Question Motherboard incompatibility myth busting.

[Hudson_G]

Is it a real thing that some Motherboards really can't be paired with Memories and GPUs? Like, I understand that some very old Motherboards won't have BIOS suitable for newest CPUs, but that's understandable. Now, I would really like to know if these things like a X Motherboard is incompatible with Y new CPU, GPU or Memory, or if this is only a fairy tale told by sellers to make you buy specifically what they want you to.

 

[USAFRet]

Is it a real thing that some Motherboards really can't be paired with Memories and GPUs? Like, I understand that some very old Motherboards won't have BIOS suitable for newest CPUs, but that's understandable. Now, I would really like to know if these things like a X Motherboard is incompatible with Y new CPU, GPU or Memory, or if this is only a fairy tale told by sellers to make you buy specifically what they want you to.

A motherboard with DDR4 slots cannot use DDR5 RAM sticks.

A motherboard whose M.2 ports are only PCIe 3.0 x 4 cannot fully utilize a PCIe 5.0 NVMe.

CPU socket differences are absolutely a thing.

 

[Lutfij]

Is it a real thing that some Motherboards really can't be paired with Memories and GPUs?
You need to elaborate on this. PCIe slots are backwards compatible but if your BIOS for the motherboard is...buggy, then you can end up with an assortment of issues. As for ram, you should pick out ram either from the memory QVL on your motherboard's support site or the frequency stated on the motherboard's spec's page. If you're referring to concurrent hardware like AM5, look for ram with AMD's E.X.P.O on the package.

 

[Hudson_G]

Yeah Sorry, I didn't mean like different slots. I meant same slots, same generation, but incompatible for like some invisible reason.

You see, most MOBOS have a compatibility chart, which doesn't include all CPUs/Memories/GPUs, even tho some are the same slot. So I've been wondering if this is like they are really incompatible, if there is anything that makes them not connect, or if this is just some myth.

It happens mostly with memories. Many DDR4 Memories with some random code (like CT16something) just aren't present in some MOBOS compatibility charts (even being DDR4 slots). I heard once that these charts are just things they tested and worked, not that the Memories that aren't present there don't work, they just didn't test. Or something like that.

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah Sorry, I didn't mean like different slots. I meant same slots, same generation, but incompatible for like some invisible reason.

You see, most MOBOS have a compatibility chart, which doesn't include all CPUs/Memories/GPUs, even tho some are the same slot. So I've been wondering if this is like they are really incompatible, if there is anything that makes them not connect, or if this is just some myth.

It happens mostly with memories. Many DDR4 Memories with some random code (like CT16something) just aren't present in some MOBOS compatibility charts (even being DDR4 slots). I heard once that these charts are just things they tested and worked, not that the Memories that aren't present there don't work, they just didn't test. Or something like that.

You're thinking of the QVL.
Qualified Vendors List.

Those are the ones that have been specifically tested to work.
This does NOT say that others will not work. But the QVL is a place to start.