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MSI 790FX-GD70 or Asus Crosshair III Formula

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JonSimonzi

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Looking into a AMD setup for the first time in years. I can't decide between these two motherboards. I've used my Maximus II Formula for some time, and have been very impressed with Asus's P45 ROG board, best board I've ever used. So that does have me leaning towards the Crosshair, but the GD70 looks very nice as well. It would have a PII 955BE and 4890 CF in it if that makes any difference.

On a side note, where could I get mounting hardware for a TRUE on either of those boards? Don't want to make a 2nd thread :D
 
Certainly MSI , been giving AMD alot of love, got some great boards out , and GD70 is arguably the best 790FX board for air and water .
 
I like my Crosshair III, so far best I can do is get into Windows at 4.0ghz, run Firefox and WoW, but it's not stable yet, fails under Prime almost immediately. I'm sure the GD70 is also a great board (my purchase was biased since I got my Crosshair for $130).
 
I have the 790fx-gd70 and am very pleased with it. With some quick testing I was able to boot at something like 325 reference clock, so for base clock and not multi overclocking it is great. I cannot properly comment on the crosshair III nor Chancecoats recommendation the Gigabyte 790fxt-ud5p (as I dont own) but the Gigabyte does get sparkling reviews and some oc'ers swear by it IIRC (Chew of XS for Example). Probably each board has it's own strengths and weaknesses but by quite a few reviews the MSI board edges out the others in the "Total Package" considering price per se.

SupR? was that a open box for 130?????????
 
It really depends on what you want to do with the rig. I have the Crosshair III Formula and love it. I didn't buy it for a 24/7 rig, only for benching. There's enough setting in the bios to keep you busy for weeks! There's only 2 pcie slots,and only 5 sata, but for what I do with it it's enough. It is the funniest board Iever own to play with
 
Well, this will be for a 24/7 rig. 2x PCIE slots would be plenty, around a month after this purchase a 2nd 4890 will be bought to run in CF, and I can't remember the last time I had anything in a card slot aside from a video card. 5 sata is fine for now, but I could see myself needing a 6th in the not too distant future. I'll have to mull it over a bit, just like hearing people opinions :)
 
I bought the MSI board. The first one I had came with a smoking capacitor so I sent it back. This second one is fine. You get a lot of extra stuff with the MSI board that makes it a great "total package". I don't know much about the other boards though to really compare and I usually buy stripped down versions of mobo's because I don't have a lot of equipment to hook up so I can't compare to past experiences really either.

Some people swear by Asus and are customers for life with them. The only Asus board I owned though was an old socket A KT266 board. Been a while haha.

On air I've only been able to pull 3.6ghz stable & 24/7, limited by heat. I've gotten to 3.8 for a few benchmarks but it crashes during stability tests. I have the 955 and 4890 too. 3dmark06 scores are in the 17,000 range. Will go CF 4890's too when I get some cash, and hopefully water cooling of some sort so that I can run at 4ghz 24/7.

Edit: I went with the cooler master V8 instead of the True. If I could have a do-over I think I would. I don't know about mounting but it looks like the Rev C coolers come with it so you should be able to find it somewhere...
 
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I was wondering on the same as you, and i went 4 the Crosshair III Formula. It is really a great board for oc'ing and gaming as well. I think it worth the little extra money.
- n|trox
 
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