Best board for 83x0?

Ok, Im gonna just go bonkers on my board, budget gone, I want it stable forever with a good over clock. Going to be getting either an h100i or nh-d15, depending on setup later.

Obviously choices are slim ->

Sabertooth -> the ubiquitous choice, cost effective and stout board, the "benchmark" for fx8's and 9's.
Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z -> Its more expensive, but is it "Better"?
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 -> Don't see this board very much, if at all. Is there a reason for that?

not interested in gigabytes offering, unless there is a compelling argument here...

Budget aside, which would you pick, and why?

ch5-f-z, hands down.

I wrote this yesterday and today is still the same. As for the EXT9, I don't see any reason to go for it unless it is just a need to be different thing as in trying it out. I don't think it is any worse than a Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 board but I doubt it just bonks the Sabertooth either. There is one thing for sure with the fading of AM3+ mobos and that is there is nO need of any bios updates for the Sabertooth. The earlier bioses are awesome so you lose nothing there. If the Asrock EXT9 works as is...no worry about bios updates either.
SO:
Try and work with human nature...
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7712132&postcount=173
RGone...ster.

I own the asrock ext9. Great solid all around motherboard. When I was water cooling, it held my fx9370 stable at 5.0 ghz for some time before I backed it down to 4.9ghz for the sake of the socket temps. It is usually $20-$30 cheaper than the sabertooth. This was on out of the box Bios. I originally was going to get the Saber tooth, but the ext9 was only $155 at the time while the Asus was $185. Figured I'd give it a chance and could always return it to microcenter if it sucked. Impressed me to say the least.

The only reason I would ever recommend buying the crosshair would be if you're going to buy the full coverage EK water block made for it. Otherwise, the rog and sabertooth boards are almost exactly the same besides color scheme.

Deeply appreciate the input. I'll plan it out properly this time. So far I've spent a good chunk of money on lesser boards. I trust the 990fx killer, I do, but I really do want that llc and other features the other boards offer.


Appreciate all the inputs so far, great writeup on the chfv rgone.

I own the ext9, but haven't pushed an 8 core on it yet so I can only speak of my 6 core Phenom II. I had to RMA it for intermittent error codes and my FSB started dropping under clocking itself. After a few emails with tech support they approved the RMA. It just arrived in Chino, CA on Tuesday and I'm awaiting my replacement. The email from tech support said it would take about 7 days from the time they recieve my board. I'll keep you posted if you'd like. So far no issues with tech support.


P.S. Some of th he error codes I was receiving were only minor and I just dealt with them, but once the FSB started "setting its self" well, I can't have that. Lol

bob4933 said:

Deeply appreciate the input. I'll plan it out properly this time. So far I've spent a good chunk of money on lesser boards. I trust the 990fx killer, I do, but I really do want that llc and other features the other boards offer.


Appreciate all the inputs so far, great writeup on the chfv rgone.

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The killer board from asrock isn't bad. Friend of mine has his fx8320 at 4.4ghz @ 1.4v rock steady. I 5 ink the board has some type of built in LLC be a clue even though the option isn't in the bios, his voltage doesn't fluctuate alot. It is a good cheaper option if you're not looking for top end overclocks

"bob4933" had no real trouble with there being n0 CPU_LLC setting on his board either. Until the board failed for whatever reason it was stable as a rock as indicated by his thread in the mobo section and updates he provided.

If I had a well working CPU_LLC without having to adjust it...well that would be just one less thing to fork around with and get right. Sadly there are many AM3+ mobos with a CPU_LLC settting that are not up to the task of working very well. Or they have so few settings that there is not one to match-up with the load of the cpu on the VRMs.

Working is working. Having an inaccurate bios menu is not the same as working.

Glad a few with the EXT 9 chimed in since we see so few of them. Thanks.
RGone...

formula and formula(z), sabertooth or UT3(new rev.) are only boards I would recommend unless something new is out.
EXT9 is has doubled 6+1 Phase VRM which might be fine for small overclocks but I would not use that board to push these chips.
Asrock claims that it runs 9590 at 5GHz 1.4V fine but I would not expect that low of a voltage on FX chips.

bob, my vote would be the Sabertooth. Mine has been flawless from day one, it handles OCing without any problems. The Crosshair would be great also but unless you really want all the extra bells & whistles than the extra cost isn't warranted.

