I can't compute this Pentium bus speed thing and I'm hoping someone KNOWS what the deal is. I built my own PC with AMD and I run the Processor bus and the RAM at the same speed. Now the Pentium computers I see at the store always run a P4 w/400 fsb with PC2100(266). I don't understand why can't these computers run DDR400. I noticed at the Dell website that it specifically states 400fsb processors w/PC3200(400) RAM will run at 266Mhz. Same with the Pentium based system boards I see for sale. Anyone that can shed light on the Pentium architecture would help me greatly. I understand AMD very well and my machine runs perfectly OC'd to 200Mhz fsb and PC3200(400)ddr. Thanks for any info.

Hi, Well, regarding your question about the store stuff, first of all, if you want to buy a cheaper computer, you are not going to buy PC3200 RAM. For some ppl, one dollar is one dollar, and they want to save it. About running the processor and RAM with the same speed, yes, it is true that it makes the computer work faster, but it might not be a significant change. Why? because, if you are familiar with semiconductor stuff, you will find it out that, when the hear rises in a semi conductor, the function drops significantly, that's why you are using a big FAN on your CPU and they recommend you to use a front panel FAN to cool the inside cheaps down. Other reason is that, having a 400(CPU)/400(RAM) does not always work on 400 is that, you are taking only the FSB and the RAM-CPU bus, but what you really know about bus, is the path that DATA transfers in the compuer, from HDD, CD-ROM, DVD, FDD, RAM and so on. And you of course know that, mechanical stuff are much slower than electrical stuff, that's why there is a feature called buffering for example when you are burning a cd. Also, there is no guarantee that, all the electrical stuff work on the same speed. RAM is much slower than CPU Registers. Because of the architecture of each. one is using flip-flops and the other is using capacitors. therefore, there is not a speed guarantee. The optimum speed for a P4 with 400FSB is 266MHz-300MHz. This means, 266-300 MHz, on the BUS not, FSB. If you wanted further information, you may want to contact me by email and I will be happy to provide you with some more information. Cheers! Alireza

Hmm...that all makes alot of sense. You're lucky I'm smart enough to understand all that. I guess it would be beneficial to buy a fast fsb P4 processor for the most part. But, since a large portion of the OS runs off the memory it seems a poor design to have the memory optimized at a slower speed. Thanks for the info. -DF