mobo/cpu/ram compatability ?

B

bigthom

Geek Trainee
planning a build and after reading alot of reviews about my new mobo (gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5)and that if the bios isnt updated to the latest version that it wont accept a quad core out of the box, so i may need an inexpensive dual core cpu so that i can update the mobo's bios before i install the quad core i am planning (amd phenom 9850BE)...so my question is about sdram, i have also heard that the am2 dual cores wont run 1066 ram and that is what i am getting for the build, will the am2 dual core still run with 1066 ram in the board or do i have to guy some 800 ram as well?
 
Sorry mate but i don't quite understand some of your thread, are you getting a Phenom which is a quad core or are you planing on getting a dual core like a AMD X2 6000??

Anyways your motherboard supports:

DDR2 DIMM Dual channel 1066/800/667 MHz memory modules

and

Support for AMD Phenom/AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor

I don't understand why you would need a dual core to update the bios so you can fit a phenom, it doesn't make sense. The bios should already support a phenom, did you get this information from a rumor or is it official????
 
some of the reviews i read say that that gigabyte motherboards out of the box bios version doesnt support quad core and would need to go to at least f3 version of the bios before it will boot with a quad core phenom(checked the gigabyte website and there is definately not support for a quad core with any bios lower then f3, and people as recently as the end of last month were getting boards with lower then f3 bios stock out of the box and complaining that they had to get a lesser dual core to put in to update the bios before it would run the quad)....with a 30 day return policy at the place i am shopping i need to know 100% that i have everything i need to get it to work or at least find out if anything is doa so i can return anything that is amiss in time and $50 for a smaller dual core isnt a big expense to make sure i can upgrade the bios on the board before i drop in the quad core 9850BE that i want....i also read that the dual core am2 socket cpu's arent compatible with 1066 memory so i was asking if a dual core am2 cpu will still function with 1066 memory installed on the board or will i have to buy some 800 memory to go with the dual core to get it to work? i mean i will still have my current pc working and online during this whole build but im pretty sure that the board has to have a working compatible cpu in it to even update the bios so i cant install it from a burned cdrom with the quad core cpu installed can i? sorry if my op was confusing....hope i cleared things up a bit
 
bigthom said:
planning a build and after reading alot of reviews about my new mobo (gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5)and that if the bios isnt updated to the latest version that it wont accept a quad core out of the box, so i may need an inexpensive dual core cpu so that i can update the mobo's bios before i install the quad core i am planning (amd phenom 9850BE)...so my question is about sdram, i have also heard that the am2 dual cores wont run 1066 ram and that is what i am getting for the build, will the am2 dual core still run with 1066 ram in the board or do i have to guy some 800 ram as well?
Click to expand...

It supports the Sempron. If your going to do that just get a 30 buck AM2 Sempron and update it. And yes the DDR2 1066 will work it will just back clock till you get the Phenom in.
 
awesome thanx for the input... i was pretty much gonna go with a cheap cpu to update the bios then throw in the nice quad core....but then i got to thinking that i could spread my expenses out a bit to the next pay period by spending a few bucks more then 30 (like 50 or so) and use that for a few weeks and then drop my quad in there. im sure even at 50 bucks it will be an upgrade from the 1.8ghz sempron this outdated hunk of junk im on now has in it(cant use it...wrong socket)
 
lol that is a really a crazy situation to be in, i mean you have to get another cpu to get the other one working, in my opinion that's not fair . Do you have the mobo atm or are you going to buy it? if so then why not buy a better mobo that doesn't have this issue.
 
yeah i saw that board on newegg on sale....however it doesnt quite spec out as well as the gigabyte one does...may have only been in the ram department tho...only takes ddr2 800 and only 8 gb's whereas the gigabyte takes 1066 and up to 16 bg of it(granted they dont yet make 4 gb sticks of ddr2 1066 but id hate to have to buy a new board if i wanted to use more then just 2 when they do) read an article about am2/2+ and it said that amd is releasing a socket am3 soon which will be fully compatible with the am2+ socket so i was wanting to be ready for that also (i will be able to buy the am3 cpu first and still be able to use it while i ready myself for an am3 mobo so i can use some ddr3 1333 memory then) i guess it is just personal opinion really...i just prefered the specs and the point that it shouldnt go too obsolete very quickly of the gigabyte to any other pcie 2.0, am2/2+ board available where i shop at. price is a major function as well ($179.99 which i think is a great price for what it offers)
 
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