Memory for GA-880GM-UD2H and Athlon II X2 255 3.10GHz

[Penguin]

Hi all

I have been researching the bits for a new build for office duties, internet, website design, photoshop and an  upgrade to windows 7 from win2000 (time to catch up a bit) its 6 years since i last built a pc.

The motherboard i settled on is the Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H, with an Athlon II X2 255 3.10GHz processor.
My confusion starts when looking for suitable DDR3 memory. Altough the mother board says it supports DDR3 1800 (OC)/1666/1333/1066 reading has lead me to believe that this processor will only support 1066, some say 1333.
Does anyone know the truth behind this , I cannot find an reliable source for definitive information on this.
I was wondering if i did buy 1333 would the cpu just clock it back to 1066.

I notice there does not seem to ne a lot off 1066 for sale these days, what should i buy?

thanks in advance

[absic]

Hi there,

With the Athlon CPU your RAM will run at 1066MHz by default but it may be possible to O/C it to 1333MHz or faster though, being totally honest it isn't worth going down that path.

If you buy 1333MHz or even 1600MHz RAM it will downclock to the default speed.

Personally, if I were going to do a new build now I would be looking at getting a motherboard with an AM3+ Socket to allow for an easier and possibly cheaper upgrade in the future.

If you're looking for a micro ATX board with integrated graphics then there is this one: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-880gm-usb3-amd-880g-s-am3plus-ddr3-sata-ii-3gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-graphics-on-boa and if you prefer a standard ATX board there is this one: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-880gma-usb3-amd-880g-s-am3plus-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-graphics-on-b

For RAM I would recommend that you go for Corsair Vengeance which is a good price at the present time a 4GB kit here: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-(2x2gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-lp-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v or the 8GB kit here: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-lp-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v are two examples.

[Penguin]

Hi absic

many thanks for the reply,  that helps a lot.
One of the reasons for picking the GA-880GM-UD2H was the IDE connector, I have a house full of old IDE drives with photo work on them so being able to carry on using them is important. Do any of the AM3+ Socket boards have IDE?

Would a 3 core athlon for £10 more be a good buy instead of a 2 core?

Future proofing seems like a good idea but it never seems to quite work  out for me, by the time i get around to a new PC everything is new

Cheers

[absic]

Hi Penguin,

a 3 core athlon for £10 extra - yes it is worth it.

As IDE HDD's are now becoming old hat I don't think you will find an AM3+ board with an IDE connector and I have to say this is something I no longer look out for. There are ways around runing IDE drives on the new boards but that involves extra expense in the form of a PCIe card or an external USB dock (A USB dock is the method I chose, some time ago when I still needed access to information on IDE HDD's).

But, as you say, if your future plans for upgrading after this is going to be about 5 years then your first choice of mobo is probably the best bet.

[Penguin]

Hi absic

went off and found GA-880GA-UD3H

this is  AM3+ and  has  IDE and 6GB sata
only downside full ata not m-atx and costs a bit more

um  dilemma

[absic]

Hi again,

be careful if you decide to go for this motherboard and, if you do, insist on a rev 3.1 version or at the least the rev 3.0 as the earlier revisions have a smaller BIOS chip and to support the AM3+ processors some features have been removed. This probably won't affect you, if you are not into overclocking or core unlocking, but it is something that you really need to take into account.