Help finding a motherboard for this CPU!

Hi All!

I recently was given a CPU by a friend. It is an Athlon X2 7850 (Black Edition). My brother's PC recently gave up the ghost (a machine I built from parts a few years back) so I am looking to build him another using the X2 7850.

My experience of system building is mainly Intel anyways, and I'm very out of touch with most modern gear and especially AMD. After searching the net for a cheap (but good) micro ATX board to buy for this CPU I am very confused.

The CPU is AM2+. Does that mean I can use it on an AM3 motherboard? I would prefer to be able to use this CPU with some DDR3 Ram, as DDR2 is greatly more expensive, and I happen to have a few gigs of Kingston DDR3 1600 in my parts box. Is this possible?

So the question is ... will this CPU only work with an AM2+ motherboard, or can I use it an AM3 board (AM2+ boards are hard to find!!), and if so can you advise me as to which motherboard to buy. I'm not interested in OC'ing the CPU.

Thanks!
Vanillatech:cool

 

Okay I've done more digging on Google. Seems that the X2 7850 will not work in an AM3 motherboard, and that it will not therefore work with DDR3. This limits me to the ever more expensive DDR2 ram, and 4 GIG of even entry level DDR2 will be over £40. Not to mention having to probably buy a used AM2 motherboard from EBAY (which is always a risk - and carries it's own expense).

Would it be a better idea to build a Pentium Dual Core (maybe an E2200) into a Skt775 motherboard I already have and put some DDR3 into that? Then all I need to buy is a used E2200 (around £12) from EBay.

Just seems a shame to waste this nice little AMD dual core

What would you do?