Confused About RAM Specs Asus M4A78L-M

[jbosari]

I picked up a great deal on a fixer-upper gaming PC. It has the Asus M4A78L-M mobo. Here are the published specs:

"CPU
AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2 ;Phenom™II /Athlon™II /Phenom™ / Athlon™ /Sempron™ Processors
Support 45nm CPU
AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ 2.0 Technology (by CPU type)
only Support CPU up to 125W
*Refer to www.asus.com for the AMD CPU support list

Chipset
AMD 760G/SB710
(AMD 780L/SB710)

System Bus
Up to 5200 MT/s ; HyperTransport™ 3.0 interface for AM3/AM2+ CPU
2000 / 1600 MT/s for AM2 CPU

Memory
2 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 1200(O.C.)/1066*/800/667 ECC,Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
*DDR2 1200(O.C.)/1066 is supported by AM3/AM2+ CPU only. Refer to www.asus.com for the AM3/AM2+ CPU models.
*Due to OS limitation, when installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, Windows® 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Hence, a total installed memory of less than 3GB is recommended.
** Refer to www.asus.com or user manual for Memory QVL (Qualify Vendor List)"

I thought an AM3/AM2+/AM2 would support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, but the specifications show only DDR2... Would either memory fit this board? I thought DDR3 wouldn't fit in a DDR2 slot. It has DDR2 in it now. Maxing out the 8GB RAM with DDR2 is pricey, so I'm looking to see if DDR3 is an alternative. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[rgd1101]

ddr2 and ddr3 have different slot, so if it work with ddr2, is not going to work with ddr3.

 

[Supahos]

No you can't put DDR3 in that board, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226359 is your best bet @ 8gb @800mhz. It is expensive, but old tech always is. If you wanted to buy ddr 3 you needed a better board... It would be cheaper to buy a cheap board with DDR3 than it would be to buy 8 gb of ddr2.

 

[Quaddro]

Processor
AM3 processor has ddr2 and ddr3 memory controller it will fit in AM2+ and AM3 mobo..
AM2+ processor has only ddr2 memory controller. it will fit in AM2+ and AM2 mobo..
AM2 processor has ddr2 memory controller it will fit only in AM2+ mobo..

motherboard
AM3 Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support AM3 only processor, only support DDR3
AM2+ Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support AM3 and AM2+ processor, but only support DDR2
AM2 Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support only AM2 processor, only support DDR2

AM3 processors work on AM2+ motherboards due to the presence of both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory controllers on the processor
AM2+ processors do not work on AM3 motherboards due to the processor's lack of a DDR3 memory controller
==============================


I thought an AM3/AM2+/AM2 would support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory => only am3 processor support ddr3, am2+ and am2 processor only support ddr2..

I thought an AM3/AM2+/AM2 would support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory => unfortunately no..

I thought DDR3 wouldn't fit in a DDR2 slot. => yes, it is..


So, conclusion is, your board is AM2+, which is only support ddr2 memory..

how to solve this problem..?
buy am3 motherboard..

 

[jbosari]

Processor
AM3 processor has ddr2 and ddr3 memory controller it will fit in AM2+ and AM3 mobo..
AM2+ processor has only ddr2 memory controller. it will fit in AM2+ and AM2 mobo..
AM2 processor has ddr2 memory controller it will fit only in AM2+ mobo..

motherboard
AM3 Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support AM3 only processor, only support DDR3
AM2+ Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support AM3 and AM2+ processor, but only support DDR2
AM2 Motherboard => an AMD Motherboard which is support only AM2 processor, only support DDR2

AM3 processors work on AM2+ motherboards due to the presence of both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory controllers on the processor
AM2+ processors do not work on AM3 motherboards due to the processor's lack of a DDR3 memory controller
==============================


I thought an AM3/AM2+/AM2 would support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory => only am3 processor support ddr3, am2+ and am2 processor only support ddr2..

I thought an AM3/AM2+/AM2 would support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory => unfortunately no..

I thought DDR3 wouldn't fit in a DDR2 slot. => yes, it is..


So, conclusion is, your board is AM2+, which is only support ddr2 memory..

how to solve this problem..?
buy am3 motherboard..

Okay, I think I get it now. I was confused because it says AM3 Support on it. Not the same as AM3 itself apparently?

@Supahos - Actually I found an awesome deal at Amazon for only $80 on the RAM specs you pointed out. Of course, I'm still struggling to get it working, so its possible the seller screwed up the listing. I looks right, is labeled right but can't get it running on that RAM thus far. Reset CMOS, but no love. The reset did get the graphics card working for me at least.

There are a lot of different drivers on the Asus site and I don't understand what they all mean. Is there a specific driver to support the higher RAM capacity that I should look for? Here's a link to the drivers page: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A78LM/#support

Currently on 7 32bit because of my 2GB Ram limitation. Thanks for all the helpful responses!

Update: I'm thinking the memory must be bad. I've checked voltage versus bios settings, all specs on the RAM are correct, resetting CMOS doesn't help and the machine runs fine with two 1GB sticks I was upgrading from. I tried each stick individual in each slot as well as both together and switched between the two slots. Before I return that RAM, any ideas for making sure the RAM is bad? Is there any other troubleshooting I should try? Checked many posts, but find nothing about troubleshooting specific to RAM. If anyone knows of a good guide, I'd rather read that then bother you good folks. Thanks so much!

update: updated to latest bios and still no love. I'm calling this one. Still, if you can think of anything I haven't tried, please tell me. Thanks!