Frosty

You didn't mention what motherboard you have. If it's based on the AMD 751 chipset, your memory runs at 100MHz. If it's based on the Via KT133 chipset, your PC133 memory should automatically run at 133MHz (the Via chipset can run the memory and processor busses asynchronously.)

I checked Microstar's website and it looks like their Slot A boards all use the AMD chipset, and their Socket A boards use the Via chipset, so if you know what kind of chip you have you should be able to figure out what chipset you're running.

If you have the AMD chipset, I wouldn't worry. The Via chipset looks better on paper (AGP 4X, PC133 support, etc.) but in my experience it isn't noticably faster (maybe 2-3\%), isn't as stable, and doesn't work with as much hardware as the AMD. That's why I'm keeping my K7M instead of upgrading to the latest, greatest thing

Hope this helps.

Just want all I can get ;-D

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Originally posted by Frosty:
That did help, thanks. I've got the AMD 751 (the board is the MS-6195) and the real reason i was trying to figure this out was cause MINE is fairly unstable...is the ram running at 100 (normal speed) or is it actually up to 133?

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The RAM is running at 100MHz; the AMD-751 doesn't support PC100. But seriously, it's not worth replacing the mobo for a 2-3\% increase in speed. You'll get a lot more for your $$$ if you add more RAM to your existing setup.

The AMD-751 is notorious for being unstable if your memory is 1. cheap or 2. not put in the mobo the right way.

Make sure you have the memory in the slot FARTHEST from the CPU; this terminates the memory bus (which you're not supposed to have to do, but it seems to help.)

Also, if you buy more RAM, make sure it's made by Micron. For some reason dropping one stick of Micron memory in an AMD-751 mobo makes the chipset happy. Once you do that you can put in all the cheap RAM you want and it will still work just dandy.

That's the voice of experience speaking

Once again, thanks.

quote:

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Originally posted by Frosty:
1. Is PC100 memory compatible with PC133?
{/QUOTE]
Yes. The PC133 memory will simply run at 100MHz.

[QUOTE]2. Would it be worth it to unload this chipset and mobo to my friend who wants it for 贄 even if just for the ability to expand on it later? (4x agp would be nice too)

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No. The real increase in speed on the Via chipset mobos comes from the fact that most of them use a Socket A processor, which is based on the revised Thunderbird core (256K full speed cache instead of 512K half-speed.) So if you want to sell your processor AND motherboard, and get a new Socket A mobo/chip combo, it might be worth it.

AGP 4X is a joke; there's no performance difference from AGP 2X. Same goes for Ultra66/Ultra100 vs. Ultra33.

Seriously, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket, grab some more memory. An 800MHz Athlon TBird with 128MB DDR RAM might win in terms of raw benchmarks, but in terms of OVERALL performance, my 550MHz system with 512MB of RAM will be a lot faster because there is almost no hard-disk swapping.