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Bought wrong mobo/memory. Which to replace?

Z

ZorMonkey

n00b
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
13
So, I'm a dummy.

I purchased a bunch of parts for a media center and light gaming PC. The motherboard I chose was the Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H, and for memory I chose 4GB of Corsair DDR3 1333MHz. Well, the motherboard doesn't support DDR3 memory, only DDR2.

Yeah. Imagine my surprise when I was trying to figure out why the memory didn't seem to fit at all.

I have 2 options now: downgrade the memory, or upgrade the motherboard. I'm looking at either upgrading to the Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H, or downgrading to some Corsair DDR2 800MHz memory.

What would you do? Think it'd make a big difference either way?
 
Doesn't really matter either way.

With that said, I'd go the AM3 route meaning a mobo upgrade simply because the 880G has USB 3.0 support.
 
Yup, I'd go with the mobo upgrade. If the DDR2 RAM was cheaper like $50 for 4Gb(2x2) back then I would downgrade to DDR2 RAM. But, the prices of DDR2 RAM you can get a AM3 mobo for the same price or cheaper.
 
Yeah, if I downgraded the memory I'd actually pay around $5 more for DDR2 than DDR3 - at least for what I've been looking at. The motherboard would cost me about $20 more overall, but at least that'd be an upgrade.

I've already got the processor and heatsink on the motherboard, so taking it apart is going to be a pain. But that just might be the way to go. Hmm. I'll have to find a USB 3.0 widget to justify it. :)

I just hope the store (TigerDirect) doesn't give me any problems with the return.
 
Actually, the board I was thinking of upgrading to does NOT support USB 3.0. That's the GA-880GMA-UD2H. That one would be about $30 more overall, which, along with the higher return shipping costs for a MB vs memory, is enough more to make me rethink downgrading the memory. Maybe.

I'm almost noticing that my original choice, the GA-880GM-UD2H, does not have a heck of a lot of reviews behind it. I'm going to have to dig into this further. Booo.
 
well 1st off What CPU are you using? As in it is AM3 right?

Edit: if it is am3 then go with ddr3 & replace the board.. If it isn't then replace the memory or you will have to replace the CPU as well..
 
ZorMonkey said:
It is an AM3, but the current motherboard supports that also.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to make sure since it wasn't listed.. & Yea most of the AM2/Am2+ boards jsut required a bios update to support ddr3.. But since the memory controller is on the CPU with AM3 instead of the board am2/am2+ CPU's cannot work on an am3 board.
 
bastage said:
Just wanted to make sure since it wasn't listed.. & Yea most of the AM2/Am2+ boards jsut required a bios update to support ddr3.. But since the memory controller is on the CPU with AM3 instead of the board am2/am2+ CPU's cannot work on an am3 board.
Click to expand...

That is mostly incorrect. All AM2, AM2+ and AM3 CPUs have the memory controller on the CPU die. (No AMD platform has had the memory controller on the motherboard since the days of the Socket A Athlon XP.) And most of the AM2/AM2+ boards require just a BIOS update to support AM3 (not DDR3). The AM2/AM2+ boards support only DDR2 memory. And the AM2/AM2+ CPUs will not work on an AM3-only board because not only do the memory controllers on the AM2/AM2+ CPUs support only DDR2 memory, the AM2/AM2+ CPUs have two more pins than the AM3 CPUs (940 versus 938). This means that the AM2/AM2+ CPUs will not even physically fit the AM3 socket without major damage to the two extra pins (but the AM3 CPUs are pin-compatible with the AM2/AM2+ socket).
 
Ugh, now I'm worried that the DDR3 memory I have (Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A) will limit my motherboard options.

Apparently, the Gigabyte board I was looking at is a bit finicky with Corsair memory. That got me digging into Corsair's motherboard compatibility list. So far I haven't seen too many microATX motherboards on there that are in my price range. But, it's a bit tough to cross check everything... I bet the memory would would on motherboards that Corsair doesn't list, but not sure if I want to be their guinea pig at this point.

Another problem is that TigerDirect's selection kinda stinks, but they'd get me a motherboard by Monday afternoon. Their warehouse is very close to me, which is awfully convenient. With Newegg I can pick anything, but then I woudn't see it until at least Thursday. I'm impatient! :)

Yeah, I'm rambling again, sorry. :D
 
Just because the memory isn't on a list of supported ram does not mean that it won't work. If it is DDR3 and under 1.65v there is no reason it would not work.
 
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