Motherboard bus speed does not affect speed installed processor... In a computer, the motherboard and processor are two separate parts. However, the user experience of measurements is how well they work together.

CPU

The main processor of a computer has a certain speed. On some computers, the processor speed can be changed through the settings Motherboard BIOS boards. Hardware compatibility errors towards processor speed are not affected by any other part of the computer. But the processor is the fastest part of the computer and often other hardware cannot keep up with it. The processor handles all computational work computer outside of a large graphic work which is executed by the GPU.

Motherboard bus

A motherboard bus is the part of a device that transfers data between parts of a computer. The term "bus speed" refers to how quickly the system bus can move data from one component of a computer to another. The faster the bus, the more data it can move over a given amount of time. A processor for the computer is connected to the system bus through the north bridge, which organizes the exchange of data between the computer's RAM and the processor. It is the fastest part of the motherboard bus and handles the most vital load on the computer.

Today, together with the specialists of the IT Expert company, we understand what an unlocked multiplier (multiplication factor) is, and why it is sometimes needed.

Quite often we come across in the news that Intel or AMD has released such and such a process with an unlocked multiplier to the delight of enthusiasts and overclockers. It is clear that the multiplier is only for processors, and that it can be locked and unlocked (allowed to change) by the processor manufacturer.

Overclocking the unlocked processor, RAM, and motherboard is a way to customize your computer. You can tweak power, voltage, cores, memory and other important system metrics to maximize performance. Overclocking speeds up components - and gameplay. It also optimizes CPU-intensive tasks such as image processing and transcoding.

"Unlocked multiplier" means that you can change the processor multiplier up or down in the BIOS of the personal computer. So what is this multiplier? Before answering this question, let's find out how the processor frequency is obtained.

Let's take a motherboard with a specific bus frequency (FSB), for example 533 Mhz (megahertz), and a processor with a multiplier of 4.5. As a result (533 x 4.5) we get the required CPU clock frequency of 2398.5 MHz. Now, if we raise the multiplier to 7.5, then at the output we will get a speed increase of 1599 megahertz. If we reduce it to 3.5, the processor frequency will drop to 1.8 GHz.

The formula for calculating the multiplier looks like this:

• FSB (motherboard bus frequency)
• CPU Multiplier
• DDR Multiplier (it is 400/533/667/800 aka 1 / 1.33 / 1.66 / 2.0)

e.g. DDR2 = FSB * multuplier * 2 (refined)

Conventional processors go on sale with a boost locked multiplier. The manufacturer is understandable. After all, it turns out that why should we buy a processor for the conventional $ 200, when you can buy a simpler model for $ 100, change one parameter in the BIOS and get the same processor for $ 200? You can lower the multiplier for any processor.

However, a locked multiplier does not mean that you cannot overclock the processor, that is, increase its frequency. After all, the processor is based on the frequency of the motherboard. Therefore, the enthusiast simply increases the frequency of the motherboard (system bus) and gets a higher processor frequency without increasing the multiplier.

Intel's Extreme Edition processors and AMD's Black Edition processors go on sale with unlocked multipliers. Also, an Intel processor with an unlocked multiplier can be identified by the letter K in the name. For example, 3570 and 3570K. The second is unlocked.

These processors are noticeably more expensive than their locked counterparts and are aimed at computer enthusiasts and overclockers - people involved in overclocking. computer hardware for a result that can be captured and demonstrated to the community. An unlocked multiplier can give an ordinary person a margin of safety for upgrading the system for a couple of years. When it seems that the computer has stopped "pulling", you can simply overclock its frequency

Many users are wondering what affects the computer's performance the most?

It turns out that there is no definite answer to this question. A computer is a collection of subsystems (memory, computing, graphics, storage) that communicate with each other through the motherboard and device drivers. At wrong setting subsystems, they do not provide the maximum performance that they could give.

Comprehensive performance is made up of software and hardware settings and features.
Let's list them.

Hardware performance factors:

1. The number of processor cores - 1, 2, 3 or 4
2. Processor frequency and processor system bus (FSB) frequency - 533, 667, 800, 1066, 1333 or 1600 MHz
3. The amount and amount of processor (CPU) cache - 256, 512 Kbytes; 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 MB.
4. The coincidence of the frequency of the system bus of the CPU and the motherboard
5. Memory frequency (RAM) and motherboard memory bus frequency - DDR2-667, 800, 1066
6. The amount of RAM - 512 MB or more
7. Chipset used on the motherboard (Intel, VIA, SIS, nVidia, ATI / AMD)
8. The used graphics subsystem - built into the motherboard or discrete (external video card with its own video memory and GPU)
9. Hard disk drive (HDD) interface type - parallel IDE or serial SATA and SATA-2
10. Hard drive cache - 8, 16 or 32 MB.

An increase in the listed technical characteristics always increases productivity.

Kernels

At the moment, most of the manufactured processors have at least 2 cores (except for AMD Sempron, Athlon 64 and Intel Celeron D, Celeron 4xx). The number of cores is relevant in 3D rendering or video encoding tasks, as well as in programs whose code is optimized for multithreading of several cores. In other cases (for example, in office and Internet tasks) they are useless.

Four cores have processors Intel Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad with the following markings: QX9xxx, Q9xxx, Q8xxx, QX6xxx;
AMD Phenom X3 - 3 cores;
AMD Phenom X4 - 4 cores.

It should be remembered that the number of cores significantly increases the power consumption of the CPU and increases the power requirements for the motherboard and power supply!

But the generation and architecture of the kernel greatly affect the performance of any processor.
For example, if you take a dual-core Intel Pentium D and Core 2 Duo with the same frequency, system bus and cache, then the Core 2 Duo will undoubtedly win.

Frequencies of processor, memory and motherboard buses

It is also very important that the frequencies of the various components match.
For example, if your motherboard supports 800MHz memory bus and DDR2-677 memory is installed, then the memory frequency will decrease performance.

At the same time, if the motherboard does not support 800 MHz, and while the DDR2-800 module is installed, it will work, but at a lower frequency.

Caches

The processor memory cache is primarily affected when working with CAD systems, large databases and graphics. Cache is a memory with a higher access speed, designed to speed up access to data that is permanently contained in memory with a lower access speed (hereinafter referred to as "main memory"). Caching is used by CPUs, hard drives, browsers, and web servers.

