Hey I'm new here. I'm going buy an AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz still haven't fully decided on which motherboard to get, I'm thinking of getting this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16813131361

ASUS M4A79 Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

Since I plan on doing crossfire later on with another 4870 1GB this motherboard is good for it right? If you think there's a better one please go ahead and recommend me one.


Now for the memory I'm a little confuse since this is the description for the motherboard:

DDR2 1066*/800
*Due to AMD CPU limitation, DDR2 1066 is supported by AM2+ / AM3 CPU for one DIMM per channel only.


Would this work on it?

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Or will this work to get the full 1066.

CORSAIR Dominator 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)


Thanks to anyone who helps me out here.

Hi welcome to the forums...

That mobo is a pretty good choice and should be fin, its essentially the same as the M3A79-T which is a very popular mobo in its own right for Phenom systems...

Everyone has their own particular favourite brand of mobo, some like gigabyte, some like DFI, my own personal preference has been ASUS. Like any maunfacturer it has its pro's and con's.

The M4A79 mobo should be perfectly adequate for your needs... there are some subtle diffrences between the M3A79-T and the M4A79, like the placement of the SATA ports, I prefer the arrangement on the M3A79-T as I use crossfire and RAID-0, some gfx cards can block some of the SATA ports on the M4A79 which could be a potential problem for some, as it limits the available number of SATA ports... So given that you intend to crosssfire the 4870's in the near future you might want to take the SATA ports into consideration when assembling and try to avoid using the SATA ports that are flat to the mobo, when installing your HDD's, DVD-RW's etc...!!!

I think you'll be OK gnereally for standard Crsossfire when using 2 Cards, it generally seems to bewhen using the 2nd PCI-E slot with double slot gfx cards that is a potential problem, as this blocks 2 of the 3 flat SATA ports, if you install the 4870's to the 2 Blue slots, the preferred arrangement... then you should be OK.. make sure to keep the Crossfire Coneectors that come with the mobo safe as well, as you'll need these when using Crossfire, as they are loinger than the standard Crossfire connectors that come with gfx cards, the longer connectors are needed to allow the connecctors to span the gaps between the PCI-E slots on the mobo.

In terms of compatability with the PII 940BE and DDR2-1066 RAM, then you shouldn't have a problem...!!!

If 4GB of RAM is what you prefer I'd recommend getting the 2 x 2GB kit, rather than the 4 x 1GB kit, this will place less load on the Memory Controller, having all 4 DIMM Slots filled can sometimes cause a problem, it seems it depends on the RAM used, some people have problems with DDR2-1066, others don't....

Speaking from my own experience, I use 2 x 2GB G.Skill PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 RAM on my M3A79-T mobo without too much trouble.... you will likely need to manually configure the BIOS settings to get the mobo to run the RAM at its rated speed, by setting the RAM Speed, timings and voltage correctly, but this is easy to do...!!!

Good luck with your new build..

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3DMark06 = 20717 / 3DMark Vantage = P13618 / My Overclock Guide / My Troubleshooting Guide

Edited: 03/08/2009 at 05:53 AM by kazgirl

I agree get the M3A79-T (which is another reason why I did), if you intend on crossfire. I had a XFX 750a SLI and the sata ports were vertical. Made the SLI tricky with the 2nd graphics card. Ive also noticed quite a performance gain on using 2 2GB sticks instead of 4 x 1.

Pretty useless on my part, Kaz has it covered. (as usual)

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Phenom II 955
Cooler Master V8
ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe 790FX
2 x Sapphire 4870 1GB GDDR5
4GB GSkill Pi Black 1066
2 x 74GB WD Raptor 16mb RAID-0
640GB WD Caviar Black 32mb
Cooler Master HAF 932
Antec Quattro 850w