AM2+ mobo for OC

[Bjm2587]

Hi, I started a thread in the wrong section but seeing as how no one is responding and a mod hasnt moved it I hope I can get better help in this section. Anyway, I have a athlon x2 7550 that I want to over clock and looking for a decent board for around $100. Has anyone used hybrid sli before? What do you think of this board. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4303021&CatId=2320
I dont see that it has any overclocking abilities though...

Basically I'm looking for an atx board that will:
Support SLI
Support up to 6-8gb of ddr2
Support over clocking
Good FSB
Support raid

 

[pharoer]

Hybrid SLI is not really worth it since the supported videocards are so ****ty. HybridPower is slightly better but has a performance hit for the (much faster) PCIe card. Last but not least MS doesn't support it in Windows7.

For notebooks HybridPower makes some sense for saving battery power. For desktops: waste of good on die transistors.

 

[Bjm2587]

Oh ok, I didnt know anything about hybrid sli. What atx board would you recommend?

 

[pharoer]

Depends on your budget and already existing hardware.. And of course intended usage.

 

[Bjm2587]

Well I'm pretty sure I already covered all that in my original post but here it goes. Budget $80-$110. Hardware: AM2+ 7550 athlon x2 and raid for my sata drives along with sli. Intended usage, well, I said I wanted to overclock and I'm looking for something that supports sli so I would assume I want to build a budget gaming rig. It's all in the top post.

 

[pharoer]

For starters you didn't mention you videocard at all but that's very important for a SLI decision. Not to mention that 8GB of RAM and X2 7550 don't mix very well (imho).

Next, your intended usage is definitely not overclocking. You don't overclock for OCing's sake (except for a few pros, but they don't use a X2 7550 normally and they don't ask questions like yours). You do it to make some application or game or whatever run faster. What application(s) are those?

 

[Bjm2587]

No video cards as of yet, sorry if my post came off as rude. I'll be buying the mobo first so I can match the gpu with it later when I have more money. Dont plan on going a full 8gb ram, but like to know I have the option to upgrade later. As for OCing I'll be doing it just for the sake of learning, I've never owned a cpu that had the potential and I know the 7550 isnt the best but I've seen people get it up to 3.6 from 2.5. Not much of a pc gamer as of yet but that will change when I have a capable pc.

 

[pharoer]

You weren't rude but you didn't give enough information to give you an informed advice. And you still haven't answered the question: what do you intend to do with your new PC? You do something with your PC, right? You play certain games: what are those; you run certain applications: again, which ones?
Cause usage defines hardware choices. And later purchases and budget in that future play a big role too.

I'd suggest to drop the SLI requirement since it's probably not really suited for you. For a X2 system I'd suggest a AMD 780 chipset. Since you need a built in videocard for now, a 780G to be exact, like this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4588154&CatId=2320

 

[Bjm2587]

I do occasional html and flash, program in vb, photoediting (cs3 and gimp), surf the web, movies, music. Games I like to play are crysis, fall out3, gears of war, left 4 dead and some rts's that arnt that intensive. I will definitely pick up starcraft 2 and diablo 3 when they come out. My computer is my life blood I eat sleep and drink at my pc so I use it for everything. That seems like a decent board but it doesnt say anything about over clocking. I've been surfing the web all day looking for good boards that have what I'm looking for and I found this one earlier http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart
It seems like everyone on tiger like it but it has a lot of problems with people on new egg.

 

[x047x]

MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum

Well at $125 it's a little above your price range, but I'm currently running an MSI K9N2-SLI Platinum. I picked it up for $140 at NewEgg in December and have been very pleased with it. It's been reliable and comes with an American Megatrends bios which has a laundry list of options for overclocking (I forget the exact revision of the bios that I'm running). I didn't want to spend more than $100 when I bought it too, but I'm glad I spent a little more as it's a hell of a board.

Here is a link to the board on TigerDirect: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3975887&Sku=M452-6032

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[Bjm2587]

Nice, I think I found my board Are you using an after market sink on the cpu? I want to get something massive like this http://www.xoxide.com/tuniq-t-120-hsf.html
but not sure about the clearance.

