XP2600+ @ 333MHz fsb with PC2100

[Chris Morley]

Hi, i am looking at upgrading my processor (currently a XP1800, with MSI
6380E - KT3 chipset) to a XP2600+.

I have checked the mobo settings and i can run the FSB at 333MHz, however my
current ram is only 266MHz (PC2100).

Is it worth replacing with faster ram (PC2700) so the entire system can run
at 333MHz?

How big would the improvements be? I would rather not have to buy new ram
but will do so for good speed improvements.

TIA

Chris

 

[Li'l ol' me]

You 266 memory MAY work at 333FSB, but you'd obviously be overclocking it.
You can find out if it will work by changing the appropriate setting in the
BIOS to make it run at 333. Remember, you do NOT need to overclock the FSB
(although it won't hurt if you do), just change the FSB/RAM ratio to 4:5 (I
think).

This will make your current system asynchronous if you leave the FSB at 266,
but don't worry about that.

Get hold of a little DOS prog called MemTest which runs off a bootable
floppy. If it passes this test over a few runs, you might not need to
upgrade your memory.

I could be wrong, but I'm sure there were some XP2600s made for FSB266.

 

[Bill Rubin]

Stupid question: will I harm anything by trying this? I just set
up a K7N2 Delta-L with an XP2600+ and have one stick of PC2700
and one of PC2100. When I put the 2100 in, it went down to 266
(it was 333 with just the PC2700 stick). Is it a simple matter
of being obvious if it doesn't work, and if that happens, just
go back to the default? I've never messed around with
overclocking stuff before.

Bill

 

[Li'l ol' me]

Maybe you misunderstood me, but the only thing you'd be overclocking would
be your freebie PC2100. You would almost certainly have to remove the
PC2100 to overclock the PC2700 anyway.

And I think I meant 5:4 rather than 4:5, but now I'm confusing myself!

If you wanna see the difference between running your system asynchronously
at PC2100 speed (with underclocked PC2700) and synchronously at PC2700 speed
(with overclocked PC2100), just do a before and after benchmark using Sisoft
Sandra and maybe 3dMark. It might not matter much to the stuff that you use
your machine for.