Gigabyte 7VAXP Question

[ancientofdays]

Hello one and all.

I am considering assembling my first PC. So far I like the Athlon XP 1700+ and possibly the Gigabyte 7VAXP board. But there is a (possibly stupid) question I have: the specs on the board say the maximum bus speed is 166 MHz, but the specs for the chip say it is capable of 266 MHz. Isn't the 7VAXP a VIA KT400 board, and by extension shouldn't it support up to 333 MHz bus speeds?

Anyone who can help this pitiful newbie out will be forever in my good graces. Thanks...

 

[Iron Woode]

I sure hope this is a serious question, considering it is your first post.

The EV6 bus that the athlon uses is double pumped. This means that 100mghz is really 200mghz, 133mghz is really 266mghz and 166mghz is really 333mghz. This is cpu bus speed. Ram bus speed can be set asynchronous. That means higher than the cpu bus speed only.

I hope this clears that up.

 

[ancientofdays]

Thank you for the quick response. I see that I still have much to learn.

One other question: Every site that I have come across says that the DDR400 memory is only marginally faster than DDR333 right now; they also say that this state of affairs will eventually change, so the question is, does this depend on new chipsets being introduced, or better memory? (More succinctly put, is it worth getting a board with a KT400 chipset right now?)

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: ancientofdays
Thank you for the quick response. I see that I still have much to learn.

One other question: Every site that I have come across says that the DDR400 memory is only marginally faster than DDR333 right now; they also say that this state of affairs will eventually change, so the question is, does this depend on new chipsets being introduced, or better memory? (More succinctly put, is it worth getting a board with a KT400 chipset right now?)

Actually, both. KT400a chipset will be out soon as prototype boards are already being spotted. There will soon (hopefully) be a DDR400 ram standard. These 2 advances will see better performance. How much? It will depend on various factors. I would shoot for 10% - 20% improvement over KT333 boards and ram.

This also brings up the fact that the athlon XP has basically reached its memory bandwidth limit. The point of diminishing returns is being reached now. ClawHammer and SledgeHammer will require completely different MBs. Barton will continue Socket A but basically Socket A is living on borrowed time. I am curious as to what further development Barton will require. I know AMD plans on a Barton MP cpu. But I don't know what the market would prefer. Perhaps Barton won't last long as people turn to Clawhammer for the power of it. Maybe Barton will be marketed as a budget or low cost solution for the home market segment. It should prove very interesting.