do i need a 333 FSB

[Pabby]

I am going to buy an athlon 2400 w/ 266FSB and a 512MB stick of corsair DDR333. My question is do i need to have a CPU with a 333FSB to run the RAM at 333Mhz or will it run at 333Mhz with a 266FSB? I'm kinda new to building so all help is appreciated

 

[nick1985]

it will, but 333mhz ram with a 266 cpu is actually slower than 266ram with 266 cpu. you want the numbers to match to run the smoothest

 

[pspada]

Don't. You will suffer buyers remorse not far down the road. Get the 2500+ ($92 at newegg), with PC3200 memory. The few extra dollars now will give the system a greater lifespan, as well as greater productivity from the start.

 

[selfbuilt]

I agree with pspada about getting the Barton 2500+ with PC3200, if you plan to o/c the Barton to a 400MHz FSB (which they seem to do easily, but with the right mobo). Otherwise, the you could simply get the 2500+ and run it sync with PC2700 memory at the 333Mhz FSB - and you can still o/c the processor to 2800+ speeds easily by simply increasing the multiple without touching the bus (again, mobo allowing - NForce2 or KT400 only, as far as I know). That's how I run my system, and it's perfectly stable.

In response to Nick, I don't see why PC2100 would be better for the 266MHz cpu like the thouroughbred 2400+. It should really depend on the quality of the memory you are using (i.e. max timings), as PC2700 should run well at PC2100 speeds. I know from my son's system that going from cheapo PC2100 (Kingston Value RAM) at sync speeds to cheapo PC2700 (samsung) at async speeds (i.e. 333, despite the 266 CPU) gave an increase in memory benchmarks of about 12-14% (SiSoft Sandra and PCMark). Unfortunately, I also changed graphics cards at the same time so I can't give any reliable game scores.

In my experience so far, o/cing the FSB doesn't give a benefit if the memory can't handle it (i.e. running the memory async slower than the FSB). You almost might as well not o/c if your memory can't handle the bus speeds natively, so in that sense its probably better to go for faster memory now, if you can swing it, so that you could o/c the FSB later.