Run pc 3200 at 200 or 166?

[PhiLoc]

I have a Asus A7N8X-E deluxe with a 2500 barton and 2x256 pc 3200. Since the cpu can't run at 200 fsb but the memory runs at 200 (by SPD), will the system be faster with the memory running synchronously at 166 or should I leave it at 200 with the cpu at 166?

 

[mechBgon]

The conventional wisdom is that keeping the memory and CPU buses clocked the same will result in lower latency that gives higher system performance, and the benchmarks I've seen tend to support that. If you have Unreal Tournament 2003 Demo, why not do some Botmatch benchmarks at a low resolution, to make the CPU and memory more of a bottleneck, and see what the results are? 🙂

Actually I might do the same since I've got a 2500+ and a stick of DDR400 myself, along with an A7N8X Deluxe. Where's that UT2003 Demo installer... 😛 Of course, my Radeon 7500 is going to be a lovely bottleneck no matter what resolution I use 🙁

 

[mechBgon]

Results at 640 x 480 in UT2003 Demo:AthlonXP 2500+, memory and CPU in sync at 166MHz / DDR333:
[*]Flyby: 130fps
[*]Botmatch: 65fps
AthlonXP 2500+, memory at 200MHz, CPU at 166MHz:
[*]Flyby 115fps
[*]Botmatch 55fpsLooks like the conventional wisdom is correct, synchronous operation is where it's at for nForce2 🙂

 

[PhiLoc]

Thanks.