When the CPU accesses data, the cache is examined first. If an entry is found in the cache with an identifier that matches the identifier of the requested item, then the items in the cache are used. This is called a cache hit. If no records are found in the cache containing the requested data item, then it is read from the main memory into the cache and becomes available for subsequent calls. This is called a cache miss. The percentage of cache hits when a result is found is called the hit rate or cache hit rate.
Intel processors have a higher cache hit rate.

All CPUs differ in the number of caches (up to 3) and their size. The fastest cache is level 1 (L1), the slowest is level 3 (L3). Only AMD Phenom processors have L3 cache. So it is very important that the L1 cache has a large volume.

We tested the performance versus cache size. If you compare the results of 3D shooters Prey and Quake 4, which are typical gaming applications, the difference in performance between 1 MB and 4 MB is approximately the same as between processors with a frequency difference of 200 MHz. The same goes for the video encoding tests for the DivX 6.6 and XviD 1.1.2 codecs, and WinRAR archiver 3.7. However, CPU-intensive applications such as 3DStudio Max 8, Lame MP3 Encoder or MainConcept's H.264 Encoder V2 do not benefit too much from the increased cache size.
Recall that L2 cache affects the performance of an Intel Core 2 CPU much more than AMD Athlon 64 X2 or Phenom, since Intel has a shared L2 cache for all cores, while AMD has a separate one for each core! In this regard, Phenom works better with the cache.

RAM

As already said, RAM characterized by frequency and volume. At the same time, there are now 2 types of DDR2 and DDR3 memory being produced, which differ in architecture, performance, frequency and supply voltage - that is, for everyone!
The frequency of the memory module must match the frequency of the module itself.

The amount of RAM also affects performance. operating system and resource-intensive applications.
The calculations are simple - Windows XP occupies 300-350 MB of RAM after loading. If there are additional programs in startup, then they also load RAM. That is, 150-200 MB remain free. Only light office applications can fit there.
To work comfortably with AutoCAD, graphics applications, 3DMax, coding and graphics, at least 1 GB of RAM is required. If you are using Windows Vista, then at least 2 GB.

Graphics subsystem

Often in office computers motherboards with integrated graphics are used. Motherboards based on such chipsets (G31, G45, AMD 770G, etc.) have the letter G in the marking.
These integrated video cards use a portion of the RAM for video memory, thereby reducing the amount of RAM available to the user.

Accordingly, to increase performance, the integrated video card must be disabled in the motherboard BIOS, and an external (discrete) video card must be installed in the PCI-Express slot.
All video cards differ in the graphics chipset, the frequency of its pipelines, the number of pipelines, the frequency of video memory, and the width of the video memory bus.

Storage subsystem

The performance of storage devices is greatly affected when accessing large amounts of data - video, audio, as well as when opening a large number of small files.

Of the technical characteristics that affect the speed of access to files, it should be noted the Type of the hard drive interface (HDD) - parallel IDE or serial SATA and SATA-2 and the hard drive cache - 8, 16 or 32 MB.
At the moment, it is recommended to install hard drives only with the SATA-2 interface, which has the highest bandwidth and the largest cache.

Programmatic Performance Factors:

1. Number of installed programs
2. File system fragmentation
3. File system errors, bad sectors
4. OS registry fragmentation
5. OS registry errors
6. Paging file size (amount of virtual memory)
7. Included OS GUI rendering elements
8. Programs and windows services loading at startup

This is not a complete list, but it is these features of the Windows operating system that can greatly slow down its work.
But we will talk about these characteristics, settings and parameters in the next article.

Throughout the development of the entire human race, stones were our integral companions. Axes, arrowheads ... pyramids in the end! Silicon alone is worth it - after all, it was thanks to it that we got the fire. Even if not so long ago, but already in the name of the development of the computer industry in the "bronze" age, people decided to torment their "stones" again. How it all began, we are even afraid to think. Either since the ancient Z80, or later, on the 286/386 series of processors, at some point a certain group of people discovered a new fascinating occupation, or rather, became the founder of a new direction - overclocking... The word, in fact, is not ours, it is translated from English as "promotion". Our definition has taken on a slightly different form - overclocking, that is, increased productivity. We will talk about what it is and how it happens in this article.

How did it start

In those glorious years, when prices for computer components literally went off scale, processors were not so easy to overclock. If now overclocking the computer is practically no problem - the presence of a keyboard and the corresponding software allow you to do this in literally a few minutes - then the clock frequency was increased using a soldering iron, rearranging the jumpers and closing the legs of the processors. That is, at that time overclocking was available only to a select few - courageous, selfless and experienced techies.

But not only processors were overclocked. Graphics cards and RAM were next, and more recently, enthusiasts have made improvements to the performance of an optical mouse.

Why is this necessary?

And, in fact, for the sake of what are we going to do something? Let's add up all the pros and cons to understand if we really need it? The pluses include the following points:

• Increased productivity has never bothered anyone. Its increasing amount cannot be accurately predicted, it all depends on the components used. For example, the gain from overclocking the processor with a powerful video card almost always increases the speed in 3D applications. Although, without even setting the goal of improving performance in games, the productivity of the computer as a whole will extend to archiving, transcoding, video / sound editing, arithmetic calculations and other useful operations. But from "tuning" the memory, the gain, most likely, will not be as great as from overclocking a processor or video card.
• Many of the concepts that you will become familiar with in the overclocking process will provide invaluable experience.

And here is the other side of the coin:

• There is a risk of destroying the equipment. Although it depends on your hands, the quality of the components used and, finally, the ability to stop.
• Reducing the life of overclocked components. Here, alas, there is nothing to be done: with increased voltage and a rather strong frequency, coupled with poor cooling, the service life of the "hardware" can be halved. This may seem unacceptable to many, but there is one detail: on average, the life of a modern processor is ten years or more. Whether it is a lot or a little, everyone decides for himself. We just remind you that as of today, progress has reached such a rate of development that a processor released two or three years ago is already considered impermissibly outdated. What can we say about five ...

Basic concepts

Having designed a processor, the manufacturer creates a whole series (line) with its various characteristics, and often based on one single processor. Why, you tell me, do the frequencies differ on two identical processors? Do you think that the company that makes them manages to program each processor at a specific frequency? There is, of course, another way. The frequency of the junior processors of the line can easily reach even the older ones, moreover, sometimes exceeding it. But hidden problems lie in wait from all sides, one of which is the question of the successful selection of the "stone" ... but this is another story, which we will tell you about next time. Because for further study of the material, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with all the terms that one way or another will appear in the text.

