• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

AM3 upgrade?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

juliendogg

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Location
NC, USA
This may not really belong in the mobo section, but I want to start with the mobo, so here goes... I haven't been very active on here in a few years. Life got in the way. As a result, my poor PC hasn't seen much in the way of an upgrade in the past 4 years or so. I'm running an AM2 board, Gigabyte M57SLI-S4, with a Phenom 9750 with two 8800GTS 512's, all powered by a crappy Thermaltake TR2 750. I am sitting on a pair of Palit 560ti's that I picked up in the classifieds here. Now I need to put something behind them that can keep up. I'm definitely on a budget, but obviously I need a mobo, proc, and probably a PSU. Obviously I need SLI, and it looks like the 990FX chipset is the way to go for this. The Sabertooth seems to be a good performer with perhaps a good bit of problems. I really kind of need something that will fire up and go. I use my PC for some mild gaming, but also need it ready for work when I need it. If you want to elaborate on what you'd go for beyond a mobo, feel free to. That would be most helpful! What I'm really looking for is a good recommendation on a dependable and feature filled AM3 mobo at a reasonable price. Sorry for the long noob sounding rant. Let me know what you would do....
 
Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 is a very good board. We have many in the AMD section using one and they don't report issues. So you have to look at what type of user has the issues.
RGone...
 
LOL, yes, true that. I guess that's the board I pretty much had my heart set on, so that's probably the route I will take. Being on a budget, I was looking at getting a good board, throwing in a lower end 6 core, like an fx6100. I have 8 gigs of PC3 10600 that should get me started. Also using a Hyper 212 cooler. Hope that will be ok on the x6. If this PSU holds up, I'd be good to go.
 
If you live near a microcenter they have a walk in combo deal, $40 off a motherboard/cpu combo. I suggest if you get the FX 6300 over the 6100, the Piledrives are much better processors then the Bulldozers. You can get the FX 6300/ Sabertooth combo for around $260 + tax.
 
I live nowhere near anything, lol. Anything I buy will have to be ordered. I'm hoping to get mobo, cpu, and a PSU for as close to 300 as possible. Going to keep an eye on the classifieds here for a while in the hopes that something pops up. If not in the next few weeks I'll order something new. FX6300 + sabertooth + 800 - 1kw PSU.

On another note, how does the M5A99 stack up to the Sabertooth? A few bucks cheaper.....
 
Last edited:
I have a M5A99X Evo not R 2.0, it's a really good motherboard but wasn't up to the task of overclocking my FX 8350 above 4.5. I if you aren't planning on pushing the 6300 very far it should suit your needs. I can't say how it will handle it if you really try to push it.

You don't need a 800w PSU for that setup with the 560's in sli. With everything overclocked and running 100% your looking at probably 600w max. I believe there is a good 700w in the classies the Bobnova is selling that would be perfect for the price, just make sure it is sli compatible, which I'm sure it is.
 
I enjoy overclocking whatever system I have as far as I can keep it stable. Considering what I'm coming from (am2 mobo, 9750, 2 8800GTS) I doubt pushing it very far will be necessary, other than the fun factor. I bought a crappy Thermaltake TR2 RX 750 a while back for a 12v camper wiring project, then lucked up on a sweet silverstone which I also bought and ended up using in the camper. I was gonna send the thermaltake back but I ended up throwing it in my rig just to see how it'd do. I have not had any problems with it at all, but after the feedback it's getting, I'm not sure I want to trust it with these upgrades. If I'm gonna buy another, might as well get one that leaves me some headroom? That was the thinking, anyway. Not sure I can get much in the way of monies back by trying to sell the TR2 though. I could keep it, and try to use it, but I'd hate to have it kill any of this new gear.
 
Last edited:
Maybe you should have a look at the reviews on it. I don't think that the TR2 is that terrible, it's just not what we would recommend for the money. I own one,it's on a old Athlon system I let my 9 yr old use, it works fine. Sometimes we need to use with what we can.

With the overclocking on the M5A99X like I said it's a good board, my 955be was stable 3 hours prime @ 4.3 on it. Then I bought my 8350 and found out really quick, the VRM power section wasn't robust enough for really high OC's. These FX 8xxx series processors require a lot of power from the VRM section when pushed hard. That is why I bought the CHV in my signature, which I've been able to get my 8350 to 5.1, 2 hours prime stable and 5.4, for benching, not stable though.

I do not recall anyone on this forum trying to push a 6300 on that board. It may be fine since it has two less "cores". Then again it may not be, I'm sure you would be able to get it to 4.5 since I was able to on the 8350 but after that it is an unknown for me.
 
Thanks for all the great info! I may just stick with the TR2 for a bit and save some pennies, which would make me feel better about springing for the Sabertooth. The M5A99X seems like it would do what I want, but if I do end up needing more from the CPU in the future, the better power management on the Sabertooth sounds like a big plus.
 
Have a look at this list ssjwizard put together it's what motherboards we recommend people use for overclocking a FX 6xxx/8xxx series processors.
 
Good read. Pretty much lays out what we been talking about, lol. Definitely leaning sabertooth/fx6300, short of finding an awesome deal on something in the classifieds here. Would be nice to find that kind of deal on a combo like you mentioned. Will keep my eyes open.... Thanks again!
 
Still patiently watchin' the classies. Really nothing yet. So far though, the old 9750 rig is holding up pretty well. The PSU is chugging right along, and the 2x 560 ti definitely added a boost in BF3 and BC2. What really drives me nutty is that I can't even get 100mhz oc out of this 9750. Pretty sure the boards VRMs just can't hack it. This board clocked my old X2 like crazy, but anything over stock on the 9750 and it's as unstable as charlie manson. I need something I can tweak on again, lol!
 
Yup. Mobo limbo. Been remodeling the kitchen so funds for computer upgrades are kind of on hold. Just waiting around until some incredible deal pops up. :)
 
I'm running the Sabretooth R 2.0 but the second gen. They're about $180 at newegg ATM. It's a good solid board, it hsandles the heat and power draw of the 8350 like a champ.I've run numerous different BIOS versions on it and never once had an issue with it. I've been running F@H for 10 days straight now for the CC with both GPU oc'd as well and not even a hiccup ! It's been like a microfurnace in there at times but it keeps on chugging.
You wouldn't be disappointed.
 
So here's a new thought. Since the budget is obviously too tight for me to scrape up the DDR3/Sabertooth/FX scrap, would it be worthwhile to go 965 + slightly lower end mobo?
 
Well I can tell you this, my 955be on a Asus M5A99X runs really well. I have it at 4.1 on air stable 2 hours prime. I don't know if it will hold back the 560's in sli, but I used to play BFBC2 on it with the 5850 in my sig with no problems.
 
I guess the difference is about 100 to go with the sabertooth / extreme 9 and an FX vs grabbing a 965 while they are still available and something like the M5A99X. I reckon I still need the 990 chipset for SLI, unless I could sell the two 560's for a single beefier card. I'm running BFBC2 fairly well now, but struggling a little with BF3.
 
Back