What is 'Front Side Bus' ?
I have seen the term 'Front Side Bus' used , but can not find what , exactly, it is refering to. Is this the system bus, If so, why call it something else
The front side bus goes to main RAM.
The back side bus goes to the L2 RAM cache and has always been faster than the front side bus which goes to main RAM and the rest of the system.
The back side bus goes to the L2 RAM cache and has always been faster than the front side bus which goes to main RAM and the rest of the system.
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Although I am grateful for the response, there is insufficient detail.
It used to be call bus speed. When Intel released the PII 350 and 400, since it's running on 100MHz instead of 66MHz that older PII does, Intel decided to give it a new name... There you have Front Side Bus...
ASKER
doesn't sound as if question was understood
On the mainboard there are several timers. The one for the Processor is set by setting the clock speed of the mainboard, and multiplying it by a certain number. Up to recently the maximum (officially supported) mainboard speed was 66 Mhz. So for a 266 Mhz processor the mainboard speed would be set at 66 and multiplied by 4. All other components will run at a speed derived from that 66 Mhz (the PCI bus would run at 30-33 for instance, and memory at 66).
Recently mainboards have appeared that support a maximum setting of 100 Mhz. This means that some parts will have to support that speed, the only one you need to be concerned about is memory, in other words if you have a mainboard that runs at a 100 Mhz FSB you will need Dimms that are PC100 certified.
If you need more info I would suggest you look at:
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.anandtech,com/
Recently mainboards have appeared that support a maximum setting of 100 Mhz. This means that some parts will have to support that speed, the only one you need to be concerned about is memory, in other words if you have a mainboard that runs at a 100 Mhz FSB you will need Dimms that are PC100 certified.
If you need more info I would suggest you look at:
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.anandtech,com/
ASKER
I kind of liked the look of Mirkwood's first response since it appears he knows what he is talking about.
Your answer , while correct does not address the question of what 'Front Side Bus' is or how it differs from the system bus.
Your answer , while correct does not address the question of what 'Front Side Bus' is or how it differs from the system bus.
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