BIOS(Basic Input-Output System) - Elementary input / output system. In fact, it is an intermediary between the hardware and software environments of the computer. More specifically, it is a small configuration program containing settings for all the hardware content of your computer. You can make your own changes to the settings: for example, change the processor frequency. The BIOS itself resides on a separate flash chip directly on the motherboard.

FSB(Front Side Bus) - The system or processor bus is the main channel for communication between the processor and other devices in the system. The system bus is also the basis for shaping the frequency of other computer data transfer buses, such as AGP, PCI, PCI-E, Serial-ATA, as well as RAM. It is she who serves as the main tool in increasing the frequency of the CPU (processor). The processor bus frequency is multiplied by the processor factor (CPU Multiplier) and provides the processor frequency.

Beginning with Pentium 4, corporation Intel began to apply technology QPB(Quad Pumped Bus) - she QDR(Quad Data Rate) - the essence of which is the transfer of four 64-bit data blocks per processor cycle, i.e. with a real frequency, for example, 200Mhz we get 800Mhz effective.

At the same time, the once competing AMD Athlon transmission occurs on both signal edges, as a result, the effective transfer rate is twice as high as the real frequency, 166Mhz in Athlon XP gives 333 effective megahertz.

The situation is approximately the same in the line of processors from AMD- K8, (Opteron, Athlon 64, Sempron (S754 / 939 / AM2)): the FSB has been continued, now it is only a reference frequency (clock generator - HTT), multiplying by a special multiplier we get the effective frequency of data exchange between the processor and external devices. The technology was named Hyper Transport - HT and is a special high-speed serial links with a clock frequency of 1 GHz at "doubled" data rate (DDR), consisting of two unidirectional 16-bit buses. Maximum speed data transfer rate is 4 Gbps. Also, the clock generator generates the frequency of the processor, AGP, PCI, PCI-E, Serial-ATA. The memory frequency is derived from the processor frequency, thanks to the derating factor.

Jumper is a kind of "contact closure", assembled in a miniature case. Depending on which contacts on the board are closed (or which are not closed), the system determines its own parameters.

CPU

CPU multiplier(Frequency Ratio / Multiplier) allows us to achieve the final processor frequency we need, while leaving the system bus frequency unchanged. At the moment, in all Intel and AMD processors (except Athlon 64 FX, Intel Pentium XE and Core 2 Xtreme) the multiplier is locked, at least upward.

CPU cache(cache) is a small amount of very fast memory built directly into the processor. The cache has a significant effect on the speed of information processing, since it stores data that is being executed at the moment, and even those that may be needed in the near future (this is controlled by the data prefetch block in the processor). There are two levels of cache and is designated as follows:

L1- the cache of the first level, the fastest and least capacious of all levels, directly "communicates" with the processor core and most often has a divided structure: one half for data ( L1D), the second - instructions ( L1I). Typical capacity for AMD S462 (A) and S754 / 939/940 processors is 128Kb, Intel S478 \ LGA775 - 16Kb.

L2- the cache of the second level, which contains data preempted from the cache of the first level, is less fast, but more capacious. Typical values ​​are 256, 512, 1024, and 2048Kb.

L3- was used in desktop processors for the first time in the Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (Gallatin) processor and had a capacity of 2048Kb. Also, it has already found a place for itself in server CPUs for a long time, and should soon appear in the new generation of AMD K10 processors.

Core- a silicon chip, a crystal consisting of several tens of millions of transistors. He, in fact, is a processor - it is engaged in the execution of instructions and the processing of data arriving to it.

CPU stepping - a new version, generation of processor with modified characteristics. Judging by the statistics, the higher the stepping, the better the processor overclocks, although not always.

Instruction Sets- MMX, 3DNow !, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, etc. Since 1997, with the introduction of the first ever MMX (MultiMedia eXtensions) instruction by Intel, overclockers have received yet another way to increase performance. These instructions are nothing more than the concept of SIMD (Single Instruction Many Data) and allow no less processing of multiple data items with a single instruction. By themselves, of course, they will not increase the speed of information processing, but with the support of these instructions by programs, a certain increase is noted.

Technical process(manufacturing technology) - along with various optimizations carried out with each new stepping, reducing the technical process is the most effective way to overcome the processor overclocking limit. It is designated by a strange combination of letters "μm", "nm". Example: 0.13 \ 0.09 \ 0.065μm or 130 \ 90 \ 65nm.

Socket(Socket) - The type of processor socket for installing the processor in the motherboard. For example, S462 \ 478 \ 479 \ 604 \ 754 \ 775 \ 939 \ 940 \ AM2, etc.

Sometimes manufacturing campaigns, along with the numerical name, use alphabetic ones, for example S775 - aka Socket T, S462 - Socket A. Such visible confusion can disorient a novice user a little. Be careful.

Memory

SDRAM(Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) is a dynamic random access memory synchronization system. This type includes all the random access memory used in modern desktop computers.

DDR SDRAM(Double Data Rate SDRAM) - An improved type of SDR SDRAM with twice the amount of data transmitted per clock.

DDR2 SDRAM - further development DDR, which allows to achieve twice the frequency of the external data bus in comparison with the frequency of DDR microcircuits at the same internal frequency of their functioning. All I / O control logic operates at half the baud rate, which means that the effective frequency is twice the actual frequency. It is manufactured using a thinner 90nm process technology and, along with a reduced nominal voltage to 1.8V (from 2.5V for DDR), it consumes less power.

Real and effective memory frequency- with the advent of DDR and DDR2 memory, such a concept as a real frequency has entered our life - this is the frequency at which these modules operate. The effective frequency is the one at which the memory operates according to the specifications of the DDR, DDR2 and others standards. That is, with twice the amount of data transmitted per clock cycle. For example: at a real frequency of DDR 200Mhz, the effective frequency is 400Mhz. Therefore, in the designations it is most often listed as DDR400. This focus can be considered nothing more than a marketing ploy. Thus, we are given to understand that since twice as much data is transmitted per cycle, it means that the speed is twice as high ... which is far from the case. But for us it is not so important, we should not delve into the jungle of marketing.

