Can my mobo fully utilize my cpu?

[shnabz]

Hello,
I recently put a new pc together but used a cheap mobo that worked, just wondering if anyone can explain fsb to me? i have read many articles and still don't understand I have an amd athlon ii x4 630 cpu, runs at 2.8ghz, okay, so does this mean i need a mobo with a max fsb of 2800? because my current mobo (ECS 6100PM-M2) has a max fsb of 2000...but i downloaded CPU-Z (software that tells you live info of hardwares, and at idle, my cpu is running a core speed of 800mhz, x4 multiplier, bus speed 200mhz. Now this is where i get confused because of all the silly words, which one is the fsb? core speed? bus speed? bus x multiplier? under load, the readings jump to core speed 2800, multipler x14, bus stays at 200. Am i getting full use from my cpu? how can it run at 2800mhz (core speed) at load when mobo is restricted to an fsb 2000? Or am i totally misunderstanding this? Thanks in advance to anyone who can explain this to me. Mike

 

[hunter315]

You got a little confused going between articles talking about intel and AMD i believe.

AMD processors dont have a front side bus(FSB), they use hyper transport links to connect everything on your motherboard. AMD processors all use a 200MHz base clock, the hyper transport speed is based off of that, depending on what version of hyper transport your board has will determine the multiplier which determines the speed of the hyper transport links. Your CPU has its own multiplier which multiplies the 200MHz base clock to determine your CPU speed.

The reason you see your CPU running at 800MHz is because of cool and quiet, when not under load AMD processors drop down to a 4x multiplier and reduce the voltage to conserve power and reduce their heat production, if you put your CPU underload with prime 95 you will see the voltage increase and the multiplier will jump up to 14.

In short, dont worry, your system is behaving fine and your board isnt bottlenecking your CPU.

 

[shnabz]

Thanks, i understand alot better now. Apparently, my cpu supports hyper transport 3.0 and a maximum of 4000 GT/s, what does this mean exactly, and how can i tell what gt/s its producing under load? Also i have just read that the mobo supports 2000/1600/1200/800/400 mt/s. Now surely that cant be good can it? max of 2000mt/s cpu is 4000gt/s?

 

[shnabz]

why is my HT link only at 1000mhz?

 

[hunter315]

Unlike your CPU clock speed your Hyper transport speed should remain the same regardless of the load you put on the CPU.

I think you swapped a G and an M in there? 4000GT/s would mean that the link speed was running at 2 Terahertz. The bus is dual pumped just like DDR so if its running at 2000MHz it makes twice as many transfers so its running at 4000 MT/s. MT stands for mega transfer, its refers to the amount of data that gets passed rather than the frequency as they tend not to be the same these days.

Your board is running your hyper transport bus at the same 2000MHz that mine does, and im using a Phenom II 955 on an ASUS M4A79T Deluxe board, the board's speed isnt going to slow you down at all, mostly because its fast. Hyper transport actually has a much higher theoretical bandwidth capacity than intels QPI link, but you are going to have a hell of a time pushing enough data through it to saturate it so you likely wouldnt get more than a 5-10% hit even with a 1200MHz link speed.

 

[shnabz]

Unlike your CPU clock speed your Hyper transport speed should remain the same regardless of the load you put on the CPU.

I think you swapped a G and an M in there? 4000GT/s would mean that the link speed was running at 2 Terahertz. The bus is dual pumped just like DDR so if its running at 2000MHz it makes twice as many transfers so its running at 4000 MT/s. MT stands for mega transfer, its refers to the amount of data that gets passed rather than the frequency as they tend not to be the same these days.

Your board is running your hyper transport bus at the same 2000MHz that mine does, and im using a Phenom II 955 on an ASUS M4A79T Deluxe board, the board's speed isnt going to slow you down at all, mostly because its fast. Hyper transport actually has a much higher theoretical bandwidth capacity than intels QPI link, but you are going to have a hell of a time pushing enough data through it to saturate it so you likely wouldnt get more than a 5-10% hit even with a 1200MHz link speed.

Again, thanks for your wisdom, you've been a big help.