Two Motherboards, First Build

[rahamanpatrick]

Hey all, I'm building (or rather upgrading) a motherboard/processor for the first time and need some advice to choose between two motherboards.

The processor I've chosen is the AMD Phenom II X2 550 (AM3) and the motherboard needs to work with a NVIDIA 9800 GTX+ gpu, as well as 4 x 1 GB sticks of DDR2-533 RAM.

I've narrowed down my choice in motherboards to the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H

and the ASUS M4A785-M.

I've learned that my 9800 GTX+ will cover 3 SATA ports in the GIGABYTE motherboard, that's all right, I only need one (though the others would be nice.) At least I know the gpu will fit in this mobo.

For the ASUS one I don't know if it will fit but it seems like it will. My main concern is the DDR2-533 RAM, it's fairly unusual but I can't afford to buy new RAM, will it work in these motherboards?

Thanks in Advance!

[flanzig1]

The specs for both boards are for slowest ram at 667. Your 533 probably won't work. Could pick up a single stick of DDR2 800 for around $27 at Newegg.

[rahamanpatrick]

Well I ended up going with the ASUS board, and the 533 works fine, luck maybe? I would have thought that it would be backwards compatible though.

Anyway, that worked out, thanks anyway though.

[systempat]

If the combination is working that's good. You're back in business with your PC. When you get a few dollars available, you might want to get the faster memory. you are 2 steps down in the speed of the DRAM with your memory. Even 2 Gb of the DDR2-800 would be better than the DDR2-533.
I really like the 785-based motherbaords for the AMD dual-core CPUs. Went with a very similar combination myself. Used the Gigabyte motherboard instead. It works great.