Real frequency, MHz	Effective frequency, MHz	Bandwidth, Mbps
100	200	1600
133	266	2100
166	333	2700
200	400	3200
216	433	3500
233	466	3700
250	500	4000
266	533	4200
275	550	4400
300	600	4800
333	667	5300
350	700	5600
400	800	6400
500	1000	8000
533	1066	8600
667	1333	10600

Designation of memory by theoretical bandwidth - when buying memory along with familiar designations like DDR 400 or DDR2 800, in our case you can see such names as PC-3200 and PC2-6400. All this is nothing more than the designation of the same memory (DDR 400 and DDR2 800, respectively), but only in theoretical bandwidth indicated in Mb \ s. Another marketing ploy.

Memory designation by access time- the time during which information is read from the memory cell. Indicated in "ns" (nanoseconds). In order to convert these values ​​into frequency, 1000 should be divided by the number of these same nanoseconds. Thus, you can get the real frequency of the RAM.

Timings- delays arising from operations with the contents of memory cells, given below. This is by no means all of their number, but only the most basic ones:

• CAS # Latency (tCL) - the period between the read command and the start of data transfer.
• tRAS (ACTIVE to PRECHARGE command) - the minimum time between the activation command and the command to close one memory bank.
• tRCD (ACTIVE to READ or WRITE delay) - the minimum time between the activation command and the read / write command.
• tRP (PRECHARGE command period) - minimum time between the command to close and reactivate one memory bank.
• Command rate (Command Rate: 1T / 2T) - command interface delays due to a large number of physical memory banks. Manual setting lends itself so far only to non-Intel chipsets.
• SPD (Serial Presence Detect) is a chip located on a RAM module. It contains information about the frequency, timings, as well as the manufacturer and date of manufacture of this module.

Theory

Exactly how we will exceed the nominal frequency of the processor, you guessed it, right? Everything is as simple as a donut: we have a system bus (aka FSB or a clock generator - for AMD K8) and a processor multiplier (aka multiplier). We simply change the numerical values ​​of one of them and at the output we get the required frequency.

For example: we have a certain processor with a standard frequency of 2200MHz. We begin to think, why was the manufacturer so greedy when in the same line with the same core there are models with 2600MHz and higher? We need to fix this matter! There are two ways: change the processor bus frequency or change the processor multiplier. But to begin with, if you do not even have basic knowledge in computer technology and are not able to determine the standard FSB frequency or its multiplier from the processor name alone, I advise you to use a more reliable method. Especially for this, there are programs that allow you to get exhaustive information on your processor. CPU-Z is the leader in its segment, but there are others. You can just as well use SiSoftware. Sandra, RightMark CPU Clock Utility. Using the obtained programs, we can easily calculate the FSB frequency and processor multiplier (and at the same time a lot of previously unknown, but damn useful information).

Take, for example, an Intel Pentium 2.66GHz (20x133MHz) processor based on the Northwood core.

After some simple operations in the form of raising the FSB frequency, we get 3420MHz.

That's how it is! We already see how in your minds twisted convolutions, multiplying unthinkable numbers by monstrous coefficients ... not so quickly friends! Yes, you understood everything perfectly well: for overclocking, we need either an increase in the multiplier or the system bus frequency (or, best of all, right away, and, most importantly, more - approx. Hidden internal greed). But not everything is so simple in our life, there are enough sticks in the wheels, so let's get acquainted with them before starting.

You already know that most processors on the market have a locked multiplier ... well, by at least, in the direction we would like - in the direction of increase. Only happy owners of AMD Athlon 64 FX and some Pentium XE models have this opportunity. (Variants with rare Athlon XP, released before 2003, are not considered). These models can drive their already "non-low-frequency" "stones" practically without problems (fiddling with memory and insufficient FSB frequency reserve on the motherboard). The unlocked multiplier in this series of processors is nothing more than a gift to users who have given quite a lot of money. Everyone else who is not able to spend $ 1000 on a processor should go (no, by no means a forest) just a different path ...

Increase the FSB or clock frequency. Yes, this is our savior, which in almost 90% of cases is the main overclocking tool. Depending on how long ago you purchased your processor or motherboard, your standard FSB frequency will vary.

Starting with the first Athlons from AMD and Intel Pentium on the S478, the 100MHz system bus has been the standard. Then the Athlones switched first to 133, then to 166, and finally ended their lives on a 200Mhz tire. Intel did not sleep either and gradually increased the frequencies: 133, then 200 at once, now 266, and even 333MHz (1333Mhz in QDR terms).

That is, having a modern motherboard with a good potential to increase the frequency of the clock generator (in fact, this crystal that controls the FSB frequency can also be referred to as PLL), everything becomes extremely simple - this is an increase in the frequency itself. To what extent and how to actually change it, we will talk a little later.

We hope you haven't forgotten what FSB is? No, this does not mean the megahertz on which it works, but the immediate meaning. FSB is the system bus that links the processor to other devices in the system. But at the same time, it is the basis for shaping the frequency of other buses, such as AGP, PCI, S-ATA, as well as RAM. And what does this mean? This means that when you increase it, we will automatically increase the frequencies of AGP, PCI, S-ATA and "RAM". And if raising the latter within reasonable limits only plays into our hands (currently only motherboards based on the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition chipset are able to overclock the processor regardless of memory), then S-ATA, PCI and AGP with PCI-E are completely overclocked to us. not necessary. The fact is that they are quite sensitive to such experiments and respond to us with very unpleasant consequences. The ratings of these buses are: PCI - 33.3Mhz, AGP - 66.6Mhz, SATA and PCI-E - 100Mhz. And it is highly discouraged to exceed them significantly. Unstable operation of the same S-ATA can lead to data loss from your S-ATA disk!

That is, this is a very significant limitation ... it was. But the point is this: realizing the benefits of such a miscalculation, some chipset manufacturers decided to fix this problem on their own. It all started with the fact that special dividers began to be used, automatically switching PCI bus and AGP for the nominal value at 100, 133, 166 ... MHz. (and there were such interesting situations in which the processor was stable at 166Mhz, initially working at 133, but not at 165!), now you understand why. But not everyone learned this lesson. There is no need to go far for examples: the VIA K8T800 chipset released at the beginning of the Athlon 64 era. Having quite good functionality and price, it simply does not know how to fix PCI \ AGP \ S-ATA frequencies when HTT is raised. That is, you will not get more than 220-230Mhz gain on the clock generator. That's so, sad gentlemen. Be careful not to fall for such a chipset (although it is already a little old).

