P5B Deluxe – questions about PCI 2.1 and RAM

[larry_cartman]

I’m planning on getting the Asus P5B Deluxe in a new build. I’m hoping you could help me out with the following:

1) The P5B DL has 3 x PCI 2.2 slots. Can I use a 2.1 PCI card in one of these? I’ve read that it depends on the motherboard if a PCI slot is backwards compatible, so has anyone used a 2.1 card with a P5B (DL)?

2) I was thinking about getting this RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144157

Kingston ValueRAM 2 x 1 GB / DUAL RAM / DDR II SDRAM / PC2-4200CL4 / 533,
KVR533D2N4K2/2G

However, that RAM is not on the P5B DL QVL, the closest thing being a 1024 DDR2 533 stick called KVR533D2N4/1G. (Note that the only difference between the names is that the one I’m getting has ”K2” in it before the slash.)

So I’m wondering if the KVR533D2N4K2/2G is just made from two sticks of KVR533D2N4 RAM so that it is basically the same RAM? (Maybe”K2” just means that it is a dual kit? (”Kit 2”?))

Then I could definitely buy the KVR533D2N4K2/2G, it being ”qualified”. However, if it’s some quite different RAM, should I just get it anyway? Does it matter much if RAM is on the QVL?

Sorry for this incredibly noobish question.

 

[badge]

I’m planning on getting the Asus P5B Deluxe in a new build. I’m hoping you could help me out with the following:

1) The P5B DL has 3 x PCI 2.2 slots. Can I use a 2.1 PCI card in one of these? I’ve read that it depends on the motherboard if a PCI slot is backwards compatible, so has anyone used a 2.1 card with a P5B (DL)?

2) I was thinking about getting this RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144157

Kingston ValueRAM 2 x 1 GB / DUAL RAM / DDR II SDRAM / PC2-4200CL4 / 533,
KVR533D2N4K2/2G

However, that RAM is not on the P5B DL QVL, the closest thing being a 1024 DDR2 533 stick called KVR533D2N4/1G. (Note that the only difference between the names is that the one I’m getting has ”K2” in it before the slash.)

So I’m wondering if the KVR533D2N4K2/2G is just made from two sticks of KVR533D2N4 RAM so that it is basically the same RAM? (Maybe”K2” just means that it is a dual kit? (”Kit 2”?))

Then I could definitely buy the KVR533D2N4K2/2G, it being ”qualified”. However, if it’s some quite different RAM, should I just get it anyway? Does it matter much if RAM is on the QVL?

Sorry for this incredibly noobish question.

(Maybe”K2” just means that it is a dual kit?

Yep, that's what it means. I have the P5B Deluxe and as far as I know the PCI expansion slots are the same as you will find on most any board out there. You can double check the RAM compatibility here.

http://www.kingston.com/default.asp

 

[larry_cartman]

Thanks for the reply, Badge.