FSB Speed and Memory speed

[John A]

I am looking at building my first system, and I have a question related to
FSB speed and memory speed. For example, if I were to get a Biostar M7NCD
that supports either PC2100 (266), PC2700 (333), PC3200 (400), do I have to
be running my FSB at the matching speed to take advantage of the faster
memory? For instance, if I would get a AMD XP 1800 such that I run by FSB at
266, would it be a waste to go for the PC2700 or PC3200 (unless of course I
plan to upgrade the processor in the future)?

 

[AJ]

I am looking at building my first system, and I have a question related to
FSB speed and memory speed. For example, if I were to get a Biostar M7NCD
that supports either PC2100 (266), PC2700 (333), PC3200 (400), do I have to
be running my FSB at the matching speed to take advantage of the faster
memory?

For immediate advantage yes.

For instance, if I would get a AMD XP 1800 such that I run by FSB at
266, would it be a waste to go for the PC2700 or PC3200 (unless of course I
plan to upgrade the processor in the future)?

I would get the fastest. It could run more stable and you can add a
faster CPU later for very little. Now that chips are plummeting. The
2500+ Barton was $83 at newegg a few weeks back. Run with PC3200 RAM
that over clocks perfect at 3200+!

 

[Matt]

I am looking at building my first system, and I have a question related to
FSB speed and memory speed. For example, if I were to get a Biostar M7NCD
that supports either PC2100 (266), PC2700 (333), PC3200 (400), do I have to
be running my FSB at the matching speed to take advantage of the faster
memory? For instance, if I would get a AMD XP 1800 such that I run by FSB at
266, would it be a waste to go for the PC2700 or PC3200 (unless of course I
plan to upgrade the processor in the future)?

The price difference between the faster and slower RAMs is puny. The
faster RAMS will definitely improve performance now and in the future.

 

[John A]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I think I will dig a little deeper in my
pocket and go for the faster memory and the 2500+ Barton. I just needed a
little nudge in that direction. I don't really know if I will be playing
around with overclocking all that soon, however, it sounds like this would
be a nice setup to do this.