Thus, we put an end to this section of the article and move on to the next. We considered the theoretical part a little, plus a few nuances that may get in your way. It's time, perhaps, to get down to business. At the same time, figuring out along the way what other sticks have to be removed from the wheels.

To be continued…

The central processor of a computer has a number of technical characteristics that determine the most important characteristic of any processor - its performance and the meaning of each of them is useful to know. Why? In order to further navigate well in reviews and tests, as well as CPU markings. In this article I will try to reveal the main technical characteristics of the processor in a statement that is understandable for beginners.

Main technical characteristics of the central processor:

• System bus frequency and width;

Let's take a closer look at these characteristics

Clock frequency

Clock frequency - an indicator of the speed of command execution central processing unit... A cycle is a period of time required to perform an elementary operation.

In the not too distant past, the clock speed of a central processor was identified directly with its performance, that is, the higher the clock speed of the CPU, the more productive it is. In practice, we have a situation when processors with different frequencies have the same performance, because in one clock cycle they can execute a different number of instructions (depending on the core design, bus bandwidth, cache memory).

The processor clock speed is proportional to the system bus frequency (see below).

Bit depth

The bit depth of the processor is a value that determines the amount of information that the central processor is able to process in one cycle.

For example, if the bit capacity of the processor is 16, this means that it is able to process 16 bits of information in one clock cycle.

I think everyone understands that the higher the bit depth of the processor, the larger the amount of information it can process.

Typically, the higher the bit depth of the processor, the better its performance.

Currently, 32- and 64-bit processors are in use. The bitness of the processor does not mean that it is obliged to execute commands with the same bitness.

Cache memory

The first step is to answer the question, what is cache memory?

Cache memory is a high-speed computer memory designed for temporary storage of information (code of executable programs and data) required by the central processor.

What data is stored in the cache?

Most commonly used.

What is the purpose of cache memory?

The fact is that the performance of RAM, compared to the performance of the CPU, is much lower. It turns out that the processor waits for data from the RAM to arrive - which lowers the processor's performance, and therefore the performance of the entire system. Cache memory reduces processor latency by storing data and code of executable programs that are most frequently accessed by the processor (the difference between cache memory and computer RAM is that the speed of the cache memory is ten times higher).

Cache memory, like ordinary memory, has a capacity. The higher the bit depth of the cache, the more data it can handle.

There are three levels of cache memory: cache memory of the first (L1), second (L2) and third (L3). The first two levels are most often used in modern computers.

Let's take a closer look at all three levels of cache memory.

L1 cache is the fastest and most expensive memory.

The L1 cache is located on the same die with the processor and operates at the CPU frequency (hence the highest performance) and is used directly by the processor core.

The capacity of the first level cache is small (due to its high cost) and is calculated in kilobytes (usually no more than 128 KB).

The L2 cache is a high-speed memory that performs the same functions as the L1 cache. The difference between L1 and L2 is that the latter has a lower speed, but a larger volume (from 128 KB to 12 MB), which is very useful for performing resource-intensive tasks.

The L3 cache is located on the motherboard. L3 is significantly slower than L1 and L2, but faster than RAM. It is clear that the volume L3 is greater than the volume L1 and L2. L3 cache is found in very powerful computers.

Number of Cores

Modern technologies the manufacture of processors allows you to place more than one core in one package. The presence of several cores significantly increases the performance of the processor, but this does not mean that the presence of n cores gives an n-fold increase in performance. In addition, the problem of multi-core processors is that today there are relatively few programs written taking into account that a processor has multiple cores.

The multicore processor, first of all, allows to implement the multitasking function: to distribute the work of applications between the processor cores. This means that each individual core works with “its own” application.

System bus frequency and width

The system bus of the processor (FSB - Front Side Bus) is a set of signal lines for the exchange of information between the CPU and internal devices (RAM, ROM, timer, I / O ports, etc.) of the computer. FSB actually connects the processor to the rest of the devices in system unit.

The system bus of a processor includes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus.

The main characteristics of the bus are its capacity and frequency of operation. Bus frequency is the frequency at which data is exchanged between the processor and the system bus of the computer.

Naturally, the higher the bit width and frequency of the system bus, the higher the processor performance.

The high data transfer rate of the bus allows the processor and computer devices to quickly receive the necessary information and commands.

There is one important point to note here.

The operating frequency of all modern processors is several times higher than the system bus frequency, so the processor works as much as the system bus allows. The amount by which the processor frequency exceeds the system bus frequency is called a multiplier.

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What is the system bus?

Hello dear readers of the blog Pc-information-guide.ru. Very often on the Internet, you can find a lot of all kinds of computer terminology, in particular - such a thing as "System bus". But few people know what exactly this means. computer term... I think today's article will help clarify.

The system bus (backbone) includes the data, address and control bus. Each of them transmits its own information: data bus - data, addresses - respectively, address (devices and memory cells), control - control signals for devices. But now we will not delve into the jungle of the theory of organization of computer architecture, we will leave it to university students. Physically, the trunk is represented in the form of numerous tracks (pins) on the motherboard.

It is no coincidence that I pointed to the inscription "FSB" in the photo for this article. The fact is that the FSB bus, which stands for "Front-side bus" - that is, "front" or "system" bus, is responsible for connecting the processor to the chipset. And its frequency is an important parameter, which is usually guided by when overclocking a processor, for example.

There are several types of FSB, for example, on motherboards with Intel processors, the FSB is usually a type of QPB, in which data is transferred 4 times per clock. When it comes to AMD processors, then there data is transmitted 2 times per cycle, and the bus variety is called EV6. And in the latest CPU models from AMD, there is no FSB at all, its role is played by the latest HyperTransport.

So, data is transferred between the chipset and the central processor at a frequency that is 4 times higher than the FSB frequency. Why only 4 times, see the paragraph above. It turns out that if the box says 1600 MHz (effective frequency), in reality the frequency will be 400 MHz (actual). Later, when it comes to overclocking the processor (in the following articles), you will learn why you need to pay attention to this parameter. For now, just remember, the higher the frequency, the better.

