Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 12:50:05 -0600 From: Allan Alford <aa@jump.net> To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Cc: Kees Jan Koster <dutchman@tccn.cs.kun.nl> Subject: Re: SIMMs and DIMMs Message-ID: <349035DD.3049@jump.net> References: <34902AB7.41C67EA6@tccn.cs.kun.nl>
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Kees Jan Koster wrote: > > Dear FreeBSD Hardware (sounds a bit silly, don't you think?), > > I recently replaced my Expertboard 8661 (VX chipset) with a shiny new > Abit PX5 (TX chipset). I've always been told that TX chipset boards were > supposed to be faster than VX chipset boards, hence the difference in > price. > > However, I could not measure any difference in speed at all. I used > bonnie and build the generic kernel and used two cpu benchmarks. Of > course, I replaced none of the other hardware (133 MHZ intel pentium > cpu, 60ns SIMMs and SCSI/VGA controller boards). > > So, could someone explain to me what it is that I did wrong here? > > Anyway, I wasn't done yet. My next step was to replace my 60ns SIMMs > with a 10ns DIMM. I was told that this would make a difference too. > However, again I was told wrong. I could not measure any speed > difference. > > Ok, so I'm a sucker for sales stories. What am I doing wrong? I think you answered your own question. You fell for a sales story. Switching from a VX to a TX motherboard will enable some new features in your BIOS, and will improve the speed of certain very low-level motherboard activities. This difference in speed will be notice by your CPU every now and again, but never by you unless you happen to perform a machine task of incredible duration which focusses intensively on 32-bit IDE disk access or Photoshop-type RAM read/writes. Switching from SIMMS to DIMMS and from 60ns to 10ns gives you the same sorts of improvements. Your bottleneck when talking to the RAM on your motherboard is based upon your motherboard's bus speed and your CPU. Shaving a few nanoseconds inside the RAM would once again require a massive Photoshop-type project before a perceptible difference appeared (if at all). By having RAM which is capable of such faster speeds, you are, however, ensuring that RAM read/writes perform with better accuracy at the slower speeds of the actual run-time. This means less errors, less re-writes, and a small savings of time as well. (I invoke the Photoshop metaphor again). What you did gain by all of this purchasing is a solid copy of what will be one of the last generation (possibly THE last) Socket 7 motherboards. I made the same purchase myself for the same reason. This motherboard will last you long into the point where it has become "obsolete". Also, if you (God forbid!) put Win95 on it, you will be able to take advantage of all the features of the TX chipset, including USB support, improved 32-bit EIDE access, etc. It's good stuff to have. - Allan
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