Bus speed vs Multiplier...does it matter?

angry hampster

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2007
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I'm experimenting with some overclocking on my 555BE. Initially I just bumped the multiplier up and called it good. This obviously didn't allow me to overclock my RAM at all..cool n quiet didn't want to kick in very much either. Now I've gone back and dropped the multi to 15 and the CPU speed to 250mhz. The RAM is very mildly overclocked at 1666MHz with these settings. Cool N Quiet comes on like normal and I still see idle temps around 28*c and loads around 50.


Are there benefits or disadvantages to going either way to achieve an overclocking goal?
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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a faster bus speed will give you a boost in performance, a multiplier boost will not(assuming final clocks are the same)
 

angry hampster

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Dec 15, 2007
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Sitting at 3.75GHz (250x15) right now. Idling comfortably with C'N'Q on at 28*C, loading around 55*C with 1.344 volts on the CPU. ..Using the stock cooler. Very impressed with this chip and this motherboard as well.
 

Borealis7

Platinum Member
Oct 19, 2006
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in the FSB architecture, a faster FSB speed would show a small gain in performance over the same speed with a higher multi. it has to do with the memory controller which was on the motherboard in LGA775 chips.

for instance, 500FSB x 7 would be faster than 350FSB x10 in core2duos.
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
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N00b question:

My multipier is set at is highest at 9 and my FSB is at 400 = 3.6 Ghz
would i get better performance if I set my multipier at 6 and my FBS at 600?

Intel E8400
 

jtisgeek

Senior member
Jan 26, 2010
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N00b question:

My multipier is set at is highest at 9 and my FSB is at 400 = 3.6 Ghz
would i get better performance if I set my multipier at 6 and my FBS at 600?

Intel E8400

Short answer yes to get the best overclock try to use your boards highest stable fsb.
 

GlacierFreeze

Golden Member
May 23, 2005
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N00b question:

My multipier is set at is highest at 9 and my FSB is at 400 = 3.6 Ghz
would i get better performance if I set my multipier at 6 and my FBS at 600?

Intel E8400

Did you even read the thread? Your question was answered in the post directly preceding yours.
 

maniac5999

Senior member
Dec 30, 2009
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It seems like everyone here is answering for Older Intel Processors (Core 2) with a FSB, even though you have an AMD Processor, I'm not an expert, but let me give you the quick and dirty.

Keeping the actual clockspeed the same, increasing the base clock will definately show benefits, because the L3 Cache (And possibly L1 and L2) are timed seperately from the core. Increasing the base clock basically makes the whole computer think that time is passing more quickly than it actually is, making every part try to run more quickly. (this is why you OC both your CPU and your RAM when you crank up the core clock) Changing the multiplier just tells the execution core to try to do more things per "tick" of the clock. Without Overclocking the rest of the system it may run faster but end up 'waiting on data' more often, canceling out some of the benefits.