Just bought Phenom II 550. What motherboard?

[iglepiggle]

I have just bought a Phenom II 550 and i am waiting for it to arrive this week. Now, my dilema is, what memory should i buy for it and what Motherboard?

I have a small case so i need an ATXm Motherboard with nice onboard graphics etc. My mate said that he has some spare Kingston 8500+ DDR2 memory (4g)that i can buy off of him.

So, what motherboard is available that will support the Phenom II 550, that takes the DDR2 memory that my mate has and is ATXm in size?

I have seen lots that say AM2+ but not sure if they support the 550? I have looked for an ATXm DDR3 motherboard but can't see any! So it looks like it will have to be a DDR2 motherboard.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

These two mATX 790GX motherboards will do the trick:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Biost...SATA-RAID-uATX

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-J...A-II-Micro-ATX

You could use either of the motherboards to try and unlock your X2 550!

The CPU support list for the Biostar motherboard says that the Phenom II X2 550 is supported:

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...t.php?S_ID=375

IIRC the DFI motherboard has onboard DDR3 for the HD3300 integrated graphics instead of DDR2 for the Biostar motherboard.

Remember that 4gb of PC2-8500 RAM can be had for around £40 nowadays.

[Shedlife]

These two mATX 790GX motherboards will do the trick:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Biost...SATA-RAID-uATX

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/DFI-J...A-II-Micro-ATX

You could use either of the motherboards to try and unlock your X2 550!

The CPU support list for the Biostar motherboard says that the Phenom II X2 550 is supported:

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...t.php?S_ID=375

IIRC the DFI motherboard has onboard DDR3 for the HD3300 integrated graphics instead of DDR2 for the Biostar motherboard.

Remember that 4gb of PC2-8500 RAM can be had for around £40 nowadays.

I thought the 790FX was the better chipset, which in that case you should buy a M3A79-T Deluxe awesome looking board!

It also supports you CPU

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I thought the 790FX was the better chipset, which in that case you should buy a M3A79-T Deluxe awesome looking board!

It also supports you CPU

The 790FX or the 790X with the SB750 southbridge is a better choice but TBH the OP wants an mATX motherboard and the two 790GX motherboards I listed are the only 790 series mATX motherboards I have seen.

[Shedlife]

The 790FX or the 790X with the SB750 southbridge is a better choice but TBH the OP wants an mATX motherboard and the two 790GX motherboards I listed are the only 790 series mATX motherboards I have seen.

Ah yeh good point, I was rushing in AGAIN

[iglepiggle]

Great. Will look at those tonight. The Biostar looks promising!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Great. Will look at those tonight. The Biostar looks promising!

Six more posts and you should be eligible for free postage from Scan!! Also check their Today Only webpage too for offers too and you can even request items too!!

[iglepiggle]

Are there any other cheaper motherboards than the biostar? Trying to keep costs down a bit.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Are there any other cheaper motherboards than the biostar? Trying to keep costs down a bit.

You can go for the 780G which has basically the same IGP as the 790GX but clocked lower and the former usually does not have the onboard ram too!! Also you may have a small chance of unlocking your Phenom II X2 550 to a quad core as the Biostar 790GX motherboard has the SB750 southbridge and ACC.

This is the cheapest 780G motherboard I have seen recently:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sapph...-RAID-uATX-VGA

This 780G motherboard has onboard RAM but cannot support any CPUs with a TDP above 95w:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=780g

The HD3200 IGP on the J&W motherboard is meant to very overclockable.

This probably the 780G motherboard I would like the most apart from the J&W one:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150278

[iglepiggle]

The ASUS M3A78-EM looks interesting too. As i am trying to save some money as i will, eventually, buy an AM3 ATXm board when they come out with DDR3 ram.

Quite tempted by the Asus M3A78-EM. It is approx £20 cheaper than the Biostar and to be honest, i don't think i will want to try to unlock the extra cores. All i am after is a speedy PC to fit into my existing case, p182 mini.

So, looks like the Asus wins!