Where can i find my front side bus speed/ ram speed

allen1979 · 28 Aug 2012

hey everyone. i am looking to upgrade my ram, but i am not sure what to get. I want to go from 4 gb to 6 or 8 gb. however, i just downloaded cpu-z and found that not all of my ram is running at the same speed. some at 333, and some at 400 mhz. in the program, it tells my that my rated fsb is 800 mhz in the processor screen. is this my overall front side bus speed? or just the processors? i am not sure, this is my first time jumping into this discussion.

any advice on how to proceed with my ram upgrade would be much appreciated.
thanks in advance.

Britton30 · 28 Aug 2012

you are looking at the RAM SPD tab which isn't the true RAM frequency. You want to see the Memory tab which give your correct figure, for exampl if it says 666 or 667, you have 1333MHz RAM, in dual channel mode it effectively doubles.

Front Side BUS, FSB, is also called Base Clock (BCLK) and both the CPU and RAM use multipliers of it to function at particular speeds.

If your board has 4 RAM slot you should get 8GB, 4x2 or 2x4 sticks of RAM. If you go for 6GB you will have 2 DIMMs the same and one odd one. EX, 2x2+1x2, or 1x4+1x2.

allen1979 · 28 Aug 2012

ty for your quick response. i went to the memory tab, and looked at the dram frequency and it says- 332.5. So, since i am in dual channel, it is 666 or 667, right? so, if i go get more ram, which will be 4 2gb sticks, i can get 667 speeds? like i said earlier, the original ram that came with it is only running 333mhz. or do i doulble that number because of dual channel mode and i am actually already running 667 speed ram? just trying to understand and get the right product. ty again for your help and education on the matter

Britton30 · 28 Aug 2012

Yup, if you are in dual channel mode and the Memory tab of CPUz says 333 you are running 666 or 667, sometime there is a 1MHz or so difference.
What type of RAM do you have now? You can still get 667MHz RAM too, maybe faster if your board and CPU will support it.If you download Speccy, link below my sig, it will tell you much about your hardware, with more info we can better help you.
You can also do the following:

To help all of us would you please add your systems specs? Here's how: System Info - See Your System Specs
Under System Manufacturer/Model Number add desktop or laptop and whether self built.

Log in to Seven Forums and you will be able to transfer the info directly to your specs page in your profile right from the specs application.

gazz9496 · 28 Aug 2012

what motherboard model is? cpu-z also lists the model name, knowing that we can offer the best possible advice on compatible ram for the board.

as to your fsb, it's good to match the speeds of the cpu/ram to reduce bottlenecking but won't cause you much trouble if you are off by a little.

ReviverSoft · 28 Aug 2012

Hi there,

Have you check to see what the maximum memory support of your motherboard is?

Have a look: Computer memory upgrades for Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop/PC from Crucial.com (says 4GB)

If that's not the computer you have, try the memory scan tool on your PC for recommendations. It should give you all the info. you need.

And yes, DDR2 800Mhz sticks will work just fine.

FliGi7 · 28 Aug 2012

If your FSB is 800MHz then you'll just want to pick up two sticks of DDR2-800. No sense in getting anything faster for general purposes.

allen1979 · 13 Oct 2012

thanks everyone for the input. i just haven't been back for a while. i did find the info i was looking for. thanks