Front Side Bus vs System Bus

Steve Mavronis · 06-27-2008, 03:20 AM

My Gateway FX530 is advertised as having a 1066mhz front side bus. When I run system tests like 3DMark06 it reports a 266MHz external bus. When I boot to my Intel 975X system board BIOS it says 1066MHz system bus speed. What am I seeing here?

My CPU is a Q6600 Core 2 Quad at 2.4Ghz and have 4GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM memory installed.

StrangleHold · 06-27-2008, 03:43 AM

Its quad pumped 266 X 4

Steve Mavronis · 06-27-2008, 04:10 AM

Thats wierd because before I decided to get it configured with Quad Core, the price quote for a Dual Core system still said 1066Mhz FSB on it? Is it because the motherboard is just capable of 1066Mhz when a Quad is installed?

StrangleHold · 06-27-2008, 04:14 AM

No, in simple terms your FSB has like 4 lanes of traffic each 266mhz for a total of 1066mhz, doesnt matter if it runs a dual or quad core they both have models that can run on a 1066 FSB. They say 1066 because thats the total bandwidth. It basically means that four signals can travel per clock cycle. Similar to Memory, DDR2 800 really runs at 400mhz, DDR= Dual Data rate, not the same but just a example.

06-27-2008, 03:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
Steve Mavronis Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 32	Front Side Bus vs System Bus My Gateway FX530 is advertised as having a 1066mhz front side bus. When I run system tests like 3DMark06 it reports a 266MHz external bus. When I boot to my Intel 975X system board BIOS it says 1066MHz system bus speed. What am I seeing here? My CPU is a Q6600 Core 2 Quad at 2.4Ghz and have 4GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM memory installed. __________________ Gateway FX530, Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1, Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Core 2 Quad CPU, 4gb RAM, 500gb RAID-0 HD, 700w Power Supply, Nvidia 8800GTX 768mb GPU (OC), 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 LCD, Asus/ViXS Combo-210E TV Tuner, Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Audio, Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse, Logitech Premium Stereo Headset, Lacie 500gb USB HD

06-27-2008, 03:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
StrangleHold Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: In a realm of unknown Wonders Posts: 7,155	Its quad pumped 266 X 4 __________________ The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. George S. Patton, Jr.

06-27-2008, 04:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
Steve Mavronis Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 32	Thats wierd because before I decided to get it configured with Quad Core, the price quote for a Dual Core system still said 1066Mhz FSB on it? Is it because the motherboard is just capable of 1066Mhz when a Quad is installed? __________________ Gateway FX530, Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1, Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Core 2 Quad CPU, 4gb RAM, 500gb RAID-0 HD, 700w Power Supply, Nvidia 8800GTX 768mb GPU (OC), 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 LCD, Asus/ViXS Combo-210E TV Tuner, Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Audio, Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse, Logitech Premium Stereo Headset, Lacie 500gb USB HD

06-27-2008, 04:14 AM	#4 (permalink)
StrangleHold Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: In a realm of unknown Wonders Posts: 7,155	No, in simple terms your FSB has like 4 lanes of traffic each 266mhz for a total of 1066mhz, doesnt matter if it runs a dual or quad core they both have models that can run on a 1066 FSB. They say 1066 because thats the total bandwidth. It basically means that four signals can travel per clock cycle. Similar to Memory, DDR2 800 really runs at 400mhz, DDR= Dual Data rate, not the same but just a example. __________________ The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. George S. Patton, Jr. Last edited by StrangleHold; 06-27-2008 at 04:22 AM.

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