what memory for my a7n8x deluxe mobo?

This has been asked many times... I've searched the boards and read many threads but I'm still a bit confused.

I've got all the parts picked out for my new system except the ram. I'm going with the Asus a7n8x Deluxe and an Athlon XP 2400+.

Now I've heard that u get the best performance by having the proc and ram running at the same fsb. I'm a n00b to O/Cing so I don't wanna push things to far. My XP2400 has a 266 fsb so if I run everything stock I would get the best ram performance from pc2100, correct? If I buy something faster like pc3200 that would give me room to grow when I try to O/C later on but could I underclock it to run in sync with my processor for now?

I think I'm gonna go with Corsair ram since I want to O/C my system eventually. On Asus' site theres a mem compatibility list for the a7n8x. It has 2 corsiar sticks listed, CMX256A-2700C2 and CMX512-3200C2. Does that mean those are the only corsair ones that will work or is that just a recommendation?

Sry if I sound like a real n00b, like I said I'm new to O/Cing. Thnx in advance for your help =)

First off welcome to the forums

For that motherboard I would recommend at least pc2700 memory. You can run pc2700 memory on that board and not techinically be overclocking (the kt333 and kt400 chipsets also work like this. you can run 166x2 speed on the memory and the fsb is still 133).

I would go with pc3200 if you can afford it though. It gives you room to grow. Because of the agp/pci locks on that motherboard you will be able to safely oc up to a high fsb and you don't want your memory holding you back.

Some people have had issues with their corsair memory and the a7n8x but I think for the most part it works ok. I would think there are other corsair memories that work. I use the xms pc3200 cas2 512mb and it works fine (but thats one of the 2 on your list so...)

Well I don't have unlimited funds but I should be able to afford the pc3200. What would I hafta do to get that running with an XP2400?

I'm building this comp mainly for gaming. I'm gonna put a Radeon 9700 in so it should be able to run any game on the market right now. In a few months when my comp is falling behind the times (hopefully thats an exageration hehe) I'm gonna start O/Cing to keep up. But for now I don't wanna risk anything too drastic

Well with no overclocking you can drop that pc3200 in there and go without issue. The spd settings will make the memory run at the correct speed and timings. Now you may want to go into your bios and tweak the timings and such manually but you don't HAVE to.

When you decide to oc down the road plenty of people will be here to help. that mobo/chip/memory is a real nice combo to oc with so it will do well and with the agp/pci locks you can squeeze a good deal of performance out of that board without too many worries.

Alrite sweet! That's good news for me
I just wasn't sure if I could use the faster ram without it messing stuff up. I prolly will tweak the timings a bit but I don't wanna start actually O/Cing right away.

Thanks for the help Deathknight!