amd athlon II x2 250 3.0Ghz Help!!

im new and need help i have got a gigabyte mobo GA-78LMT-S2P Rev 5.0 AM3+ ready and im buying a Amd Athlon II x2 250 3.0Ghz now when i look on amd website it says this supports DDR2-1066/DDR3-1066 and some places say it supports DDR3-1333Mhz i wanna buy DDR3-1333Mhz please can someone help me out and check if my mobo is compatible and my CPU thank you.

stuart

That board will support that CPU and both have "Official" ram speed as 1333. That being said and for the difference in price 1600 would probably work if not you could down clock it and tighten the timings.

Definitely wise to get the 1600 mhz ram to give you some more flexibility in oveclocking. "Officially," the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) of the CPU you are referencing is rated at 1333 mhz but it will undoubtedly do somewhat more than that, even if not all the way to 1600 mhz. If in your overclocking you have hit a ram speed of 1333 mhz but find you still can get more out of the CPU, you don't want to limited by the ram.

hi thanks for the replies some send i would have to OC my motherboard to support 1333Mhz ram it says this on gigabyte
2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory (Note 1)
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for 1333+ (O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules

(Please refer "Memory Support List" for more information.) and on Amd its says the cpu is only compatable with ddr3 1066mhz im confused

Yes, the board is rather limited now that I look up the specs so the 1333 mhz ram would be appropriate and I wouldn't expect it to be stable at ram frequencies above that. But being as how 1600 mhz ram is no more expensive than 1333 mhz ram you might as well get the 1600 for future upgrades. You do realize don't you that 1600 mhz ram will run quite happily at 1333 mhz or at any lower speed than it's rated max?

Also, when you see "OC" referenced with regard to memory speeds that just means you will need to manually configure the speed and timings in bios, i.e., the motherboard won't automatically be able t configure itself to that speed profile.

hi i spoke to a pc company that use this mobo and they used 1333Mhz ddr3 ram also in this motherboard and they haven't had any problems.. im aware that 1600mhz can be timed down to 1333mhz but i wouldn't have a clue where to start i know to go into bios and its Ctrl + F1 on gigabyte mobo to bring up the Dram settings....so just to keep things simple as im just learning about computers my 1333mhz will work fine in my mobo and what about my CPU athlon II x2 250 3.0ghz thanks for you help

Let us know how we can help you as you learn to use the bios to overclock. To say that 1600 ram can be "timed down" to 1333 is not a correct way of expressing it. Memory performance hinges on two factors: 1. Frequency (like 1600 mhz, 1333 mhz) and, 2. Timing (like, 9-9-9-33-2T). To lower the frequency of 1600 mhz ram to 1333 mhz would be to lower the frequency, not the timings. I know it all sounds so overwhelming and complicated right now but you will pick it up in due time.

Welcome to OC Forums!

ah cool thanks for the correction and will my CPU be fine then?thanks alot

so if i did need to Lower the frequency how would i over come this thanks alot

Your motherboard should be a good match for the CPU you want to use on it.

Concerning your question about how to lower the memory frequency in bios, by far the easiest way for us to help you with that question or with any bios-related question is for you to take pictures of your bios overclocking sections and then attach them with your posts. That way we can see exactly what you see. Every bios is different and we want to be using the same terminology that is used in your bios. So do you have a camera phone or a digital camera you could take pics with?

To attach a pic with a post, first crop and save the pic to disc if it includes surrounding irrelevant desktop territory. In other words, we don’t want to see your whole desktop. That just shrinks down the important stuff we need to see so that it may not be legible. Snipping Tool in Windows Accessories is great for this. Then click on Go Advanced at the bottom of any new post window. When the advanced post window appears, click on the little paperclip tool at the top. This will load the file browser/up-link tool and the rest will be obvious.

is there a easy way of doing this with a application or do i have to reboot and enter the bios and find out where i do the frequency change from?cheers

There are software applications that you can use to overclock but universally the veteran overclockers on this forum will discourage you from resorting to them for two reasons:

1. They have bugs
2. They often don't give a good amount of overclock that is also stable. This is because they don't allow you to manipulate enough variables.