Blaylock said:

I own the ext9, but haven't pushed an 8 core on it yet so I can only speak of my 6 core Phenom II. I had to RMA it for intermittent error codes and my FSB started dropping under clocking itself. After a few emails with tech support they approved the RMA. It just arrived in Chino, CA on Tuesday and I'm awaiting my replacement. The email from tech support said it would take about 7 days from the time they recieve my board. I'll keep you posted if you'd like. So far no issues with tech support.


P.S. Some of th he error codes I was receiving were only minor and I just dealt with them, but once the FSB started "setting its self" well, I can't have that. Lol

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Based on personal experience with this board, I won't recommend it. Killed 2 of them doing nothing that the other 'clowns' don't do. VRM section is not as stout as you think. Smoked both boards pretty easily.

Mr.Scott said:

Based on personal experience with this board, I won't recommend it. Killed 2 of them doing nothing that the other 'clowns' don't do. VRM section is not as stout as you think. Smoked both boards pretty easily.

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So you are referring to the Asrock 990 FX EXT9? Two dead? Normal RCBoyz stuff? Shett shett. Thanks for responding Mr. Scott. The problem with trying to stay on top of what 'really' works and what may not be so hot is hard to do.

On paper the 990FX EXT looks the equal of the Fatal1y 990FX Professional which is the earlier Asrock model that preceded the EXT9. I found that the FatLady would hold up the same as my CHV non-z board. On paper the EXT9 seemed more of the same and maybe a shade better. The changes Asrock made 'were' for sure in the VRM section. Maybe they shaded to a design a little better in theory but less in execution.

A thing that does seem sort of standardized is that the Sabertooth and the CHV's are all still pretty robust. A number of the RCBoyz have put some serious Vcore and thus load on the VRM circuit of those two boards and the parts and pieces are still working. That is the reason overall we tend to recommend the two units as generally okay for pretty heavy usage by the majority of users. Get the foundational aspects out of the way and then it is clean power, cooling and a good dice roll for good silicon.

Thanks again Mr. Scott for giving heads up.
RGone...

RGone said:

So you are referring to the Asrock 990 FX EXT9?

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Yes. Both with the same 8320 that is running over 5 gig on my Sabertooth. Also another CP member killed 1 with a 8350. So, 3 kills by CP with 83xx chips.

Mr.Scott said:

Yes. Both with the same 8320 that is running over 5 gig on my Sabertooth. Also another CP member killed 1 with a 8350. So, 3 kills by CP with 83xx chips.

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Well unless you boyz at CP use a bigger hammer than sum the RCBoyz...that is not overly nice of the EXT9. Noted in my mind now. Thanks man.
RGone...

RGone said:

Well unless you boyz at CP use a bigger hammer than sum the RCBoyz...that is not overly nice of the EXT9. Noted in my mind now. Thanks man.
RGone...

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Nah. No different than the guys here. Matter of fact, the other CP member is basically a gamer, not like me. I can be barbaric when I need to be.

Also, a side note. All 3 boards were refused RMA. My 2 are understandable as they were 'samples'. The other guys board was not, but was refused because he dropped my name and my contacts name. Assassination by association.

Only here to help. Thanks.

I had no chance to test many FX CPUs ( maybe 3 on cold ) but looking at the various comments on the forums I would stick to ASUS CHV/CHV-Z. Have to find the best BIOS ( not always latest ) as not all are good but except that it was one of my best boards.

Mr.Scott said:

Nah. No different than the guys here. Matter of fact, the other CP member is basically a gamer, not like me. I can be barbaric when I need to be.

Also, a side note. All 3 boards were refused RMA. My 2 are understandable as they were 'samples'. The other guys board was not, but was refused because he dropped my name and my contacts name. Assassination by association.

Only here to help. Thanks.

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Like you said...you might understand your RMA refusal but that refusal for the gaming buddy, is a real suck arse deal.

I handled many RMAs for DFI when they were still in the DIY business. I often found the affected user in DFI forum first and said keep the request for RMA simple and to the point. Broke. Need fix. No extra information necessary. I found that to be much easier to verify and move forward. But it seems we all want to kinda 'explain' it all so we don't seem so bad. Hehehe. Listen here as I am speaking with myself in that freeken group. I just found out overtime, that there was a time for few words, for me such a wordy ole faht.

Again it seems well to say, thank you sir.
RGone...