Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[RedBaron]

In case any of you are interested in notebook RAM, there is a ridiculous deal going on for 4GB sticks, DDR3 1333 mhz, 204 pin SODIMM. I made sure I picked up two for myself before posting this, they're almost never instock.

[Donut]

if iv got an old hp laptop from 2007, would that ram work in it? if so i think i might buy some
E: better question: if there are two sticks of 1GB DDR2 ram in this, and i remove one of them for one of those 4GB DDR3 ones, will that work?

[RedBaron]

I don't think your motherboard would support DDR3 at all, especially the higher clocks associated with it. And it definitely would not work using a stick of DDR3 in combination with a stick of DDR2. Not sure about laptops, but DDR3 for desktops physically do not fit into DDR2 sockets.

[Warsaw]

if iv got an old hp laptop from 2007, would that ram work in it? if so i think i might buy some
E: better question: if there are two sticks of 1GB DDR2 ram in this, and i remove one of them for one of those 4GB DDR3 ones, will that work?

No, it won't. You have to use DDR2. The motherboard might also not support more than 4GB period.

[Amit]

There are flaws with the Sandy Bridge series of CPUs from Intel. Well, that's what happens when you don't double check the move of the chipset from the motherboard to the cpu. Good thing ThePlague didn't jump the gun and grab a 1155 series board.

[=sw=warlord]

I've recently made the jump from Intel to AMD after having my E6750 serve me well for several years and currently looking for a motherboard which will suit the AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE that I have in the post/mail.
I can't really spend a awful lot of money on computer parts due to current circumstances and currently looking at a Asrock board.
Due to previous experiences with a certain brand [Asus] my motherboard choices are pretty limited and my current limit is around the £50 mark, I don't need a very flashy board all I need is a board which:
A: Isn't Asus
B: Supports the phenom X4 9950
C: is under £60
D: supports atleast one PCI-E x16 slot and has room for one PCI slot.
E: supports either DDR2 or DDR3 [prefer DDR2 due to having several memory sticks for that already.]

If anyone knows of any reliable UK hardware sites which have a good list that I could go through that would be appreciated, I've already gone through:
PCworld
Maplin
Dabs
Novatech

[Warsaw]

Wait, you bought a Gen I Phenom processor? Why? You do know that they had a TLB error and that the fix reduced their performance by as much as 15%, right?

Any motherboard with an AM2 or AM2+ socket will support that processor, though. Should be easy enough to find, it isn't as ancient as Socket 939. As for that ASRock board, I can't fault it. I have an ASRock, and it's been nothing but awesome so far.

[Timo]

I've got an ASRock AM3/DDR2 motherboard, works great.

[Warsaw]

Actually, as of the latest sales figure reports, ASRock is now the No. 3 manufacturer of motherboards with 8 million sales. It has pushed MSI down to fourth place. Gigabyte is second with 18 million, and ASUS is in the lead with ~21 million. Can't see the attraction, though. ASUS is kinda pricey for not much more in features.

[=sw=warlord]

Wait, you bought a Gen I Phenom processor? Why? You do know that they had a TLB error and that the fix reduced their performance by as much as 15%, right?

Any motherboard with an AM2 or AM2+ socket will support that processor, though. Should be easy enough to find, it isn't as ancient as Socket 939. As for that ASRock board, I can't fault it. I have an ASRock, and it's been nothing but awesome so far.

I got the chip for a price I couldn't really argue with which was around £50 including P&P.
I've looked it up and saw about the TLB error and the fix but considering the set up I currently have is on it's last legs I figured I would update the chipset instead of spending another 5 hours scouring the local town looking for a shop that still stocks LGA775 boards.
The first Asrock I had was pretty awesome and was in fact the first motherboard I ever had, even supported the then new 939 chip type.

As long as I know this board lives up to my nostalgia of Asrock and won't follow suit of my previous Asus boards then I'm perfectly happy to go with it, I just wanted to ask here before I put the money where my mouth is.
Reason I avoid Asus is that I've had 3 completely different model motherboards from them and all three have died of a north bridge chipset failure within 6 months of each other.
To make matters worse the first motherboard was sent off via RMA and subsequently lost in Prague untill 7 months later I was given a different board by them which died from the exact same problem as the first.