quote:
Originally posted by wolfenstein
256MHz i think
that doesn't make sense though, as people said before. However there is more to it then
"don't confuse speed with MB".......
As answered before: yes the lowest FSB speed is always choosen as operating speed. But furthermore, the exact speed used is capped by the FSB speed that your motherboard can handle.
eg: If you have two modules which are both of type PC3200, but your motherbord can only handle PC2700, then those PC3200 modules will operate at the equivalent speed of a PC2700 type.
Also, don't stare blind on the Mhz-numbers. Manufacters often trick people with that as you often see things like "DDR 333Mhz (PC2700)" or "DDR PC2700 (166Mhz)". Now you might think that the 166Mhz is the slowest. Well both are exactly the same. The Mhz-numbers in both cases mean something else:
1) In DDR modules, the numbers that come after the "
PC" refer to the
total bandwidth of the module. For this type of memory, a higher number represents faster memory, or more bandwidth.
2) Sometimes DDR memory is referred to as "
DDR400" or "
DDR333," for example. When written this way, the numbers after "DDR" refer to the
data transfer rate of the components.
convention of writing: eg:
DDR 333 PC2700 166
Type of memory: DDR
Data transfer rate: 333 Mhz
Module bandwith: 2.7 Gb/s
Front-side-bus: 166 Mhz
PC1600 (also referred to as
DDR200) designed for use in systems with a
100 MHz FSB, (providing a
200 MT/s data transfer rate). The "1600" refers to the module's bandwidth (the maximum amount of data it can transfer each second), which is 1.6 GB.
PC2100 (also referred to as
DDR266) designed for use in systems with a
133 MHz FSB, (providing a
266 MT/s data transfer rate). The "2100" refers to the module's bandwidth (the maximum amount of data it can transfer each second), which is 2.1 GB.
PC2700 (also referred to as
DDR333) designed for use in systems with a
166 MHz FSB, (providing a
333 MT/s data transfer rate). The "2700" refers to the module's bandwidth (the maximum amount of data it can transfer each second), which is 2.7 GB.
PC3200 (also referred to as
DDR400) designed for use in systems with a
200 MHz FSB, (providing a
400 MT/s data transfer rate). The "3200" refers to the module's bandwidth (the maximum amount of data it can transfer each second), which is 3.2 GB.
etc...
Don't let people tell you that "DDR 333 Mhz" is faster then "PC2700 166Mhz"... they are exactly the same.
in short, forget about all the numbers and speeds and only look at this: "PC2100", "PC2700", etc...
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