DDR1 and DDR2 have different pin counts, so are
not backward compatible. There are MB's though that have both DDR1 & 2 slots, so you can buy or use what you prefer. As far as being particular about RAM, MB's are, so best use good, reliable named stuff like Corsair/Cruicial/Kingston that are not much more expensive that no-name Generic stuff.
DDR2 will also show much higher timings, as compared to the DDR1 memory, but they are clocked much faster.
Good read,
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1573&page=1