By the way, the inscription "O.C." means literally "overclocking", this is an abbreviation for English. Overclock, that is, it is the maximum possible frequency of the system bus that the motherboard supports. The system bus can easily operate at a frequency significantly lower than that indicated on the package, but not higher than it.

The second parameter that characterizes the system bus is bandwidth. This is the amount of information (data) that it can pass through itself in one second. It is measured in Bits / s. The bandwidth can be independently calculated using a very simple formula: bus frequency (FSB) * bus width. You already know about the first factor, the second factor corresponds to the processor capacity - remember, x64, x86 (32)? All modern processors are already 64-bit.

So, we substitute our data into the formula, in the end it turns out: 1600 * 64 = 102 400 MB / s = 100 GB / s = 12.5 GB / s. This is the bandwidth of the trunk between the chipset and the processor, or rather, between the north bridge and the processor. That is, system bus, FSB, processor bus are all synonyms. All connectors of the motherboard - video card, hard disk, RAM, "communicate" with each other only through the trunk. But FSB is not the only one on the motherboard, although the most important, of course.

As you can see from the figure, the Front-side bus (the thickest line) basically connects only the processor and the chipset, and already from the chipset there are several different buses in other directions: PCI, video adapter, RAM, USB. And it is not at all a fact that the operating frequencies of these sub-buses should be equal or multiples of the FSB frequency, no, they can be completely different. However, in modern processors, the RAM controller is often moved from the north bridge to the processor itself, in which case it turns out that a separate RAM line does not seem to exist, all data between the processor and the RAM is transmitted via the FSB directly with a frequency equal to the FSB frequency.

That's all for now, thanks.

pc-information-guide.ru

The processor is one of the key components of a computer; it performs calculations and executes commands received from programs. V modern world the two most respected computer processor manufacturers are Amd and Intel. In order to do everything right when choosing a computer, you need to familiarize yourself in detail with technical characteristics.

Clock frequency and number of cores

The clock frequency is a parameter that is measured in gigahertz, for example, 2.21 GHz indicates that a particular processor is capable of performing 2,216,000,000 operations within one second. Thus, a higher such frequency allows faster data processing. This is one of critical parameters, which should be considered when choosing a processor.

The number of cores is no less important, the fact is that the clock frequency at this stage of development can no longer be increased, this prompted the continuation of development in the direction of parallel computing, expressed in an increase in the number of cores. The number of cores informs about how many programs can be run simultaneously without losing performance. However, it should be borne in mind that if the program is optimized for two cores, then even if there are more of them, the computer will not be able to fully use them. [ content ]

Processor Cache and Bus Frequency

The bus frequency demonstrates the transfer rate of information entering and leaving the processor. The higher this indicator, the faster the exchange of information is, the units of measurement here are gigahertz. Of great importance is the processor's cache, which is a high-speed block of memory. It is located directly on the core and serves to improve performance, since data is processed in it at a much higher speed than in the case of RAM. There are three levels of cache memory:

• L1 - the first level is the smallest in size, but the fastest, its size varies from 8 to 128 KB.
• L2 is the second level, much slower than the first, but exceeds it in volume, here the size varies within the range of 128 - 12288 KB.
• L3 is the third level, loses in speed to the first two levels, but the most voluminous, by the way, it may be absent altogether, as it is provided for special editions of processors or server solutions. Its size reaches 16384 KB, it can be present in such processors as Xeon MP, Pentium 4 Extreme Edition or Itanium 2.

Other processor parameters

Less significant, but not losing their relevance when choosing a processor are such characteristics as the socket and heat dissipation. A socket is called a connector where the processor is installed in the motherboard, for example, if an AMZ socket is presented on the processor marking, then a corresponding motherboard with an identical socket is needed. According to the heat dissipation indicators, you can determine the degree of heating of the processor during operation. This will be a direct guide to the selection of the appropriate cooling system. This indicator is measured in watts, and it varies between 10 - 165W.

Such a characteristic as support for various technologies determines a set of instructions designed to improve performance, for example, it can be the SSE4 technology. It is a set of fifty-four instructions designed to increase the performance of processors in the process of working with media content, gaming applications, 3D tasks. modeling.

The scale of technology, determined by the size of the semiconductor elements, is called the technical process. Semiconductor elements form the basis of the internal circuit of the processor, which consists of transistors, which are connected to each other in the appropriate way. As technology improves and the size of transistors is proportionally reduced, the performance of processors is improved. For example, the Willamette core, made in accordance with the 0.18 micron technical process, has 42,000,000 transistors. At the same time, the Prescott core, corresponding to the 0.09 micron technical process, has 125,000,000 transistors. [ content ]

Comparison of modern processors

Let's try to apply the knowledge gained in practice and compare two modern processors, as an example, consider the AMD FX-8150 Zambezi and Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge. In this case, AMD boasts a higher clock speed of 3600MHz, while Intel is limited to 3400GHz. This characterizes AMD as a faster processor. As for the number of cores, here AMD again leads with 8 cores, while Intel has only 4 cores, but this is a very slippery moment, because applications may not be optimized to work even with 4 cores, not like 8 cores. NS. As far as the cache size is concerned, here Intel is also significantly inferior to its competitor, the largest, that is, the cache of the 3rd level L3 here is only 6144 KB, while AMD's figure is 8192 KB. The L2 cache sizes differ even more radically: 1,024 KB for Intel versus 8192 KB for a competitor. Based on these key characteristics, you need to choose a processor. In our case, I would prefer the AMD FX-8150 Zambezi.

Now you know all the key parameters and you can choose the processor that suits you.

myblaze.ru

Repair of computers and laptops in Kharkov

Details Posted on 08 December 2013 Posted by Roman

A motherboard is a printed circuit board (PCB) that connects the processor, memory, and all of your expansion cards together to keep your computer running smoothly. When choosing a motherboard, you need to consider its form factor. The form factor is a world standard that determines the size of the motherboard, the location of interfaces, ports, sockets, slots, the place of attachment to the case, the connector for connecting the power supply.

Form factor

Most motherboards currently made are ATX, such motherboards measure 30.5 x 24.4 cm. Slightly smaller (24.4 x 24.4 cm) mATX form factor. Mini-ITX motherboards have very modest dimensions (17 x 17 cm). ATX motherboard has standard connectors such as PS / 2 ports, USB ports, parallel port, serial port, built-in bios motherboard, etc. ATX motherboard is installed in a standard case.

