Hello, I actually have two questions...I'm buying a new PC and would like to know how the system bus vs Cache affects the speed. I know pretty much what they are but can't tell what would be better, 2000MHz system bus and 2 x 512KB Cache or 800MHz/2x1MB? The whole reason I ask is that my computer started freezing up on me after 20 minutes of use. I'd reboot but nothing would happen (just power). Now it won't even boot up after I leave it for a day. I assume I fried the CPU as I got some overclocking error message the last time I botted (I never set it to overclock). I realize this isn't much info, just thought I'd mention it... figure it's easier to buy a new comuter. THANKS!

There is no hard and fast answer to your question. Generally speaking a faster bus will be of more benefit than more cache. To address your current issue. It sounds like your processor is overheating. You may have much dust/dirt inside or one or more fan aren't working. Open the case and blow out everything with canned air, which can be purchased at any computer store or office supply. By the way, looking at the specs on your present computer leads me to believe that you are calling system memory, cache. They are both types of memory but are not the same thing.

"what would be better, 2000MHz system bus and 2 x 512KB Cache or 800MHz/2x1MB?" You're apparently comparing an AMD system to an Intel system. AMD systems do not have a FSB. The memory controller is built into the CPU, so the controller & CPU communicate at full CPU speed. The onboard controller then communicates with the RAM at whatever speed the RAM is rated for. AMD uses a HyperTransport bus for the motherboard. The HT bus communicates with the board at 1000MHz but since it's a double data rate bus, the effective speed is 2000MHz. The CPU frequency is 200MHz on AMD systems. Intel systems still use the traditional FSB, but the Intel FSB is a quad data rate bus. In the case of an 800MHz FSB CPU, the CPU frequency is 200MHz, but it's "quad-pumped" so the effective speed is 800MHz. I think it would make it easier if you told which CPUs you're considering. Generally speaking, AMD's Athlon64 or X2 is better than the Pentium 4, but Intel's Core 2 Duo with it's 1066MHz FSB (266MHz x 4) beats em all.