What happens to a 266 FSB CPU on a KT333 MB?

[PCNougat]

I just ordered an ASUS A7V333 and 512MB of DDR333.

I already have an Athlon XP 1600.

What's going to happen when it runs?

Will the memory clock at 333 MHz or will it be clocked down to 266 to match the CPU?

Was it worth paying extra for the 333MHz RAM?

 

[blade2]

surprised noone's bothered answering this - guess ur stuck with me then....
anyway the memory will be clocked at 333Mhz but the FSB of the processor will be clocked at 266Mhz.

ideally speaking, memory clock of 333Mhz with 266Mhz FSb when compared to memory clock of 266Mhz + 266Mhz FSB doesnt give a vast improvement of performance.

Was it worth paying extra for the 333Mhz? why not i guess its couple of £££ or $$$ more and if you want to head down the overclocking route then you have made a good investment, your Athlox XP 1600+ is renowned as being a very good overclocker.

post back if you need any more details

 

[PCNougat]

Thanks for the info Blade.

I was hoping that it would run the memory at 333MHz. Even if it didn't I'm still happy with my purchase since the 333 FSB Athlon XPs are being released.

Because my mb was released before the lauch of the 333 FSB, will it be compatiable with the FSB of the new XPs? The docs for my board say that it supports FSB of 200/266.

 

[chizow]

I'm not sure about the KT333's, but in AT's review of the KT400's, pretty sure it said they will "auto-detect" 333 FSB T-bred's and adjust FSB and multiplier settings accordingly. Apparently these boards will automatically unlock Rev. B T-bred's by grounding the L5 when placed in the socket. Since I'm a ways away from an upgrade of this sort, I didn't read it too carefully, but you can check out in the latest KT400 mobo review.

Chiz

 

[blade2]

well it wont be *officially* compatible, im quite sure that the only KT333 mobo that is compatible with the 333Mhz FSB Athlons is the Nforce2 and i think also perhaps the MSI KT3 - not sure, but i do remember reading in an Anandtech article that since most mobo's dont have any problems running at 333Mhz overclocked then there should be no problem running 333Mhz with the new Athlons. this will have to be done manually of course in the bios but im sure there will not be any problems since u have 2700 Ram anyways

hope that helps

 

[mechBgon]

I have the A7V333-RAID and a 1600+ here, with PC2100/DDR266 memory. With your setup, you can opt for these setups right out of the box:

• CPU at 266MHz, memory set to "Auto" in the BIOS, in which case I believe it will run the memory at 333MHz
• CPU at 266MHz, memory set to 1:1 ratio in the BIOS, in which case they will be synchronous
• CPU at 266MHz, memory set to 4:5 ratio in the BIOS, forcing the RAM to 333MHz
• If you have one of the latest BIOSes, 1012 or later I believe, you can set the CPU for 333MHz and the RAM will be run synchronously with the CPU, resulting in 1750MHz and approximately a 2100+ PR rating

I run my 1600+ at 333MHz bus like this, and it turns out to be doing it just fine at default voltage, with a slightly-noisy $9US aluminum heatsink/fan unit and Arctic Silver 3 thermal grease. And if you noticed, I only have PC2100 memory, although it's name-brand (Crucial), so I got lucky there. Since you have PC2700, you might want to try this overclock. Nothing needs to be modified, just pop into the BIOS and set it to 1750MHz, maybe with an extra 0.1 volt on the CPU, and see how it goes. Good luck!

edit: for the record, the A7V333 does officially support the 333MHz-bus CPUs with the recent BIOSes. Yaaay! C'mon, AMD, get those Bartons out the door!

 

[PCNougat]

Thanks everyone for your input.

My new toys come in today after work.

I read somewhere that the A7V333 allows you to set the FSB clock to 166 and adjust the multiplier so that your processor runs at its designed speed but gives you a 333MHz FSB to match the PC2700 RAM.


btw, here's what my system will be like when I'm done tonight...
I know it`s not all top of the line stuff, but I'll upgrade again as prices drop further.

300W Standard Power Supply
ASUS A7V333 (No RAID) MB
Athlon XP 1600+ with Thermaltake Volcano 7
2 x 256MB Kingmax PC2700 DDR RAM
Aopen Geforce3 Ti200 64MB
Western Digital 40GB HDD <--- Virtually Silent
8x DVD/ 12x CD-RW Combo (LG)
54x CD-ROM