scriptasylum
OSNN Senior Addict
- Joined
- 25 Dec 2001
- Messages
- 832
I got some nice Corsair memory recently (upgraded from crappy no-name PC2100 before) and changed the BIOS memory settings to 2/2/1 and 333MHz. System seemed more responsive so I was happy.
Then I go reading sites that say running 333 asyncronously with the 266 bus CPU is actually hindering performance so I thought I'd give it a whirl at the lower memory speed.
Now I know running the memory bus at 333 and the PCU bus at 266 introduces latency problems, but I did not expect to see any real differences. I was quite surprised.
Apps seemed a bit more "snappy" although it's hard to quantify "snappiness". So I run a few benchmarks and everything is substantially higher! I'm at 11,600 3D2001 which is 600 points more than it was. Sandra shows an increase in memory performance as well.
If a simple memory tweak can help that much, I'm thinking of springing for an nForce2 board (and possibly a new CPU). That said, the reviews I've been reading say the Asus nForce2 board is the fastest, but has anyone run one for extended periods? Are they reliable? Any driver issues or compatibility issues with certain cards, etc?
Then I go reading sites that say running 333 asyncronously with the 266 bus CPU is actually hindering performance so I thought I'd give it a whirl at the lower memory speed.
Now I know running the memory bus at 333 and the PCU bus at 266 introduces latency problems, but I did not expect to see any real differences. I was quite surprised.
Apps seemed a bit more "snappy" although it's hard to quantify "snappiness". So I run a few benchmarks and everything is substantially higher! I'm at 11,600 3D2001 which is 600 points more than it was. Sandra shows an increase in memory performance as well.
If a simple memory tweak can help that much, I'm thinking of springing for an nForce2 board (and possibly a new CPU). That said, the reviews I've been reading say the Asus nForce2 board is the fastest, but has anyone run one for extended periods? Are they reliable? Any driver issues or compatibility issues with certain cards, etc?
