BleepingComputer.com: Mobo Question

Hey guys, two days ago my mobo fried for no apparent reason (Wouldn't POST, nothing on screen. Disconnected everything, including RAM and processor, still no picture on screen. Fried mobo.) and now I'm looking for a replacement. This one is perfect and nearly identical to my old one, but I have a pretty stupid question. It says the supported HT is 2400mhz, but my CPU is a 3800+ AM2 socket, with 1000Mhz HT. Now, I know that HT works the same as DDR, and that the advertised speed is actually half the real speed. So, therefore, the Mobo supports 1200Mhz, correct? With my 1000Mhz HT CPU work with this mobo?

Thanks in advance,
beremat.

Motherboards and RAM really cannot be compared. Yes, they both specify given speeds...but there's more to it than the stated speeds.

With motherboards, you need to go by the socket design...into which the CPU goes. You have an AM2 socket on your motherboard...that board can support any AM2 CPU, none of which can really be correlated directly to stated speed (IMO).

Do a Google for AM2 processors/CPUs and you will see what I mean when you review the specs of each.

RAM is even more confusing because RAM is specified in two different number systems. And...even when the stated clock speed is the same, that's no guarantee of module compatibility because of variables such as chip density and module timings.

Google and Wikipedia cover these differences and non-simplicities...much better than I do.

The key thing to remember is...it's the motherboard that determines what CPUs you could possibly ever use...and what RAM may work in your system. The motherboard CPU socket determines the possible processors and the motherboard FSB determines RAM clock speed. If you look up your motherboard specs, it will list these things.

Tell us what board you have and we can be more definitive in what you can and cannot do.

Louis

That board should work fine, if the CPU is an AM2 then the processor will work fine in it. You can put any AM2 CPU into any CPU slot, and some motherboards with bios updates can support am2+ CPUs. So if your 3800 is truly AM2 and not 939 then it should work just fine.