPU Front Side Bus frequancy [in Mhz] setting options 100 to 220. If you install a CPU other than 100 FSB, you should change the setting to corrosponding FSB frequency, otherwise the CPU will run at the default configeration of 100Mhz.

So like you say and I suspected, my CPU is not running at it's factory set full potentiale. So I'm I right in thinking I just wind that setting up to 133Mhz and BoB's your Uncle ? By the way I'm using a PC2100 266Mhz 512MB DDR memory stick.

I await with bated breath to get the OK from your goodself, don't feel under pressure, but be very aware...................................only kidding  

catch

[Tony]

Know what Bat and Simon,

when you select the 'High Performance' setting as against the Bios default one on my Mobo, it increases the FSB from 100Mhz to 133Mhz. So I'll just run it on that setting, job sorted. I'll leave all that tweaking to you Bat, I'm happy with manufactures settings. Have you decieded on your Mobo and CPU yet for yournew PC?

catch

[Simon]

I don't mean this flippantly, Catch, but is that all the 'high performance' setting actually does, or does it also alter other things?  If it just boosts the FSB, I already did that when I originally set up my BIOS!  

Have you decieded on your Mobo and CPU yet for yournew PC?

Actually Catch, the question was posed hypothetically to get the topic moving!!  Good move though eh?  

[Sandra]

From my small outings into BIOS land,I seem to remember that whichever option you select,Normal or High performance,it reconfigures a few things,all of which can be done manually.I think it changes to quick boot and the like which I think changes the order of boot devices so that it doesnt automatically start searching the floppy or cd drives and boots straight from the C drive  

[Tony]

I don't mean this flippantly, Catch, but is that all the 'high performance' setting actually does, or does it also alter other things?  

Oh yes you do  

Nar, the manual say's it tigthens up several timings, and who am I too doubt an acknowledged titan in the field of Mobo development.

In other words I havent a clue Simon  

Well I'm off for the nite, see you all tomorrow, no flirting with Simon while I'm away Sandra, think on  

catch

[Sandra]

Its early for you Catch isnt it  
I bet youre on after the pubs/clubs shut  

[bat69]

Have you decieded on your Mobo and CPU yet for yournew PC?

Yes, I bought the Asus A7V8X mobo with RAID, and I'll be getting an AMD XP 2600+ chip so it should be quick, and that's before I start tweaking it    I've just ordered a massive heatsink and a Delta fan to keep it cool and I've planned some case mods to help the cooling too, ohh and to make it very pretty 8)

I'm pleased you found the setting, it should do most of the basic stuff required to improve the performance and get the CPU running at its correct setting which is FSB 133Hz