AM2 memory controller

[dal2000]

Hey all, I searched a bit on google and really struggled to find the information I was looking for. My question is: If I buy 2 gigs of DDR2-800 and replace it over the old DDR2-553(not sure on that exact frequency) which I was using, how exactly would it affect my CPU performance if not at all? Does it slow down the FSB when using lower frequency ram? If so, would it affect gaming performance at all? The cpu i'm using at the moment is a AM2 6000+. Thanks.

 

[Archer]

You wont see a noticeable improvement in games. Save your money for a full upgrade later on.

 

[tobias crow]

Considering there's only about 140 Mhz difference between the two, I doubt you'll have any measurable difference.

 

[Ancalagon]

You know that AM2 motherboards have neither a FSB nor a memory controller right? The AM2 memory controller is on the CPU itself. AMD has been doing that since the original Athlon 64 on socket 754.

 

[Archer]

You know that AM2 motherboards have neither a FSB nor a memory controller right? The AM2 memory controller is on the CPU itself. AMD has been doing that since the original Athlon 64 on socket 754.

Not really relevant to the topic and doesnt answer the question either. And it does still have a bus speed that in turn regulates the CPU, RAM and HT speeds

 

[dal2000]

Archer, by what you say there does the performance not change from DDR2 553 to DDR2 800? Since it effects the cpu, ram and ht?

 

[Archer]

Archer, by what you say there does the performance not change from DDR2 553 to DDR2 800? Since it effects the cpu, ram and ht?

Example:
Bus speed: 200mhz
CPU Multiplier: 14
RAM Multiplier: 1.33 (these can be funny numbers)

Then
CPU speed: 2800mhz
RAM speed: 267mhz (dual data rate makes it 533)

Its the multipliers for your CPU that change its speed. Having slow RAM does not change anything elses speed. They all merely use the same base clock. So if you want to OC everything at once you change the bus speed.

 

[Ancalagon]

RAM speed: 267mhz (in dual channel it makes 533)

Got nothing to do with dual channel or not. I've never seen benchmarks that conclusively prove that dual channel is faster than single channel (at least, when it was relevant back in the Athlon XP days when not everything was dual channel).

Anyway, what actually makes your 267 Mhz RAM equivalent to 533 MHz RAM is the fact that it is double data rate (ie DDR), hence it performs operations both on the rising and falling clock signals.