1333 FSB with DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)?

Question

I am about to purchase a 1333 FSB motherboard to use with one of the new 1333 FSB Intel Core 2 Duo chips. I think I am a little confused, but if I have DDR2 800 ram, will this be a hindrance to the computer? In other words, since the ram is running at a slower speed than the chip and motherboard, will I see a performance hit?
Thanks

Answer 1

No you will not. You need to remember that the listed front side bus speed is quad pumped, while the memory speed is double pumped. Quad pumped means 4 pieces of data per clock cycle, double pumped means 2 pieces of data per clock cycle. So the actually clock speed of the FSB is 333Mhz, while the actual clock speed of the RAM is 400Mhz, hence the RAM is not bottlenecking the system. One last thing, the front side bus is technically part of the processor not the motherboard, you are buying a motherboard that supports a processor with a 1333Mhz front side bus.