CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 Compatible w/Crosshair III but Not Phenom II?

[AWadd618]

I have been having issues with RAM for my CHIII motherboard, which is probably my own fault for not double-checking beforehand, but since I decided to order new RAM I came across a bit of confusion in terms of compatibility. First of all, on the Corsair site when I search for Mortherboard-compatible RAM (for the CHIII) I see that the Corsair Dominator models CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 and CMD4GX3M2B1600C8 both come up on the compatible list. I have no idea what the difference is, but I ordered the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 from newegg.

 

Today, I went back to the site and see that under the "Phenom II" compatible list, the CMD4GX3M2B1600C8 is listing but NOT the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 version. I'm kind of confused considering the CHIII mobo is an AM3 board so how could be compatible and not the other? Will I run into problems?

 

Also, I was curious if upgrading the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 from 4gigs to 8gigs in the future would be tolerated?

 

Here are the two different links, one to the list of Phenom II approved RAMs and one to the Crosshair III approved

Phenom II: http://www.corsair.com/products/phenomii/default.aspx

Crosshair III: http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1048893

[1badbob]

I ran into the same delema when i built my system but i went with the "b" version as it is tailered to the phenoms. The crosshair III will run 8gb but may not run it at 1600. Mine is running at 1333 nice and stable with 8gb of cmd4gx3m2b1600c8. I would suggest you return the "a" spec ram and get the "b" version for a trouble free system.

[RJLeong65]

I have been having issues with RAM for my CHIII motherboard, which is probably my own fault for not double-checking beforehand, but since I decided to order new RAM I came across a bit of confusion in terms of compatibility. First of all, on the Corsair site when I search for Mortherboard-compatible RAM (for the CHIII) I see that the Corsair Dominator models CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 and CMD4GX3M2B1600C8 both come up on the compatible list. I have no idea what the difference is, but I ordered the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 from newegg.

 

Today, I went back to the site and see that under the "Phenom II" compatible list, the CMD4GX3M2B1600C8 is listing but NOT the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 version. I'm kind of confused considering the CHIII mobo is an AM3 board so how could be compatible and not the other? Will I run into problems?

 

Also, I was curious if upgrading the CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 from 4gigs to 8gigs in the future would be tolerated?

 

Here are the two different links, one to the list of Phenom II approved RAMs and one to the Crosshair III approved

Phenom II: http://www.corsair.com/products/phenomii/default.aspx

Crosshair III: http://www.corsair.com/configurator/product_results.aspx?id=1048893

 

The CMD4GX3M2A1600C8 is designed for dual-channel Intel i7/i5/i3 platforms (Socket LGA1156), and have performance profiles optimized for Intel platforms. The CMD4GX3M2B1600C8, on the other hand, is optimized for AMD platforms, particularly those using a Phenom II processor, and has performance profiles tailored to AMD processors. If you try to mismatch memory designed for one platform on the other, you might run into stability issues since the SPD ends up setting the wrong values for your processor.

 

So, to recap:

 

CMD#GX3M%A++++C$ is for Intel processor-based systems;

CMD#GX3M%B++++C$ is for AMD processor based systems;

 

where:

 

# is the total amount of memory in the kit (in GB);

% is the number of modules in the kit;

++++ is the effective advertised speed of the modules;

$ is the advertised CAS latency of the modules.