Summary
Well, as you can see there really isn’t that much difference between a well setup 200MHz FSB Athlon system using PC100 CAS 2 and one using PC133, or even a 266MHz FSB. To be honest I was surprised by the results. I would have expected to see a trend with the video test in particular that showed an advantage to PC133 & CAS 2 along with a 266MHz FSB. But I just didn’t see it. By looking at the results you can see that there are some programs that will perform better with PC133 CAS 2 or even a 266MHz FSB, but it seems to vary too much to give a good rule of thumb as to which those may be.
While I’m not recommending that you buy CAS 3 PC100 memory (though it should work just fine if you already have it) I am recommending that you not expect too much from using PC133 over PC100, CAS 2 over CAS 3, or even a 266MHz FSB CPU over a 200MHz part. A good solid performer could be built around a 200MHz FSB Athlon and PC133 CAS 3 memory, for home or business use. If you want or need every bit of performance then PC133 CAS 2 should be used. When the 266MHz FSB CPU’s are available then that would be the best choice also. If you like to play around with different settings just for the satisfaction of knowing you got the most out of a system, a KT133A Socket A Mainboard with PC133 memory should suit your needs just fine with lots of different options and combinations of settings to try.
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