# Slower RAM in a faster slot - will it work?



## thereisnoart (Jul 13, 2009)

I know that faster ram placed in a slower slot will down-clock to work at a compatible speed. I am wondering if the reverse is true. My 2 year old motherboard went down and I am trying to find a board that will be compatible with both my processor and my ram (while spending as little as possible - it's a secondary machine). To be specific, I am looking at this board:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4680338&CatId=2014

It says it supports DDR2, 800Mhz. The ram I currently used is DDR2, 533Mhz. I know the ram won't "overclock" to match the faster slot - but will the 800Mhz slot recognize the slower ram? Does this board support *up to* 800, but can take slower speeds?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The 533 RAM will work.


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## thereisnoart (Jul 13, 2009)

Great! One step closer... will my processor work with this board? I couldn't find it on CPU-Upgrade.com.

Intel Pentium D 830 3.0GHz / 2MB Cache / 800 FSB / Socket 775
HH80551PG0802MN

EDIT: I think I found the answer - the description of the board names Pentium D 8XX, so I should be good right? Maybe a stupid question, I just want to be sure.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

You found the answer. D 8XXX = CPU's starting with D 8
There are no stupid questions.
You could do a lot better than the XFX Mobo though. XFX is not good quality and theeir support is not good. Also, Intel CPU's like Intel chipsets.
This Asus ASUS P5KPL-CM $55 would be a much better choice and Newegg is a MUCH better vendor tp purchase from.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131288
http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=6nnVb6RBxd7PhGmt&content=specifications


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