Motherboard chipset

Typically, the motherboard has various slots and connectors. A chipset is all the microcircuits on the motherboard that ensure the interaction of all computer subsystems. The main chipset manufacturers at the moment are Intel, nVidia and ATI (AMD). The chipset includes a northbridge and a southbridge.

Intel P67 chipset schematic

The north bridge is designed to support the video card and RAM and work directly with the processor. In addition, the northbridge controls the system bus frequency. However, today, the controller is often built into the processor, this significantly reduces heat generation and simplifies the operation of system controllers.

The south bridge provides input and output functions, and contains controllers for peripheral devices such as audio, HDD and others. It also contains bus controllers that facilitate the connection of peripheral devices such as USB or PCI bus.

The speed of the computer depends on how coordinated the interaction between the chipset and the processor is. To be more efficient, the processor and chipset must be from the same manufacturer. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the chipset must match the size and type of RAM.

Processor socket

Soket is a kind of socket in the motherboard that will match the socket of your processor and is intended for connecting it. It is the socket connector that separates the motherboards.

• Sockets starting with AM, FM and S support AMD processors.
• Sockets starting with LGA have support for Intel processors.

What type of socket corresponds to your processor, you will learn from the instructions for the processor itself, but in general the choice of the motherboard occurs simultaneously with the choice of the processor, they seem to be selected for each other.

RAM slots

When choosing a motherboard great importance has the type and frequency of RAM. At the moment, DDR3 memory is used with a frequency of 1066, 1333, 1600, 1800 or 2000 MHz, before it was DDR2, DDR and SDRAM. Memory of one type cannot be connected to the motherboard if its connectors are for another type of memory. Although at the moment there are models of motherboards with slots for both DDR2 and DDR3. Despite the fact that the RAM is connected to a motherboard designed for a higher frequency, it is better not to do this, as this will negatively affect the operation of the computer. If in the future it is planned to increase the amount of RAM, then it is necessary to choose a motherboard with a large number of connectors for it (the maximum number is 4).

PCI slot

The PCI slot accepts expansion cards such as sound card, modem, TV tuners, Network Card, map wireless network Wi-Fi, etc. We would like to note that the more these slots, the more additional devices you can connect to the motherboard. The presence of two or more identical PCI-E x16 slots for connecting video cards indicates the possibility of their simultaneous and parallel operation.

In view of the fact that modern additional devices include cooling systems and simply have an overall view, they can interfere with the connection of another device to an adjacent slot. Therefore, even if you are not going to connect a bunch of internal add-on cards to your computer, you should still choose a motherboard with at least 1-2 PCI slots so that you can easily connect even a minimal set of devices.

PCI Express

Slot PCI Express required to connect a PCI-E video card. Some boards with 2 or more pci-e connectors support the SLI or Crossfire configuration for connecting multiple video cards at the same time. Therefore, if you need to connect two or three identical video cards at the same time, for example, for games or working with graphics, you must choose a motherboard with the appropriate number of PCI Express x16 slots.

Bus frequency

Bus speed is the total bandwidth of the motherboard, and the higher it is, the faster the overall system performance will be. Please note that the processor bus frequency must match the motherboard bus frequency, otherwise a processor with a higher bus frequency supported motherboard will not work.

Hard Drive Connectors

The most relevant today is the SATA connector for connection hard drives which replaced the old IDE connector. Unlike IDE, SATA has a higher data transfer rate. Modern SATA 3 connectors support 6 Gb / s speeds. The more SATA connectors there are, the more hard drives you can connect to the motherboard. But keep in mind that the number of hard drives may be limited by the case of the system unit. Therefore, if you want to install more than two hard drives, then make sure that there is such an opportunity in the case.

Although SATA connector is actively replacing IDE, new models of motherboards are still equipped with an IDE connector. To a greater extent, this is done for the convenience of the upgrade, that is, by updating the computer components in order to save all the available information on the old hard disk with IDE connector and have no difficulty in copying it.

If you buy new computer and are planning to use an old hard drive, then we recommend using it as an additional hard drive. It is better to rewrite the existing information to a new HDD with SATA connection, since the old one will noticeably slow down the operation of the entire system.

USB connectors

Pay attention to the number of USB connectors on the back of the motherboard. The more there are, the better, respectively, since almost all existing additional devices have exactly a USB connector for connecting to a computer, namely: keyboards, mice, flash drives, mobile phone, Wi-Fi adapter, printer, external hard drive, modem, etc. To use all these devices, you need a sufficient number of connectors for each device.

USB 3.0 is new standard data transfer via USB interface, data transfer rate reaches up to 4.8 Gb / s.

Sound

Each motherboard has a sound controller. If you are a lover of listening to music, then we recommend choosing a motherboard with a large number of audio channels.

• 2.0 - the sound card supports stereo sound, two speakers or headphones;
• 5.1 - sound card supports surround sound audio system, namely 2 front speakers, 1 central channel, 2 rear speakers and a subwoofer;
• 7.1 - surround sound system support, has the same architecture as for 5.1 system, only side speakers are added.

If the motherboard has support for a multichannel audio system, then you can easily build a home theater based on a computer.

Additional functions

Fans can be connected to any motherboard that has connectors for fans (coolers) to ensure reliable and good cooling of all internal components in the system unit. Several of these connectors are recommended.

Ethernet is a controller installed on the motherboard that connects to the Internet. If you plan to actively use the Internet, and your ISP supports a speed of 1 Gbps, then buy a motherboard that supports this speed. In general, if you buy a motherboard for a rather long period of time, and do not plan to change it in the next 3 years, then it is better to immediately take a card with support for a gigabit network, given the pace of technology development.

Wi-Fi is a built-in module, so you will need it if you have a WI-FI router. By purchasing such a motherboard, you will get rid of unnecessary wires, but the truth is, Wi-Fi will not be able to please you with high speed, like Ethernet.

Bluetooth is a very useful thing, because thanks to the bluetooth controller, you can not only download content from a computer to your mobile phone, but also connect wireless mouse and a keyboard and even a Bluetooth headset, thereby getting rid of wires.

RAID controller - with it you can not be afraid for the safety of files on your computer in the event of a hard drive breakdown. To enable this technology, you must install. at least 2 identical hard drives in mirrored mode, and all data from one drive will be automatically copied to another.

