[Neilos]

Hi, I have a system already made, my Mobo went up the creek though. I RMA'ed the part but unfortunately they don't have that mobo in stock and never will again, nor does anyone seemingly. Therefore I need a replacement. I don't want to have to change any of my system as I have no money at the moment so I just want a replacement for that board (I can get a refund for the cost).

I have these components that must work with it.

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz
RAM - G-Skill 4GB 1066MHz PC8500 DDR2 (2x 2GB)
PSU - OCZ 700W Mod XStream Pro PSU
Graphics Card - Sapphire ati HD5770 1GB GDDR5
DVDRW - LG Gh22ns40 22x SATA DVDRW
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB WD5001AALS

Basically need SATA for the drives, PC8500 DDR2 RAM slots, and socket 775, at least one (probably only ever 1) PCI express slot.

Else this is gonna cost me a lot.

I need a UK distributor.

I'm going crazy with this. The problem is that I cannot find a Mobo with 1066MHz RAM speed, all I can see is 1066MHz support for OC'd. If this is what I have to do then so be it but I don't know what to do so I'll need someone to reassure me it'll be ok lol and tell me how to do it.

Many thanks

 

[Tyree]

775 Mobo's are getting very scarce and especially ones that will accept DDR2 RAM.
What Mobo was offered for an RMA? Did they offer to substitute a Mobo?

 

[Neilos]

I did an RMA on Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR.

I did the RMA with eBuyer, as the option was made much easier, not Gigabyte who were quite intimidating about the situation (against in fact your suggestion Tyree, yes I slightly regret not heeding your good advice)

No substitute was offered by eBuyer as they have no stock of anything like that.

I have done lots of searching this morning and found a few potentials but I have DDR2 1066MHz RAM and all I can find that will support this is with OC'ed ram, but I have no RAM cooling system and the like so I don't know if this is a good idea.

I have been searching Amazon.co.uk for Mobo's that are in stock that I can actually get, this is what I am coming up with;

GA-G31M-ES2L

GA-G41M-Combo

Things like that but all of these only support 1066MHz OC

EEEK lol.

Thanks

 

[Tyree]

The GA-G41M-Combo supports 1066 RAM with no OC'ing and you have 1066 RAM.
You should have went to Gigabyte for the RMA. If you have the Mobo I would suggest doing that if you do not want the GA-G41M-Combo.
How did you determine the Mobo was defective?

 

[Neilos]

I don't have the mobo, When I asked eBuyer to return it they told me they had destroyed it, I was well lets say, a little angry. Were they even allowed to do this?

It failed Memtest 86+ consistently on one of its DIMM slots if I had it i'd RMA it to Gigabyte as I'm sure they'd have something for me. I know I should have done it with them but they were cross at me when I rang saying that they usually expect customers to return it to eBuyer not them, even though they were going to allow me to return it to them I thought I'd try eBuyer first, if they weren't able to help I intended to give it to Gigabyte but, eBuyer threw it away!!! The #*$£#~#!!!

I could have even used it as it was as I only populate 2 of the 4 DIMM slots anyway.

The Combo board may be a good option as it will allow me the possibility to get some DDR3 ram at a later date without upgrading everything else so I can space out the upgrade a little bit to help burden the cost.

Do you think that the Combo board would be a suitable replacement?

 

[Neilos]

Also the board I believe only supports DDR2 1066 OC

DDR3:
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(O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules
DDR2:
2 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory (Note 1)
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR2 1066(O.C.)/800/667 MHz memory modules

Is this not correct? You said differently. If this needs OC on the RAM as well would the other board be the better choice?

 

[Neilos]

I could always spend £50 and get some new ddr2 800MHz ram if this will be better?

 

[Neilos]

What I might do is get the combo board, sell my DDR2 1066MHz ram, buy 8GB DDR2 800MHz ram, the net cost of this to me should only be about £30-40.

This is an option. Could you please tell me what you think a good solution for me would be? Some pointers from someone who actually knows what they are doing would make my life much easier.

 

[Tyree]

My apologies! The GA-G41M-Combo only supports DDR3 1066 without OC.
800 MHz RAM would have been the better choice before and would probably be your best option now if you can't locate a Mobo that will use the 1066.
In the future, I would not be using ebuyer as a source for your online shopping.

 

[Neilos]

What I might do is get the combo board, sell my DDR2 1066MHz ram, buy 8GB DDR2 800MHz ram, the net cost of this to me should only be about £30-40.

Then it seems that this would be the option I will go with. I think you are right, I should have bought 800MHz RAM in the first place, it was recommended to me that I did so on these very forums but in my excitement in building the system I saw that I could do it and I did it (the 1066 that is).

It is my own fault, I listen to peoples advice and then do something differently (sometimes) and when I do it comes back to bite me in the *** lol. I should stop trying to think I know as much as you guys.

Ok at least I have a solution in the pipeline now, thanks very much.

ps. I don't think that it is eBuyers fault anyone wanting to buy from them should still do it as they have actually been very good except for this little misunderstanding. I may still buy from them in the future, at least they are giving me a full refund.

 

[Tyree]

I am getting a new mobo, the story is here.

I have DDR2 1066MHz RAM I don't have DDR2 800MHz RAM, the mobo I am getting lists its RAM support list here.

My RAM, G-Skill F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK, is listed in the list. However I don't want to over clock to 1066 as this board only supports 1066 while over clocking. BUT... in the ram list it is stated that this RAM is 'Downgradable to DDR2 800'.

Does this mean that I am able to use this RAM after all without overclocking?!?!

I assume that downgrading the ram is something done in the BIOS and there is no worries about overheating or whatnot, can someone please enlighten me. I don't mind buying new 800MHz RAM for this board if it is the better option but if my current RAM can be used with no worries then it'd be nice to have less hassle and do it this way.

 

[Tyree]

You can use the 1066 RAM and it "should" automatically default to 800MHz.

 

[Neilos]

Ok I'll give it a go and see if it works first before I go and buy new RAM.

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Tyree]

You're welcome and please let us know how it goes.