What are memory dividers?

[Thegeek]

Been looking at several threads, reading them and trying work it out in my head to try and get an understanding. No such luck. All this talk with ratio, FSB and memory speeds got me confused, even though I know what a FSB(QDR) and memory(DDR) is.

I'm just going to guess by telling you what I think an 1:1 ratio is:

an Q8300 @ 2.5GHz
FSB 333 x 7.5 CPU bus ratio = 2497MHz
FSB 333 x 4(QDR) = 1332MHz

Now if I installed memory like DDR3 1333(666MHz) would that be a 1:1 ratio? Or am I not grasping the point here?

If someone could tell me how this works, I would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers fellow geeks.

 

[o1die]

The dividers are the same as ratios. Think of your old math class simple division. For example, if the ram is set at at 333 and the cpu fsb is 666, then the ratio works out to 1:2. I try to run the ram at spec when overclocking, which may require me to drop the ram speed below spec in order to increase the cpu fsb. Normally, when you raise the cpu setting, the ram follows by the same percent, if that makes sense. With locked dividers, you'll know what setting to use ahead of time so you can maintain the correct ratio and your system won't crash by a bad setting. Most boards don't give you the option of using dividers, they select the ratios automatically to keep the system from crashing. But if you set the cpu fsb too high, then your system won't post, and you'll have to reset the bios and start over.

 

[Thegeek]

Sorry for being slow, but I still don't understand. Could you put it in another way?

 

[o1die]

If you think my explanation is confusing, try this: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2902632. If you don't want to overclock, just use the default settings.