Solid capacitors are the use of polymer-containing capacitors that are more resistant to load and temperature. They have a longer lifespan and they tolerate heat better. Almost all manufacturers have already switched to them in the manufacture of motherboards.

Digital Power System - Provides power to the processor and the rest of the circuit without spikes and in sufficient volume. There are both cheap digital blocks, which are no better than analog ones, and more expensive and skillful ones on the market. It will be needed if you have a weak power supply or a poor-quality electrical network, and you do not use a UPS, or you will overclock the processor.

Fast Acceleration Buttons - Allows you to increase the bus frequency or applied voltage with a single push. It will be useful for overclockers.

Defence from static stress- this problem seems insignificant until you reach out to your pet in winter, after taking off your sweater. And although this happens so infrequently, it is still very disappointing to burn the board with one careless movement.

Military Class is a test of the board in conditions of high humidity, dryness, cold, heat, temperature drop and other stress tests. If the motherboard has passed all these tests, then only a lightning strike can damage it. There are different classes that differ in the set of tests passed.

Multi-bios will save you money and hassle after bad experiences with BIOS or UEFI. Otherwise, you will receive a non-working fee. And to restore it, you will need to find another working motherboard, preferably of the same type. On multi-BIOS boards, you can simply switch to UEFI backup. In some boards, this is implemented as a rollback to the original UEFI. Very useful for those who like to experiment.

Overclocked USB or LAN ports are a technology found on almost all motherboards. The point is that USB speed only increases under certain conditions. And you will notice an increase in LAN speed only when ping decreases in network games.

itcom.in.ua

How to choose the right motherboard and processor

Print entry

Undoubtedly, one of the most important elements that make up a computer are the processor and the motherboard, with the second being the main platform for the computer. Therefore, the process of choosing a motherboard must be approached very carefully, since the efficiency of the entire system directly depends on this. Until ten years ago, the motherboard was only the basis of a computer system that united all devices and ensured their correct and joint functioning. Now, both a sound card and a graphics accelerator processor can be built into the "motherboard", but more on that later. So how to choose a motherboard and processor for it, let's take a closer look.

Motherboard

When choosing a motherboard, the main attention should be paid to its purpose, socket for connection, size, bus frequency and chipset. All about this in order a little below.

Before choosing a motherboard, you need to decide on its purpose, that is, for what needs you need it. The first option is for work, the second for entertainment, watching movies, computer games... For work, you can choose a motherboard of average parameters. This will be inexpensive, but the performance of the computer will be at the level. The gaming option will cost more, since the system requirements for modern games will be increased.

Motherboards come in a variety of sizes. The standard "motherboard" (ATX) has a size equal to 12 × 9.62 inches. There are also micro-ATX, flex-ATX, mini-ITX. It is worth remembering that the smaller the form factor of the motherboard, the lower its performance and functionality. For example, on a mini-atx-type motherboard, there will be fewer connectors for connecting additional modules than on an ATX-type motherboard, and it will heat up accordingly.

Socket is a connector on the motherboard of a computer that provides correct work processor with the device. The socket can be of different architecture, for example, Socket775 or Socket1155. It is because of the different architecture of the socket that the motherboard must be purchased first, and then the processor.

A chipset is a set of logic chips that ensures compatibility and control of all devices with each other. The chipset consists of the North and South bridges. The North Bridge is intended for working together a computer processor with a system video card and its random access memory. Also, this bridge sets the frequency of the special FSB bus. If the North Bridge is provided with a cooling radiator, then this is only a plus. The south bridge ensures compatibility and correct operation of the processor with flash drives, hard drives, USB connectors and others. The copper heatsink is a plus.

The system bus FSB is characterized by its frequency. When choosing a motherboard, it is necessary that the bus frequency be compatible with the FSB frequency of the processor bus. As a rule, the motherboard bus supports several frequencies, however, in some models, the maximum possible bus frequency is available only after updating the factory BIOS settings of the system.

Now about the built-in sound and video cards in the motherboard. As a rule, such modules do not have high power and performance, however, for everyday listening to music and watching movies in normal quality, these devices are suitable. If you need something more powerful, then it is better to purchase sound and video cards separately.

CPU

The processor is the main electronic device of the computer, which is responsible for the speed of information processing. Therefore, processors should be selected based on their requests and system requirements motherboard. Only in this case the computer will quickly process the data.

There are many processor manufacturers, but the first are Intel and AMD processors. The system will function normally if the processor type and motherboard type are the same. If they are different, the performance of the system may be impaired.

The main system tool of processor speed is its clock frequency. Clock frequency is the number of operations performed by the computer per second of time. For example, if the specified processor frequency is 2.9 GHz, then this means that the "Stone" is capable of processing 2 billion 900 million operations per second. The higher this indicator, the faster the system will function.

The next selection criterion is the processor socket. As a rule, the processor is chosen already for a certain motherboard, so the sockets of the "motherboard" and "stone" must match.

Cache memory is a super-fast processor buffer for storing frequently accessed data. The processor cannot wait for the computer's RAM to respond to its requests, so the cache is an important system criterion when choosing a processor. The cache itself has three levels, denoted by the English letter L. So the cache of the first level L1 is the fastest, although the smallest in size. The volume of stored data is only 16-128 KB, L2 is larger in volume, but slower in performance, L3 is the largest cache in terms of data volume. It is intended for watching movies or playing games with complex graphics.

The processor also has an FSB. Its frequency can reach 1333 GHz, this is the maximum value of the parameter. When choosing a processor for a motherboard, it is necessary to compare the frequency of this bus for both devices. If the values ​​of the parameter of the motherboard do not coincide with the readings of the parameters of the processor bus, then it is better to look for another motherboard or another processor.

As an example, you can take a motherboard with the following parameters: ASUS P8Z77-V Intel Z77 (Socket 1155; FSB 5000 MHz), 1xLGA1155, 4xDDR3 DIMM, 3xPCI-E x16, embedded audio: HDA, 7.1, Ethernet: 1000 Mbps , ATX form factor, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.0.

From these parameters it follows that we need to find a processor with a 1155 series socket, with a processor system bus frequency of about 5000 MHz and built using Intel technology... This motherboard is compatible with 2nd and 3rd generation Intel Core i7, i5, or i3 processors.