Questions on Via vs Nforce2 (and a couple of other ?'s)

[dnuggett]

I have been reading the OC forum for awhile, and I have a couple of noob ?'s.

What are the main differences between the Via chipset and the Nforce2? I am reading that it is better to get an Nforce2 board, but I'm not sure why. Also what are the differences in the FSB speeds, in other words I know that the higher the # the faster the abilities, but how does this link to a more productive overclock? For example I have read that people are OCing with a 200 FSB. I don't really understand this and most of the threads I have read are already assuming a certian level of knowledge that I don't have.

And I really don't understand the memory timings, but if that is too much to ask we'll leave that alone.

I'm buying up some gear now to start overclocking as a hobby but I am one of those people that like to know what I am doing and talking about before trying, that way I am getting a little head start.

Thanks...

 

[Richdog]

Do yourself a favour and read the vast amount of material on the internet concerning overclocking, when you don't have a clue it's far better to build up your own knowledge this way rather than asking on Forums. Once you have a basic grasp of overclocking then it's good to ask for advice from users.

As for the differences between the Nforce2 and the VIA chipsets, a quick search on Google will find you oodles of information on this subject.

Sorry, I don'y mean to sound unhelpful, it's just that questions like these can be better solved using a minimum of effort on your part, and a search engine.:beer:

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: Richdog
Do yourself a favour and read the vast amount of material on the internet concerning overclocking, when you don't have a clue it's far better to build up your own knowledge this way rather than asking on Forums. Once you have a basic grasp of overclocking then it's good to ask for advice from users.

As for the differences between the Nforce2 and the VIA chipsets, a quick search on Google will find you oodles of information on this subject.

Sorry, I don'y mean to sound unhelpful, it's just that questions like these can be solved using a minimum of effort on your part, and a search engine.:beer:

I have been and will continue to do that, but a lot of what I read conflicts with itself (at least I think it does) and I'm not sure if what I'm reading is accurate and truthful. From what I have read here there are some peeps who seem to have an excellent grasp on this topic so I thought I'd post here and see if I can get something to build from.

Richdog, can you possibly provide me with some sites that you feel are accurate in their info? Thanks!!

 

[genro]

Originally posted by: dnuggett What are the main differences between the Via chipset and the Nforce2?

The Nforce 2 boards are faster and support dual channel memory. If you decide to buy a board get it with a Nforce 2 400 Ultra.
Recomendations: ASUS A7N8X.

Originally posted by: dnuggett Also what are the differences in the FSB speeds

Ok FSB (Front Side Bus) is the speed at which the cpu and the northbridge. ( The chip right below your CPU that works with the RAM and AGP )
How a CPU's speed is determined is by the multiplier times the FSB. (ex. 12(Multiplier) x 200 (FSB) = 2400 MHZ ).
WHich on AMDs the FSB is Double pumped so when people say 400 mhz FSB its really 200 mhz x 2 just like DDR 3200 is 200 x 2.

Or even like a Athlon 1000 mhz its 10 (Multiplier) x 100 mhz (FSB) = 1000 mhz. Up the FSB to 120 mhz and u get a 1200 mhz CPU.

On Athlon XP cpus they either have 266 mhz FSB (133x2) 333mhz (166x2) or 400 mhz FSB (200x2)



I Hope this helps some

 

[myocardia]

Genro told you most of what you'll need to know, with the exception that he forgot the other really good reason to get an nForce 2 400 Ultra chipset: they all have pci and agp locks. Via has never had them, until recently. And at the moment, very, very few boards with a Via chipset have them. When you attempt to overclock without a pci/agp lock, when you raise the fsb, you are raising the frequency of both the pci bus and the agp bus. That always results in very low overclockability (like around 10 mhz fsb over stock speed, maximum!).

I use an Epox 8RDA3+, and I'm very happy with it. They are nothing at all like the Epox 8RDA+'s that we all had so many problems with. They even offer SATA (serial ata hard drive) RAID, which is pretty sweet for a board that newegg is selling for $89 right now. I personally believe that's it's as good as the Asus A7N8X, and you can apply the $30 you'll save to a Thermalright SLK-900a heatsink...

 

[Assimilator1]

Right on with the AGP lock ,but

(like around 10 mhz fsb over stock speed, maximum!).

Nah! ,if your PCI parts can handle it they can go much higher than that ,though it does add to the risk of instabilty.
For example I had an XP1500 at 152MHz FSB on a KT266a mbrd ,got an XP1800 at 150MHz FSB on a KT133a mbrd ,the most extreme I've ever had was on an old 430TX mbrd running at 83MHz ,that was a PCI of 41.5MHz!:Q ,I probably wouldn't risk going that high these days though.
AGP/PCI bus lock is bliss!

dnuggett
As well as the dual channel memory the Nfrc2 chipsets are faster than the VIA ones because of their lower latency ,especially compared to the KT400 ,though the gap is much smaller with the KT400a & KT600

I would say that Overclockers.com is as good a site as any for learning more about overclocking & related subjects
Btw you could post this into the DC forum too if you wangle F@H or S@H etc into the thread ,most DC projects like high FSB's & low RAM/chipset latencies ,you'll likely get a few more friendly answers too!
(Btw were you part of the GF project?)

Richdog
The least you could of done was post a few links!

 

[dnuggett]

Btw were you part of the GF project?

Umm.... I don't think so just F@H right now, but what is the GF project?


BTW thanks for all the help so far guys. And especially thanks for some ideas on where to go !! I agree it would have been nice of Richdog to post some good places to check out, but maybe he will later. Check the internet is a no brainer, and a little vague. :beer:

 

[BlvdKing]

Get a mobo with NForce 2 Ultra 400 chipset. It has more features to get more out of your CPU.

 

[Assimilator1]

Can't argue with that!

dnugget
Gamma Flux is a dead DC project ,your name is similiar to 1 of the guys in a DC project ,can't remember which though!
If you want to know more about the deceased GF best ask in DC

 

[alexruiz]

The guys already told you the most importat differences:

1) AGP / PCI lock, as their freq will stay the same regardless of the FSB chosen. This is a MUST for overclocking.
2) Allows for dual channel DDR operation, but even in single channel configuration it offers better performance.
3) Lower latency, which leads to higher performance
4) More stable!

 

[Goatsan]

most of the questions have been answered, memory timings is how fast it takes (in nano seconds) to get the info off the ram, the different numbers are for the different sections of the the run to the ram, the first number is used most often and is known as the cas latency (always the smaller the number the better).

about the fsb being a more efficient overclock is that the mutiplier just changes the cpu, but the fsb changes the speed of the cpu and ram.

although its already been said, go with nforce