Confusion on what motherboard I need.

I have a AMD Athlon X4 860K= and need a mobo for it that would work without the need for a gpu. But I'm greatly confused on what criteria on newegg i need to select to show me a list of mobos that'll work. Could someone please help me out with that?

Based on the information you provided the search for a motherboard consists of two criteria:

[1] Socket FM2+ since that is the socket compatibility for your processor.

[2] Onboard or Integrated Video to eliminate the need of an external GPU.

Based upon the two criteria you provided I found a number of boards which would work such as this one.

If you want a motherboard with a quality of performance more specific to your needs then you're going to have to provide a little more info such as what memory standard do you want or need, what is the max amount of RAM you plan on running, do you need SATA 3GB/s or 6GB/s for you hard drives, do you want or need HDMI for your display, etc.

Based upon the inconsistent experiences I have had I say stick with Asus, they seem to be the standard for AMD and the one manufacturer to produce quality boards for AMD users. I will only say this once - STAY AWAY FROM GIGABYTE.

Thanks that was very helpful.

I'm currently using a MSI A68HM-GRENADE mobo which is making an awful ticking sound which in another thread we figured out it is due to it being faulty. So I'm just going to replace it with something different.

The mobo must have hdmi, sata 6 for sure. 4 ram slots would be nice as I may use this as a server but two is fine. It's going into a secondary PC i'm using for a couple of security cams and video processing / blueray ripping ect (hence no need for a gpu). It's basically here to keep high processing stuff away from my main computer as it was starting to suffer with the constant surveillance recording.

I was looking at the ASRock FM2A88M but i believe now that this wouldn't work without a gpu.

What you suggested looks like it meets my needs and budget. But please feel free to suggest more.

Thanks again.

Edit: Oh wait, the open box asus doesn't have HDMI so it wouldn't work for me.

Ummm the 860k doesnt have onboard video, as the A series CPUs do I thought? Therefore it seems to me you are looking for a product that doesn't exist. The APU mobos just link into the APU's onboard video, and the 860k's onboard video is disabled completely... Unless I am completely off my rocker... Which is possible.

Afaik the Athlon x4 series for FM2 sockets ALL need a GPU for video. They are essentially FX4xxx series CPUs, with some minor internal differences.

Bluefalcon13 said:

Ummm the 860k doesnt have onboard video, as the A series CPUs do I thought? Therefore it seems to me you are looking for a product that doesn't exist. The APU mobos just link into the APU's onboard video, and the 860k's onboard video is disabled completely... Unless I am completely off my rocker... Which is possible.

Afaik the Athlon x4 series for FM2 sockets ALL need a GPU for video. They are essentially FX4xxx series CPUs, with some minor internal differences.

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You're correct, Blue.

ATMINSIDE said:

You're correct, Blue.

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It's always nice to know I have lost my mind immediately following finals week

Oh.... well that sucks. Thanks for the help everyone.

So basically I just need to find any fm2/fm2+ mobo to my liking and any gpu and I'm all set?

Yep, mobo and GPU then you're good to go.

Do you have a budget? You mention one, but never gave an amount.

A very loose budget for the mobo. So long as it has HDMI (and I think i would like 4 ram slots) I can go up to about $60 ish. My color scheme is blue so basically nothing red.

I have something I can use for a gpu so don't need to worry about that.

Thanks!

HDMI won't come from the motherboard... it will come from the GPU.

There won't be many options under $60 for a 4x DIMM FM2+ board.
If your only requirement is color and DIMM slots though, just drop on Newegg and snag something using their filters.

I know it's above your budget, but the ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ looks good.
Since you're going to be running 24/7 it may be bereft to choose a very cheap board.

ATMINSIDE said:

HDMI won't come from the motherboard... it will come from the GPU.

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Oh yeah... forgot about that already!

The ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ is hirribly rated on newegg. I'll filter them down and see what they have to offer. Thanks!

Whatever you get I suggest having something with a heatsink on the VRM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157571

Thoughts?

No VRM sinks: what about a full ATX board? Like this guy:

Edit: paste fail, round 2!

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16813128895

Seems expensive for what I need. Also I've already been told in this thread not to buy a gigabyte mobo.

JT! said:

Seems expensive for what I need. Also I've already been told in this thread not to buy a gigabyte mobo.

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In all fairness Blackheart has very recently had a terrible RMA experience with Gigabyte. People have those with every brand....

Bluefalcon13 said:

In all fairness Blackheart has very recently had a terrible RMA experience with Gigabyte. People have those with every brand....

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Feel like I need to expand on this. Gigabyte is not perfect, but neither is any of the manufacturers. I have had good experiences on my second Gigabyte board(current board in sig), but my first Gigabyte board was a flop. The first only overclocked core 0 on my 955be (board was a 970-ud3p). I returned the board rather than deal with the issue. At the same time, while all of my Asus boards I have had over the years were great. Asus tends to abandon them driver wise. For example, the lack of 8/8.1 drivers within a year of owning the M5A97 (first version) was annoying. Furthermore, a simple microcode update for my Asus board before that would've enabled use of the 955BE on that board, but Asus couldn't be bothered.

