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tedmann12

Registered
Joined
Aug 11, 2014
Hey guys,

I posted on here a while ago as I was interested in overclocking my FX 6300. After talking with you guys I found out my motherboard, a " a GA-78LMT-S2" was far too weak to do any overclocking.

So, I have been considering getting a new motherboard to 1) Overclock my FX 6300, and 2) that will eventually support the newest and best AMD CPUS. Maybe an FX 9590 or something. I have been torn on getting a new motherboard and switching to intel but its just too much money and I have to do 1 upgrade at a time.

So my system specs are:
FX 6300
Radeon R9 280x
8 Gigs DDR Ram
630W Enermax Gold Certified PSU.

I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestions of a motherboard that could support overclocking the FX 6300, and also allow room for a CPU upgrade. Hopefully something not too expensive! Thanks guys, I am such a noob in this area.
 

I got this information from one of the news sites back in Sept of 2013.
You can see how few boards were actually suggested for FX-9xxx back then. AMD
recommendations were noted as well for power supply sizing and cooling.

CLICK SHOW on second Spoiler to read what is inside.


M5A99FX Pro R2.0 this board will do well up to about 4.5Ghz or maybe just a little more but I doubt I would get one to "really" push or overclock an 8 core since there are those already having tried it with an 8 core and it runs out of steam about 4.5 or 4.6Ghz even with d*mn good cooling.
RGone...ster.
 
M5A99FX Pro R2.0 this board will do well up to about 4.5Ghz or maybe just a little more but I doubt I would get one to "really" push or overclock an 8 core since there are those already having tried it with an 8 core and it runs out of steam about 4.5 or 4.6Ghz even with d*mn good cooling.
RGone...ster.
Just to add to what RGone said, I own a ASUS M5A99X Evo which is similar to the M5A990FX Pro, it's a great board. I had my 955 Be on it and when I bought my Fx8350 and really started to push It just didn't have the VRM section to push the 8350 past 4.5 stable. Johan has the M5A990Fx Pro and he had the same issues with his Fx 8350 on it as I. If the future plans are to get a Fx 8/9xxx series chip andyou plan on either running stock or a mild OC it is a good choice. You will also need to take into account cooling for really pushing these chips.If you stay with a Fx 6300 the M5A990Fx Pro is a really good choice.

Another good low cost choice seems to be the Gigabyte 970 UD3p but I have a tough time recommending the Gigabyte boards because it seems, their different revisions of it can have issues when pushing these chips.
 
I'd also like to add that I tried my 9370 on the M5A just for fun and personally I wouldn't do it for an everyday situation. Put simply it wouldn't stabilize even on auto/factory settings. These 9xxx series CPUs have a base voltage of 1.5v+ so If you do plan on getting a 9xxx series CPU get one of the big boards like the Sabertooth R2.0. It'll be a lot less headaches for you in the end.
 
Ok thanks for the great responses guys. I'm going to look into these boards.

So, how much "better" would an intel chip be than these 8 or 9 series FX chips? Would I be wasting my money upgrading my board and getting an FX 8 or 9 series when I could get an intel board/chip? I mean do you really notice a difference between AMD and Intel chips?

I'm not a super serious gamer, and honestly my FX 6300 with my R9 280x has run any game I have thrown at it on ultra settings. I guess I'm wondering if I would even notice a difference between and FX 8 or 9 series and an intel chip? and if so what type of "difference" would I notice. And I realize that Intel beats out the FX chips in benchmarking etc, but I'm wondering if just on every day internet/some moderate gaming if I could even notice a difference.
 
I've used a friend's 8350 system and it felt a little less snappy than my Intel builds. Two different machines, though, so it's difficult to really say for sure whether one felt different than the other as it could have been software.

For your uses (light gaming), I'd say keep what you got and OC it as far as your current mobo will allow.

If you're going to get a new mobo anyway, there's no way I'd go AMD.
 
tedmann, bear with my long explanation because the answer isn't as simple as yes or no.

If you see in my signature, I own both a Fx 8350 and a I7 4770k. I use both setups but I choose to use my Amd setup over the 4770k for what I use my rigs for. I feel that "for my uses" that the 8350k is a bit smoother in day to day operations. I cannot give a reason why I feel this way but I am on my rigs for the better part of 9 hours a day and I just like the way the AMD performs, better.

As you see I also do benching of my components, I also find that I will gravitate towards my AMD rigs when overclocking because to me, they are a lot more fun to OC on.

The downside of these Fx chips, especially the Fx 8xxx/9xxx is that they require stout motherboards and high end cooling to run them. As you have seen even the Fx 6300 will require a good motherboard with a upper end Vrm section to OC it on.

When it comes to benchmark performance and gaming it is tough to not look at Intel. In most cases an Intel chip will out perform an AMD. In gaming if it's a Gpu biased game, with 1 gpu the AMD chips will only be behind the Intels by a couple of FPS. If the game is Cpu biased or one is using a Dual Gpu setup the Intels will start pulling away pretty significantly.

Taking the above into account, when comparing an Intel setup to an AMD setup the total cost is a lot closer then most people think. If one goes with something like the I7 4790k, you can buy a motherboard that will run it properly and also OC it for around $130.00. You will also not need a top of the line heatsink to keep it cool, unless really trying to push it, so there will be a savings there. With something like the Fx 9xxx, you're going to need a board like the Asus Sabertooth or Asrock Extreme 9 to run it properly and really good cooling as well.

In conclusion, when it gets down to brass tacks, it will all depend on what you plan on using the system for and what your goals are for it.
 
Mandrake, thank you very much man. Very informative response! Really helped me :D
 
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