Confused and need help - DDR2 and DDR3

[edm]

I currently have a ASUS M4N82 Deluxe AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI AMD Motherboard Here

And a AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Here

I am trying to get from 4 gigs of ram to 16 gigs with the least amount of work, and cost.

My first question is, can I simply swap out the current DDR2 ram I'm using for DDR3 ram (240 pin)? (DDR3 is of coarse much easier to find and a lot cheaper).

My second question is, if I purchase a new motherboard that supports DDR3, will that Phenom II work with DDR3 memory?

Or are my only options to 1) purchase a new motherboard, CPU and RAM. 2) Find some old DDR2 ram.

Thanks

 

[MongGrel]

NM, I really know nothing about the rig your using.

Buying new and using DDR4 is another option other than only, but not what your doing it looks.

 

[fralexandr]

buy 4gb sticks of ddr2 on ebay... AMD Only, high density RAM 16GB 4x4 kit DDR2 800 ~$27
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-16G...Motherboard-/161498704303?hash=item259a12a9af
there appear to be a lot of 16gb AMD Only high density DDR2 RAM kits "New" for really cheap?

page 34 of your user manual should say that the M4N82 motherboard supports SAMSUNG M378T5263AZ3-CF7 4GB sticks
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/432332/Asus-M4n82-Deluxe-Motherboard-Atx.html?page=34#manual

Also, it might be prudent to check if you have a 64-bit Operating System, as 32-bit Operating Systems do not benefit from having more than 4GB of ram

-----
1) DDR3 will not fit in a DDR2 slot. The pin layout is different.

wikipedia

2) AM2+ processors don't support ddr3 RAM. If you want to move to DDR3, you would need to purchase a different processor and motherboard.

 

[Seba]

I currently have a ASUS M4N82 Deluxe AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI AMD Motherboard Here

Your motherboard supports DDR2 only. You can not use DDR3 on that.

 

[Deders]

To clarify, your processor will support DDR3 but your motherboard will not. You will need an AM3 mobo if you want to go down that route.

 

[VirtualLarry]

To clarify, your processor will support DDR3 but your motherboard will not.

I don't think so. I think that's a (semi-rare) AM2+ Phenom II.

 

[Deders]

What's so rare about it? Says here Deneb supports DDR3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenom_II#Deneb

 

[fralexandr]

What's so rare about it? Says here Deneb supports DDR3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenom_II#Deneb

dual channel DDR3-1333 (AM3)

socket am2+ processors don't have a ddr3 memory controller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM2+

AM2+ processors do not work on AM3 motherboards due to the processor's lack of a DDR3 memory controller

 

[Deders]

dual channel DDR3-1333 (AM3)

socket am2+ processors don't have a ddr3 memory controller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM2%2B

The whole point of Socket AM2+ was that it bridged the way between AM2 and AM3.

AFAIK most if not all Phenom 2's are both AM2+ and AM3 and will work with DDR2 on an AM2+ board and DDR3 on AM3.

 

[edm]

Thanks for the help all.

Yeah. I was finding conflicting information online about whether this CPU supported am3 or not. Since I'd have to upgrade the motherboard anyway, I will probably hold off on upgrading the mobo/cpu for now. I will try to find some cheap ddr2 on ebay.

fralexandr. I did see those 16 gig kits on ebay. Unfortunately it looks like they all ship from China, which I'm a little iffy about ordering from. However, there are some 8gig samsung kits shipping from the US, so that might be an option to hold me over until I do a complete upgrade.

current setup
- Antec Nine Hundred case
- Asus M4N82 Deluxe
- Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz
- OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
- EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB Will upgrade to GTX 960 Overclocked 2 GB
- 500 GIG 7200rpm in raid 0
- Will add Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
- Dell S2409W 24" 1920x1080
- Window 7 pro 64-bit (will be going to win 10)

For now I think I'll just upgrade the video card (GTX 960 Overclocked 2 GB) and SSD. I can do those for under $300. Having to upgrade the mobo, CPU, and RAM would cost another extra $400-$500.

Thanks again.

 

[Seba]

If you change the motherboard, don't hold on that old CPU. Delay the motherboard change until you can also replace the CPU.