CPU upgrade

[ddka]

I want to upgrade my CPU, my motherboard will take up to a 3200+ amd chip. I have pc2700 memory which I believe is 333 mz memory. Should i have a cpu that takes a 333 fsb max or will a 400fsb chip work ? Does the memory need to be compatable withe the cpu fsb ?

TIA for the help

ASUS A7N8X mb
Athlon XP1800+
Samsung PC2700 512mb
MSI FX5900xt Geforce 4 128mb
Thermaltake 480 watt ps
Windows XP SP2

[2kmaro]

The CPU ends up just taking the FSB speed and increasing it by an internal multiplication factor - so the final speed for the CPU will actually vary depending on the FSB set. Faster you can set the FSB, faster your CPU will run. Inching up the FSB is one of the really easy ways of squeezing a little extra performance out of your CPU. Notice I said inching it up - go a little too far and you end up with an unstable system that may reboot just out of the blue, go a little farther than that and it may not boot at all.

The system I'm on right now is an A7N8X Deluxe board with an AMD 3200+ and 1GB of dual channel PC3200 - all of which run with the FSB at 200 MHz (doubled for the 400 MHz rating you're thinking of).

I'd think about getting PC3200 RAM to go along with the CPU upgrade to get the most out of the new investment. But leaving the PC2700 in shouldn't hurt you too much.

Lots of great help with upgrading and overclocking at two places I know of:
The Overclockers Club: http://www.overclockersclub.com/
and
The Overclocker's forum at BroadbandReports.com:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/overclocking

[ddka]

Would the 3000+ CPU be a noticable upgrade from my 1800+ ?

[sweeper2]

yes, i would think so, i do believe you might be able to get a 3000+ that has a 333 FSB, not sure if it was the 3200+ or the 3000+ that came with either a 400 FSB or 333 FSB.


I currently am running a Sempron with a 333 FSB (just bought it) and DDR266 ram...no problems...plus i have done some overclocking as well and it didn't effect my ram as i was able to leave my ram speed set to 266