DastardlyDan
Posts: 14 +0
(I apologize in advance for any typos I don't catch and fix. I'm trying to type with a wrist brace on)
* What are you going to use the PC for? Gaming
* How much is your budget? Not yet known, depends on tax return
* Where are you located? (a.k.a. fill out your profile) Indiana
* Are you willing to buy online? Yes, frequent Newegg user
* Are you going to re-use any parts from an earlier build? Yes, I am only upgrading my current system. Looking to buy at most RAM, Video card, Hard Drive, and monitor
* Do you need other peripherals like a monitor, keyboard and mouse, among others? Will be reusing what I have, except maybe the monitor.
* Have you already bought any parts? Not yet
* Do you have an Operating System (OS)? Yes, Windows 7 64-bit
* Will you need any aftermarket cooling, such as a CPU\GPU cooler or a watercooling setup? Not sure yet.
Hi all. Tried some Google-fu, but didn't find anything that really answered my questions. I want to upgrade my system this spring (primarily for gaming), and I want to have a better understanding of what FSB is and how it affects my system before I go and spend my money. I don't feel I need help with specific item recommendations; rather, I would like some questions answered so I can make a more educated purchase when the time comes. Here are some detailed stats for my system, including pertinent information that I have questions about:
MOTHERBOARD:
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Front side bus:
Up to 5200MT/s HyperTransport 3.0 Interface
Dual-channel memory architecture,
4x 240-pin DIMM slots, max supported 16GB unbuffered EEC and non-EEC DDR3 1800 (O.C.)/1600 (O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz
I will NOT be replacing motherboard this spring.
PROCESSOR:
AMD Phenom II x4, Quad-Core 2.8 GHz. 4000MHz HyperTransports
L2 Cache: 4 x 512 KB
L3 Cache: 6MB
I will NOT be replacing the processor this spring.
There are several things that I do not understand about these two products; I bought them on the recommendation of a friend who knows more about this stuff than I do, but was not interested in explaining them at the time. Now I want to know what this stuff means before I buy anymore. Here are my following questions:
What is Front side bus, exactly? I understand that it is the speed, and that you want the MHz to match, but beyond that I know next to nothing.
What are Hyper Transports? Is this (5200 on the motherboard) a maximum threshold, or a recommendation? At 4000MHz, is my processor sub-par or within parameters?
What is the 1800(O.C.) and 1600(O.C.) on the motherboard? I know it has to do with the front side bus, but I don't know what the (O.C.) stands for. I would guess that it means overclocked, but I do not know. When I bought RAM, I went with the 1333 because I did not understand this (O.C.) stuff. I am looking to add more RAM, or even replace the current RAM, possibly up to the max of 16 GBs.
For the record, I'm not interested at this point in overclocking. This is due to the fact that I don't know what overclocking is or how to do it. I would appreciate a description of what overclocking is and how it affects my system, but I don't think I will worry about doing so.
What are the L2 and L3 Cache? What do they do, and how do they affect my computer's performance?
With the processor, I do not see anything about a frequency that matches the motherboard or the RAM. How do I determine what frequency my processor works at?
Thanks in advance for the help!
* What are you going to use the PC for? Gaming
* How much is your budget? Not yet known, depends on tax return
* Where are you located? (a.k.a. fill out your profile) Indiana
* Are you willing to buy online? Yes, frequent Newegg user
* Are you going to re-use any parts from an earlier build? Yes, I am only upgrading my current system. Looking to buy at most RAM, Video card, Hard Drive, and monitor
* Do you need other peripherals like a monitor, keyboard and mouse, among others? Will be reusing what I have, except maybe the monitor.
* Have you already bought any parts? Not yet
* Do you have an Operating System (OS)? Yes, Windows 7 64-bit
* Will you need any aftermarket cooling, such as a CPU\GPU cooler or a watercooling setup? Not sure yet.
Hi all. Tried some Google-fu, but didn't find anything that really answered my questions. I want to upgrade my system this spring (primarily for gaming), and I want to have a better understanding of what FSB is and how it affects my system before I go and spend my money. I don't feel I need help with specific item recommendations; rather, I would like some questions answered so I can make a more educated purchase when the time comes. Here are some detailed stats for my system, including pertinent information that I have questions about:
MOTHERBOARD:
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Front side bus:
Up to 5200MT/s HyperTransport 3.0 Interface
Dual-channel memory architecture,
4x 240-pin DIMM slots, max supported 16GB unbuffered EEC and non-EEC DDR3 1800 (O.C.)/1600 (O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz
I will NOT be replacing motherboard this spring.
PROCESSOR:
AMD Phenom II x4, Quad-Core 2.8 GHz. 4000MHz HyperTransports
L2 Cache: 4 x 512 KB
L3 Cache: 6MB
I will NOT be replacing the processor this spring.
There are several things that I do not understand about these two products; I bought them on the recommendation of a friend who knows more about this stuff than I do, but was not interested in explaining them at the time. Now I want to know what this stuff means before I buy anymore. Here are my following questions:
What is Front side bus, exactly? I understand that it is the speed, and that you want the MHz to match, but beyond that I know next to nothing.
What are Hyper Transports? Is this (5200 on the motherboard) a maximum threshold, or a recommendation? At 4000MHz, is my processor sub-par or within parameters?
What is the 1800(O.C.) and 1600(O.C.) on the motherboard? I know it has to do with the front side bus, but I don't know what the (O.C.) stands for. I would guess that it means overclocked, but I do not know. When I bought RAM, I went with the 1333 because I did not understand this (O.C.) stuff. I am looking to add more RAM, or even replace the current RAM, possibly up to the max of 16 GBs.
For the record, I'm not interested at this point in overclocking. This is due to the fact that I don't know what overclocking is or how to do it. I would appreciate a description of what overclocking is and how it affects my system, but I don't think I will worry about doing so.
What are the L2 and L3 Cache? What do they do, and how do they affect my computer's performance?
With the processor, I do not see anything about a frequency that matches the motherboard or the RAM. How do I determine what frequency my processor works at?
Thanks in advance for the help!