k6-2 300 mhz

[Mike Rambo]

Alan Garrison wrote:

> On an Athlon system, going from PC100 to PC133 isn't a huge leap
> (a bit though).  If you really want to fly, you are going to have...

Unless I misunderstand, this sort of implies that taking any given system and
"upgrading" the memory from PC100 to PC133 will result in a performance
improvement.  Unless something has changed recently of which I'm unaware, this
isn't true.  These have traditionally been ratings which reflect how fast the
memory is capable of responding to a data request.  It takes a defined number
of clock cycles to read or write data from any given resource.  The only way to
make this occur faster is to increase the motherboard clock speed - not the
speed at which other devices are capable of responding.  Putting in memory
which is capable of faster operation will not increase the machine speed
because all reads and writes are still accomplished in a set number of clock
cycles whose speed is determined by the base clock on the motherboard
(motherboard base speed is predetermined and not affected by other devices or
modules that are installed).  Even putting in a fast processor does not
necessarily cause a change in the motherboard speed - although in some
instances it can.  When you go from a pentium 100 to a pentium 133 your
motherboard still runs at 66Mhz (66 * 1.5 ~ 100 and 66 * 2 ~ 133).  You need
only change the multiplier for the cpu which causes it to multiply the base
clock by a higher factor to create a faster internal clock for the cpu
(although as I write this I realize that a p100 can be done two ways - 50MHz
clock multiplied by two or 66Mhz clock multiplied by 1.5)

So long as the method of access doesn't change (like Fast Page Mode (FPM) vs.
Extended Data Output (EDO) in simms a few years ago) the main concern is
whether the memory is fast enough for the motherboard clock - but it won't make
the motherboard clock any faster.  You cannot put in slower memory because you
then run the risk of errors as the memory is not capable of responding as fast
as the motherboard clock speed dictates it must.

The bottom line is that you can use faster memory in slower systems as long as
the access method (type of memory - FPM, EDO, SDRAM, Rambus etc.) doesn't
change or the system in question uses multiple access method's including the
one's you're trying to install.

Mike Rambo
Lansing School District