RAM choice

Have a Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-S2 board I am going to replace the Athlon 64 x2 245 with a 260 and am finding choosing the RAM a tad difficult as I also want to up the RAM to 8GB (max board will support) but finding a brand is turning out to be really difficult.

I like G Skill stuff and have some spare sticks here 1333, 1600 and even some 2133Mhz but looking at the specs most are mostly Intel orientated so am not sure whether or not to put these in. I can get some Corsair sticks that fit any system for $65 but would like to save a few bucks if I can.

So my query is am I going to damage the board if I put in sticks primarily meant for Intel boards or those 2133 sticks that my son had in his AMD build (but only 2GB x 2)?

There is no distinction in RAM between Intel and AMD (and othe processor manufacturers, for that matter). With the exception of RAMBUS (RIMMs), which were tied primarily to Intel boards, RAM is just memory, pure and simple. It doesn't care what motherboard/processor combination it is used on (so long as it is compatible with the slots on the board).

As regards the Supported Memory (QV) List, remember that this is just a list of memory modules that have been tested with the board and are certified as working (at least, on the individual boards they were tested on). It is by no means exclusive, and memory from a well known manufacturer such as Corsair, Kingston, etc., should still work even if they aren't listed. Maximum memory capacity is also reflected here, i.e. if on their test systems the manufacturers only use RAM combinations upto a total of 4GB or 8GB, then that is what they will state as the capacity. If you can get memory modules that will total more than that amount, then they might or might not work depending on your individual board.

ignatzatsonic said:

I'm not aware of any distinction in RAM between Intel and AMD boards.

I'd try to stick with what is on the supported memory list, which is here:

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList...ma78lmt-s2.pdf

Here is the RAM spec from Gigabyte:

2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory (Note 1)
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
Support for non-ECC memory modules

Thanks mate the board's in a machine I bought as a back up for a problem laptop and I didn't realise for some time that the board is really quite well featured for a cheapy and don't want to wreck it now.

Have been through that listing and well the supported stuff I must look further afield than my usual supplier as they don't the stuff listed in there.

The only reason I asked is a lot of the G Skill stuff from my usual supplier mentions that is has been engineered specifically for Intel boards and processors which strikes me as being a little odd as I always memory was memory and the only differences were speeds and specs like that.

Yeah I agree it doesn't really make much sense to me re that specific stuff - I mean I tried Patriot stuff in my lads machine and the thing actually went faster than the G Skill Flares he had in it so I rather suspected that this all a bit marketing orientated eh?

Personally I like the Corsair stuff and never had problems with it in other machines.

I have "Intel RAM" in my AMD machine, it's Ripjaws X. What they mean when it is advertised as Intel RAM is that it has a XMP, Extreme Memory Profile, built in the SPD chip on the RAM stick that newer Intel BIOSes can read and set automatically.
The same RAM will work with AMD the difference being one has to manually set voltage, frequency, and timings, which an XMP would do automatically on an Intel board.
It is also noteworthy that prior to AMD Bulldozer and Intel Ivy Bridge only 1333MHz RAM was supported natively. That means If you installed anything above 1333 it would run at 1333 until manual settings were made.
CL or CAS, Column Access Strobe, also plays a major role in how "fast" RAM performs, the lower the number, the better, and more expensive. CAS is the first nimber in RAM timings, for example, 9-9-10-28, the CAS is 9.

Motherboard makers do not go to great lengths in testing RAM. They stick it in and if the board boots at default settings, it's approved. The approved lists are also quite off and old.

Thanks Gary that makes a bit more sense to me I suppose to make a very simple analogy would be to have 17" rims and just different tyre profiles and thread patterns - all are going roll along the road - just have slightly different characteristics re the contact with and on the road.

It's definitely worth trying, many of the 'Intel' RAM cards will work on AMD systems.

I have seen several cases where Intel RAM won't work on an AMD system, it depends on several things, memory chip size for one.
AMD has their own brand of RAM now due to incompatibility issues of the standard brands.
It won't damage anything if the RAM doesn't work, just keep this in mind if it won't boot the first time.

No disrespect intended for anyone posting here, just have seen the incompatible issue before.

Dave76 said:

It's definitely worth trying, many of the 'Intel' RAM cards will work on AMD systems.

I have seen several cases where Intel RAM won't work on an AMD system, it depends on several things, memory chip size for one.
AMD has their own brand of RAM now due to incompatibility issues of the standard brands.
It won't damage anything if the RAM doesn't work, just keep this in mind if it won't boot the first time.

No disrespect intended for anyone posting here, just have seen the incompatible issue before.

Ok Dave as long as it isn't going to wreck stuff that what was really concerning me and also paying out for something that doesn't work as well.