Well, the speed at which the PCI bus runs is is derived by dividing the processor FSB bye an integer usually in the range 2~4 so that a when the processor is working with a FSB of 100 MHz with the PCI divider set to 3, the bus runs at 33.3 MHz which is its nominal rated speed.
Increasing the FSB will raise the PCI speed proportionately, no harm in this really as long as *ALL* the devices sitting on the PCI bus can run stabley at that speed. Usually the IDE controller connected to the PCI bus is the weakest link that impedes the bus from running beyond a certain speed, usually ~42 MHz or higher. Hence you have to keep the PCI speed under 40 MHz to ensure proper operation. Most IDE controllers these days can handle excess speeds, but cannot be taken for granted. Hence you have to increase the PCI divider in order to reduce the PCI bus speed.
These days 166 MHz FSB with AMD processors has become commonplace so a divider of 4 gets you 40+ MHz speeds on the PCI bus which might make the system unstable. Hence you need a still larger divider which very few boards provide, the MSI KT3 being one of them. If you are going for 166 MHz FSB it might prove handy, and you can go still higher with the PCI speeds staying within safe limits.
The bottomline: Its good news that the board manages the PCI speeds by itself, you dont have to worry about overclocking your PCI bus and be stuck with a low processor FSB.
girish
Every point I make has 'n' perspectives!
Boy do I need a <i>disclaimer</i> for my every word?
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