Understanding chipset straps for overclocking?

I would like it if someone could tell me why & how chipset straps affect your overclock so that I may choose the correct chipset strap of [266], [333] and [400].

Thank you for your Suggestions! Systemlord

Ummm, yeah I would like to know that too!

Only the Intel P35 & X38 chipsets can change chipset straps in Bios. Dell mobo's are locked up to prevent overclocking, sorry Fuhzy Wazzie. Non-Dell mobo's have strap changes but you can't actually set them in Bios, there automatically changed by the Bios.

Strange that no one answered this.. Anyway, here are some links for you to read

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...ead.php?t=22297

Pretty old this one, but the idea behind straps is the same. And older stuff is less complicated, so you can usually get your head round it more easily

Then there's this on the 965:

http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=30

The graphs are really the most interesting part. Disregard the talk about NBCC underneath, the guy who wrote that has since concluded it's just a bug with Sandra...

So, basically, a higher strap will let you clock further but the increased latency will kill the performance until you clock past a certain point.

Straps have been set through BIOS's since the 865 days, it's just a collection of registers that need to be set to end up with a certain latency in the Northbridge, it's hardly any different than setting normal memory latencies. P35 is a bit different, it actually has 10 different levels of "strap", although most BIOS's will limit you to just a few. To get access to them all, your best bet is to play with Memset.

So... To answer your question (at last! ) the correct strap is the one that fits your FSB speed, but the best strap is the lowest you can reliably use because you'll get the most performance out of your rig.

Apparently you never played with the RD600 chipset.

WTF straps. I have never heard of these before...

I understand the TheTechrepository explaination because I have the Asus P5B, but that other link is like reading Russian when you don't even know Russain. I think the thing is if there are no actual pictures to tell the story or graphs it makes it harder to understand. He explains it like everyone is a computer wizard that should understand it all.

Does that chipset strape for the Asus P5B (P965) work the same for X38 or is it different? Is not why aren't there graphs about the X38 chipset? Unless every Intel chipset behaves the same.

I have not a clue where to put my FBS to on my X38 chipset because there are no graphs showing in detail how memory or chipset is affected on the X38's straps. Are the sweat spots for the X38 267, 333 or 400 FSB? I'll admit that I am confused here.

X38 hasn't really been explored yet as far as these kind of things go... Your best bet is to just play with it and see how far you can get with each strap, and how much performance is lost when you choose a higher one.

I don't know what more to tell you...

I'll just reread it till I understand it however long it takes.

Thank you for all your help, Systemlord

It will take lots of time to figure out the exact performance hits and gains from straps. I believe that it's pretty standard speeds, i think along the lines of 166, 200, 233, 266,300, 333... Not sure the exact speeds, but it seems every 30 MHz theres a strap. And this isn't just chipsets, video cards have straps too!