Why do Intel Xeons cap DDR memory at 266mhz? 2

[IanGlinka]

I'm looking into putting together a new server, and I've been interested in running a dual Xeon configuration, however, it seems Xeon boards are limited to 266mhz DDR RAM. This makes me a bit uneasy. 266mhz RAM is old technology. Would I be better off with something else?

Thanks
Ian

 

[cdogg]

I believe that's because the FSB is limited to 533MHz. Therefore by using 266MHz in dual-channel, you are able to run the frontside and memory busses in sync with each other. Using faster memory would only cause a latency problem and possibly hurt performance in a server environment more than it would help.

Just my 2¢


~cdogg
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[ceh4702]

ASUS i875P Chipset Server Motherboard for Dual Intel Xeon CPU, Model "PC-DL Deluxe" -RETAIL

This costs a little over $200, but can use 4GB of DDR333. Uses the Intel I875P chipset. I dont think it has the 64 bit server slots.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[nlm9802]

with the right motherboard, you can force them to use 2100, 2700, or 3200+ etc, but they will run best 1:1, that is 533 fsb : 266 DDR (PC2100)

now I suppose with the proper cooling setup, you could get the fsb up to 166 x 4 (667) which would allow PC2700 to run 1:1. but you don't generally overclock in a server environment, and this is a server processor.

not sure why they dont have an 800fsb xeon out yet.. maybe because it would have the same specs as the 3.2 EE..

 

[pweegar]

As an alternative, you might want to look into AMD's Opteron processor. It's 64 bit and is backward compatible with all 32 bit software. Take a look on amd's website (

http://www.amd.com).

There expesnsive, as are the motherboards, esp in dual cpu configs.

 

[IanGlinka]

Yeah I was checking out the Opterons earlier today... I'm not sure that would be in my budget, but they certainly did seem to blow everything away in benchmarking.

Ian