Now all that being said, the top dogs in the FM2 boards are the Crossblade Ranger, then the A88x-pro boards. Some of the guys around here ran a Gigabyte board and were very happy with it. I'd probably put them in 3rd, but I think it was the older version of the Gigabyte board I linked, maybe it's better version as well. With just about any AMD CPU you are going to atleast want a heatsink on the MOSFETs. This was the cheapest option I saw on new egg that fit your requirements, hence pointing it out.

Bluefalcon13 said:

Feel like I need to expand on this. Gigabyte is not perfect, but neither is any of the manufacturers. I have had good experiences on my second Gigabyte board(current board in sig), but my first Gigabyte board was a flop. The first only overclocked core 0 on my 955be (board was a 970-ud3p). I returned the board rather than deal with the issue.

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Instead of just flashing an updated BIOS?

Bluefalcon13 said:

At the same time, while all of my Asus boards I have had over the years were great. Asus tends to abandon them driver wise. For example, the lack of 8/8.1 drivers within a year of owning the M5A97 (first version) was annoying. Furthermore, a simple microcode update for my Asus board before that would've enabled use of the 955BE on that board, but Asus couldn't be bothered.

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First off just because asus didn't give you a link on their webpage doesn't mean the driver was updated. Your cheap realtek audio and lan are easily downloaded off of realtek's webpage. This assumes Realtek the maker of your parts updated their driver. This is outside of Asus's control.

Second off the M5A79 supports not only the 965BE, but the 970, 975 and 980BE not to mention the entire Thuban line up.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97/HelpDesk_CPU/

Bluefalcon13 said:

Now all that being said, the top dogs in the FM2 boards are the Crossblade Ranger, then the A88x-pro boards. Some of the guys around here ran a Gigabyte board and were very happy with it. I'd probably put them in 3rd, but I think it was the older version of the Gigabyte board I linked, maybe it's better version as well. With just about any AMD CPU you are going to atleast want a heatsink on the MOSFETs. This was the cheapest option I saw on new egg that fit your requirements, hence pointing it out.

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No motherboard is going to meet his needs. He purchased an APU with out the graphics section and expects the motherboard to magically create one. The graphics card is integrated onto the CPU not the GPU so no idea what incorrect information all of you are telling this guy.

Whoa there killer! Think you might be slightly confused on who said what. I do generally respect your opinion, and am willing to listen to what you say, but I think you are making some assumptions about what I was talking about. You can ask me next time if you are confused with my wording, and I will gladly explain. I was merely pointing out that NONE of the manufacturers are perfect. If a product meets your needs, AND works for you, then I do not see how it is a bad product merely by name. I was also pointing out that the person who said "avoid gigabyte" has recently had a quite unfortunate experience with their RMA team. It happens. People swear off Asus, and MSI for exactly the same reason. Luckily, I have not had to deal with RMA requests for motherboards as I don't do moon-shots, and set modest goals.

cdawall said:

Instead of just flashing an updated BIOS?

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I would have, but there wasn't one available, and I had a choice, return the board, and get my money back, or try and deal with it. Wasn't worth my time...

cdawall said:

First off just because asus didn't give you a link on their webpage doesn't mean the driver was updated. Your cheap realtek audio and lan are easily downloaded off of realtek's webpage. This assumes Realtek the maker of your parts updated their driver. This is outside of Asus's control.

Second off the M5A79 supports not only the 965BE, but the 970, 975 and 980BE not to mention the entire Thuban line up.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97/HelpDesk_CPU/

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I was actually referring to the M2N32SLI-Deluxe. Supported all manor of 125W AM3/AM3+ CPUs (and even the terrible Phenom I generation), but when the 125W version of the 955BE came out (IIRC the C3 revision), they wouldn't provide the update. Or a beta update. People got it working, and hell, I could use it as well, but it was a PITA to hook up a PS2 keyboard just to set multipliers before booting into windows. Again, not worth the time....

The Driver issues were on both of the boards. Specifically when Asus made the R2.0 versions of the M5AXX versions. I can find drivers for myself, and do quite frequently, but not everyone really looks for their own drivers.

cdawall said:

No motherboard is going to meet his needs. He purchased an APU with out the graphics section and expects the motherboard to magically create one. The graphics card is integrated onto the CPU not the GPU so no idea what incorrect information all of you are telling this guy.

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Just FYI, if you re-read the thread, I am the one who told the OP that there wasn't a board out there that did what he wanted. The OP then said he has a GFX card he can install and run for the system, and just needs a board. I pointed him to the cheapest option, that has a VRM sink, and 4 RAM slots. Have you pointed him to another product? The purpose of OCFormus.com is to help people, share wisdom learned from overclocking, and gain knowledge, not beat people in the head with their mistakes.

PS- the killer thing is not personal... just one of the many wonderful things picked up from my military experience

As a military member I never once heard anyone call someone a "killer"