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General discussion

Front side bus ( HEY PROFITT)

Sep 15, 2004 9:36PM PDT

Exactly what does the FSB do? Is it the data bus? Where is it on the motherboard?

Discussion is locked

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Not a profit, in fact a loss.
Sep 15, 2004 10:21PM PDT

But the FSB is the data bus between the Memory Controller Hub [Intels name], which is part of what is generally known as the Northbridge chip of a chipset, and the CPU.

The speed of this bus gets multiplied by the CPU's internal multiplier to set the internal CPU speed.

The 64 bit AMD CPU's has located the MCH on the CPU die, so the FSB for them is inside the CPU.

The remaining functions of the Northbridge stay in the chipset.

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Hiya Skippy.
Sep 15, 2004 11:04PM PDT

Just to befuddle us all, the Front Side Bus has moved internal to some CPUs and may not have the same effect as it did in days gone past.

I do however have a SIMPLE MEMORY SPEED TEST that I can use if one suspects that it's a bottleneck in a system. I use the memory tester from http://www.memtest86.com because it's small and works independantly of and does not disturb the installed OS.

Bob

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Re: Hiya Skippy.
Sep 16, 2004 1:13AM PDT

Thanks guys, it was pretty much what I thought. I use AMD and I am thinking of upgrading. Since the fsb is internal for 64 bit how much faster would that make it? Any suggestions on motherboards for the AMD 64 bit? My puter I built 3 years ago, Amd 900mhz athlon with ecs k7s5a MB with sis chipset. It has served me well but its time for more speed. Skip

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I'd wait.
Sep 16, 2004 1:20AM PDT

AMD showed off their dual-core 64-bit CPUs just recently. If you wait, you may find the landscape change in '05.

Bob

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If you don't want to wait
Sep 16, 2004 1:25AM PDT

then the only rational selection would be one that is in the socket 939 configuration. They are the only versions which the CPU's all support Dual Channel and all do NOT require registed memory.