So I'm looking into building a new C2D system with most likely an E6600 and DDR2 8500 @ 1066MHz. I'm seeing all these boards on Newegg saying the following: "Memory Standard: DDR2 1066 / 800 / 667 MHz The chipset officially supports the memory frequency up to DDR2 800MHz."

First of all, what does it mean when it says the board 'officially supports up to DDR2 800MHz'? Does this mean the bus speed on the board is meant for that speed and 1066 would be pushing it and not getting the max results from the RAM and the 1066 FSB of the CPU? Perfect example is the Striker Extreme... which appears to be the baddest of the bad but it says it only supports up to DDR2 800. I've always been told and seen that matching RAM and CPU FSB speeds are a good combo, but then of corse I always see someone running an 800MHz FBS CPU and DDR2 667 RAM.

In short, for an E6600/6700 and Crucial Ballistix 2X1GB PC2 DDR2 8500 what would your recommendation be on the best board? I'd like to get a board with support for Quad CPUs/1333MHz FSB as well as DDR3 for future upgrades.

Thanks MSFN!!

these support ddr3, quad core, and 1333Mh; the P35 chipset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....amp;srchInDesc=

Alright... next question... a board that supports/uses DDR3... does it also support DDR2 of all speeds?

yes

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/P35/index.htm
http://download.intel.com/products/chipsets/P35/317304.pdf

Err... no. Just because that particular chipset supports DDR2 doesn't mean that all DDR3 boards will be backwards compatible to DDR2.

In the case of the P35 - yes. In general - no.

oh, i was only talking about that particular chipset. so currently thats true. in the future it will definatly change.

Thanks Guys