I have never encountered a motherboard that was this picky about
memory

Oh, I have....twice with Intel chipsets. Those two experiences have taught
me to never try cutting corners on the RAM and always do some Usenet/Google
research before purchasing memory for any new motherboard. I don't ever
again want to deal with the problems insufficient RAM can cause for the sake
of saving $5, 10 or even $20 a stick. It's just not worth the potential
headache it's bound to cause.

With that said, I find Corsair and Crucial to usually be a pretty safe bet.

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LiveWire