 

[pharoer]

Generally, any mainboard from Asus, Gigabyte or even MSI will overclock well enough for your current CPU. If you can, get a ATX board instead of a MicroATX one.

Most demanding task for your PC seem to be games. That poses a problem with your game selection and your new videocard: no integrated graphics on the market is really suited to play Crysis. At all. What are you currently using to play it?
Fallout 3 should be doable with current built in cards (Again, ATI is a bit better here since their chipsets are a lot newer. Nvidia hasn't released new chipsets since forever basically) if you don't insist on high res or high details. Can't say for Gears of War. Rest of the games should pose no problem. Future games like Diablo3 have nothing to go on, not even required specs so no one can say anything. Blizzard isn't going for bling (=excessive graphics) but for playability so if you have a discrete PCI-E card by then you should be fine. Not as if D3 comes out next year anyways (well maybe christmas 2010 if we are REALLY REALLY lucky)

 

[x047x]

I do have a aftermarket heatsink/fan setup. I paid $30 for a Kingwin Revolution RVT-9225 with a 92mm fan attached (which I replaced with a fan with white LED's and a slightly higher CFM airflow rating. I found that bigger doesn't always mean better necessarily, and the setup I have tested well in the $20-$30. I've never had any problems with heat (though admittedly it's been quite some time since I actually looked up what it was running at under load). Anyway, if you do go with the MSI board, you wont be disappointed and as far as the fan goes, just make sure it has decent air flow and is made from a material that will conduct heat well (mine has copper heat tubes). Good luck!

(Here's the newegg link for the fan I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835124017)

​

 

[Bjm2587]

Great, thanks. pharoer I used to have a crappy quadcore build that could play crysis on min settings but had to sell it and get something that cant play crysis at all right now.

 

[Bjm2587]

Is there a way I can load a 3rd party bios into the mobo that I already have that supports over clocking? Since Im getting a new one I dont really care about the one I have.

 

[bldegle2]

"Support up to 6-8gb of ddr2"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

as long as you run the PC6400....if you want PC8500 (1066 runnings), then you prolly will run into problems, just wanted you to know so you don't get surprised later....

it is mostly an AMD thing....

laterzzzz..........

 

[pharoer]

Is there a way I can load a 3rd party bios into the mobo that I already have that supports over clocking? Since Im getting a new one I dont really care about the one I have.

No. There are some programs which can OC (change FSB mainly) from Windows. SetFSB for example. It depends on the program knowing what type of PLL chip your mobo has.

 

[QuietIce]

"Support up to 6-8gb of ddr2"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

as long as you run the PC6400....if you want PC8500 (1066 runnings), then you prolly will run into problems, just wanted you to know so you don't get surprised later....

it is mostly an AMD thing....

laterzzzz..........

Pretty sure 2x4 Gb will run just fine.

Sometimes 4 sticks @ DDR2-1066 is an issue, sometimes it isn't ...

 

[wickedout]

I'm running the ASUS M4A78-EM. So far so good. I need to learn how to OC. I'm a rookie at this. I have my CPU running at 3.0 MHz. currently. It's hecka fast for me. I'm about to get a video card and a new PSU. What should I get?

Forum peeps help me out. I want a good video card to compliment my MB and CPU. For my PSU I'm leaning towards Antec. Thanks everyone for your help in advance.

 

[Bjm2587]

Alright, I waited before I ordered that board because I wasnt sure what gpu I was getting. I ended up getting a sapphire hd4830 and plan on buying another one shortly to do crossfire. I've also done more research on mobo's and I know what I'm looking for now and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on a board that fits these specs. I found some on new egg and tiger but I would also like to hear what you guys are using and what you like/dislike. Thanks.

Support crossfire
ATX
AM2+ and AM3 socket (from what I understand these will support both ddr2 and 3, right?)
And of course support over clocking. Reason why I want a board with am2+/am3 socket is so I can oc my 7550 until I can afford to buy a phenom II BE. Thanks for any input I appreciate it.

Any opinions on this board? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131368