Ok well im savin up my money and just askin for cash for xmas b/c i know if i ask for a pc part from my parents they'll screw it up. I'm looking to building a new system and i was leaning toward amd, and i noticed amds had a 333mhz fsb and P4's were able to get to 800 mhz. My question is will there be a noticeable difference between a 333mhz fsb and 800 mhz fsb? And what exactly is the FSB used for? Thanks guys

the 800fsb is actually quad pumped, so its 200mhz. the 333 is actualy 333mhz fsb so its 133 faster than the quadpumped p4 crap. i think you would be able to notice the diffrence.

fsb is the speed at which the memory and the pci/agp cards communicate with the prossecor.

correct me if im wrong i think the 333 is the actual fsb isnt it?

Quote: Originally Posted by Dimazz the 800fsb is actually quad pumped, so its 200mhz. the 333 is actualy 333mhz fsb so its 133 faster than the quadpumped p4 crap. i think you would be able to notice the diffrence. fsb is the speed at which the memory and the pci/agp cards communicate with the prossecor. correct me if im wrong i think the 333 is the actual fsb isnt it?

I fix0r this.

FSB for AMD is double pumped. 400 FSB is equal to 800 FSB, amd to intel.

FSB is the rate of speed that the computer addresses the memory (why the integration of the memory controller into the 64 is so important) not the PCI/AGP.

PCI and AGP have their own buses, controlled by the northbridge. PCI bus is locked, and so is AGP. That way, if you OC, they don't act bad.

Just helping.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dimazz the 800fsb is actually quad pumped, so its 200mhz. the 333 is actualy 333mhz fsb so its 133 faster than the quadpumped p4 crap. i think you would be able to notice the diffrence. fsb is the speed at which the memory and the pci/agp cards communicate with the prossecor. correct me if im wrong i think the 333 is the actual fsb isnt it?

The buses are not 333 vs. 200 dimazz ........ in the example given the AMD would be 166 (double pumped to 333), and the Intel is 200 (quad pumped to 800).

The Barton 3000+ and 3200+ employ a 200 MHZ FSB

Quote: Originally Posted by Kayin Storm PCI and AGP have their own buses, controlled by the northbridge. PCI bus is locked, and so is AGP. That way, if you OC, they don't act bad.

Assuming that he is running an NF2 board that is true. Don't forget that locked PCI and AGP busses are a fairly new luxury.

Thanks Put. Thought I had those down...

Anything I miss?

Quote: Originally Posted by sKuLLs Ok well im savin up my money and just askin for cash for xmas b/c i know if i ask for a pc part from my parents they'll screw it up. I'm looking to building a new system and i was leaning toward amd, and i noticed amds had a 333mhz fsb and P4's were able to get to 800 mhz. My question is will there be a noticeable difference between a 333mhz fsb and 800 mhz fsb?

So this kinda boils down to another AMD Vs Intel question....

How much do you want to spend?
Each Cpu has certain situations where it shines in Benchmarks, games, or specific applications due to different designs in math co-processors and memory system design.

The brand new Athlon 64 3000+ in stock form (2GHZ ) will spank just about everything out there on benchmarks, but it's not the greatest overclocker so far (2.2ghz or so)
An extremely overclocked P-4 or the super expensive 3.2GHZ Extreme Edition (2Mb cache) at 1000$ will beat it, but not by much.
It's my new favorite, but no-one here has one yet. It's also a 64 bit Cpu while all other non Athlon 64's CPU's only use 32 bits (to address memory) wich is not a big deal at this time (No software) but it might be good to have down the road (to long of an explanation here)

The current price is 213$ over at pricewatch, and would be my choice if I were spending someone elses money

It has 512k on die cache (wich are hard coded instructions built on to the Cpu die), and has 1memory controller on the CPU die, instead of on the motherboard, wich means super fast memory response time (Lowered Latency) it's biggest advantage over all other Cpu's in this price range.
The Athlon 64 3200+ (also 2Ghz) has double the on die cache at 1Mb, but also doubles the price (About 400$) but not the performance...

The Intel 2.4c (512 cache) is about 160$, and can reach speeds of 3.4GHZ+ with FSB speeds of 1000+ on the right Motherboard with good memory. It was, and still is, the curent favorite here.
A true "Best Bang for the Buck"
A 2.6-3.0Ghz P-4c will cost 170$ to 270$ if your don't want to overclock too much, and a pretty good value (Febuary is when Intel will do price cuts next )

The AMD Barton XP2500+ (1.83Ghz and 512 cache) and T-Bred XP1700+ (1.5Ghz 256 cache) have an overclocking potential of 2.3-2.5Ghz on the harder to find good stepping cores. Stepping codes (a kind of serial number on the Cpu Die) that are good to look for are JIUHB XP1700+ or the AQUCA 2500+

They used to be the King of overclocking for the money, but it's getting very hard to find a good new "Unlocked" version that can still overclock like crazy.So unless you find one of the good ones on Ebay, they are somewhat limited overclocking wise.
The XP3200+ (2.1Ghz) is around 390$, wich is overpriced in my opinion, when an unlocked 85$ 2500+ will usually do the same speeds or more with the stock heat sink and fan, wich brings me to part of why AMD has pulled the reins in on the overclocking party recently...

After week 39 (Sept-Oct) this year, all new AMD Cpu's are Multiplier locked (Except for the Athlon 64 FX- 51 at the bargain price of 730$)
Now AMD's are just like Intel Cpus, you can only increase the FSB. But they don't in general reach the high FSB speeds of the P-4c's, so they aren't the great deal they used to be.
They are OK on a lower budget, and can run certain programs such as Folding@Home better at similar clock speeds to Intel P-4's, because of more efficient math co-processor.

However, most benchmarks and apps will do better with the P-4c because of higher memory bandwidth, higher clock speeds, and Hyperthreading technology (A 2.4c is nearly double the price of Barton 2500 XP)

Note: The Athlon FX-51 is 2.2Ghz, 1Mb cache, and has 2 on die memory controllers, and is the current king for top scores in benchmarks like 3Dmark 01(30,000 points) where memory bandwidth and latency are more important than raw speeds of P-4's.
The FX-51 was Overclocked to 3Ghz, and recently took 1st place over a P-4 at 4Ghz+, Both were using a tweeked ATI 9800XT.
These exteme speeds are usually with extreme cooling Big$$ Cryogenic Coolers(-40c) like a Prometia or Vapochill (600-1000$) it's kinda like automotive AC that fits in a PC case.
Some are now even using a custom "Cascade Cooler" with 2 stages of Cryo cooling... -100c

And as always, Benchmarks are theoritical, and your Overclock depends on the quality of the Cpu, Motherboard, Memory, P/S etc.. and a little bit of luck

thanks for correcting me, i wasent 100% sure