AM3+ Boards with virtualization support

[gsoftie]

Hi, I bought a MSI 970a - G46 board and intented to use it for virtualization. But it (the BIOS) does not support AMD-V (IOMMU). (Using a FX-8120)

So I have to replace it. What boards can you recommend that support Virtualization? Is there a list out there?

 

[I.M.O.G.]

I know the crosshair v formula does, first hand experience. I am not sure which others, but I am sure people can chime in.

 

[gsoftie]

Thanks for the info. I could go with the crosshair v formula but I do not need most of its features, so I wonder which MB's also support Virtualization ..

 

[RGone]

It can be tricky to find out which motherboards support VT-d/IOMMU, as very few consumer motherboards support this feature. With the help of the whitebox suggestions over at vm-help.com, I was able to find a Socket AM3+ IOMMU capable motherboard, the Gigabyte GA-970-UD3. According to AMD’s technical specs, the AMD 970, 990X, and 990FX series all support IOMMU, but true support is largely dependent if the option is actually available in the BIOS settings and working correctly.

Based on that it might be a good idea to check with those that are into virtualization all the time.

 

[gsoftie]

That Gigabyte board should be a good fit. Meanwhile I also found that the Asrock 990FX Extreme3 supports virtualization. Which one should I prefer?

 

[trents]

I'm a little partial to ASRock over Gigabyte. I've found Gigabyte boards to frequently have bios issues. ASRock has absolutely the most user friendly website of all the board manufacturers. Have not use toe 970 Extreme 3 but I have used the 870 Extreme 3 in a build and was very impressed. My suggestion is to read user reviews in NewEgg for both these boards and look for the issues that are being reported by significant numbers of users, keeping in mind that some reviewers are technological idiots. But look for patterns in the reviewers remarks.