If you will commit to overclocking manually from the bios we will be here to help you. If you want to take the easy, lazy way out you might find yourself on your own.

ah ok i want to do it the right way so in the bios menu do i have to go on to the DRAM settings where they have the timings etc...im learning but still want the right proper way todo things i was just asking as a general question i dont want bugs haha and i apreciate the help thank you.

You never commented on my suggestion about taking digital pics of the bios sections and attaching them to your posts. That will make it much easier for you and for us helping you if you will take the trouble to do that.

sure i will do that mite be tomorrow but its not a problem

Well, if I understood you correctly in post #1 you don't have the Athlon II X2 250 in your possession yet so there is no hurry I wouldn't think.

The other thing you should do to get ready for the overclock is to download and install these three programs that are standard reporting and stress testing tools we use on OC Forums:

CPU-z

HWMonitor

Prime95


What cooler will you be using for the CPU? The stock one that comes boxed with it or an aftermarket cooler? Please tell us more about your supporting hardware components. Besides the cooler we would like to know the make and model of your case and how many fans it has for ventilation, the make and wattage of the PSU and the make and model of the PSU.

You really need to get your motherboard manual (mb_manual_ga-78lmt-s2p_v.5.0_e.pdf) out and do some investigation within the manual for the motherboard you intend to use.

On page #22 of your manual is the visual picture of Set Memory Clock and on page #23 is the written description of the bios menu choice called Set Memory Clock.

Set Memory Clock
Determines whether to manually set the memory clock. Auto lets BIOS automatically set the memory clock as required. Manual mode allows the memory clock control item below to be configurable. (Default: Auto)

One more note here and it is that when ram is stated to work on a motherboard and it is shown as OC of a particular ram speed, that means the ram must in fact be overclocked to reach that particular speed. This also means there will nOt normally be a menu setting for that particular ram speed in bios, but you must start at a lower ram speed and increase the FSB which will increase the ram speed. When there is nO mention of a OC in the description of the ram that can be used on the motherboard it is generally understood that there will be a bios menu choice for that exact ram speed to be used.

Memory Š 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory
* Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical
memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of
the physical memory installed.
Š Dual channel memory architecture
Š Support for DDR3 1333+ (O.C.)/1066/800 MHz memory modules
(Go to GIGABYTE's website for the latest supported memory speeds and memory
modules.)

One of the reasons they have to spec DDR1333 ram as applicable in OC mode is that motherboard is using a pretty dated AMD chipset in the 7xx flavor.
RGone...

Hey RGone im new to this pc building and i have the motherboard manuel here with me as i bought it from new..i dont really understand this( One of the reasons they have to spec DDR1333 ram as applicable in OC mode is that motherboard is using a pretty dated AMD chipset in the 7xx flavor.
RGone...) on page #22 for me is MIT is this what your talking about cheers?

Motherboard chipsets act as controllers for the various hardware functions a motherboard is involved with such as audio, PCI, ethernet and USB. In part they also define what hardware the motherboard will be able to use such as CPU models and memory. The chipset specifies the range or limits of what hardware the motherboard can use. There are two chips on an AMD motherboard that make up the chipset, The North Bridge chip and the South Bridge chip.


As newer, faster and more demanding hardware components are developed such as CPUs and memory the motherboard companies must develop new chipsets to recognize and cope with them properly. A "dated" chipset is one that has fallen behind in that curve, i.e. it's long in the tooth and a lot of newer hardware won't work with it or won't be fully functional.

Since I don't have and most of us will never have your motherboard, I specified the manual version in use >> motherboard manual (mb_manual_ga-78lmt-s2p_v.5.0_e.pdf) << that manual is the downloaded version for your Rev 5.0 board and is likely the latest since they can update it for downloading but will not be able to update the paper copy in your possession.

Another reason for specifying the manual is that when the mobo company releases a newer bios the bios may make changes to what is in bios menu that the downloaded manual may or may not include and certainly your paper manual will not include since it shipped earlier with the motherboard.

The possible variances listed above are the reason I specified the bios setting called "Set Memory Clock". That terminology should not have disappeared no matter the bios or manual version.
RGone...