SOLVED ASUS M4A87TD??

[HAL-9000]

Firstly, I'd just like to say Hi to everyone, as I am new to the forum.

I'm planning a build around a Phenom II x6 Black Edition. I've been building wayyy back to the Pentium days. I've never overclocked before (I know.. I know lol) & this will be my first attempt. I'm currently comparing MBs & came accross the ASUS M4A87TD.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A87TDUSB3/

Asus boasts that with this board's "turbo unlocker" you can simply unlock cores without going into the Bios settings. My question is.. Is this a good thing or a bad thing. I'm a bit weary about going the software route, rather than old school Bios OCing. Thoughts?? Also, I DO like other features on this board & am considering getting it even if I OC my Phenom without using the Turbo software. More thoughts??

 

[RGone]

"Turbo Unlocker" is a feature according to the link. There are many features of a motherboard that are likely never ever used. YOU can make "turbo unlocker" one of those featues by not using it.

 

[oldbrave]

I'm sorry but I don't see where the "Turbo Unlocker" feature would be any sort of a consideration since the processor you are planning on building around doesn't have any thing to unlock.

 

[caddi daddi]

+1 oldbrave. no cores to unlock.

 

[HAL-9000]

I'm sorry but I don't see where the "Turbo Unlocker" feature would be any sort of a consideration since the processor you are planning on building around doesn't have any thing to unlock.

+1 oldbrave. no cores to unlock.

You're both right. I guess what I'm trying to get at is.. I was wondering if anyone knew this to be a reason to avoid this MB. I realize the answer is probably no, but I figured I'd ask anyway before I drop money on it. I'm also wondering if anybody had any recomendations, but that's a topic for another thread.

 

[caddi daddi]

I feel that the motherboard is more important than the processor, blow a processor and you just pop in another procssor, pop a vrm or mosfet and it's time for a new board and processor.
seek out those people that run that same cpu, read the sigs of the real hotdogs see what they use. go to hbot.org, and see what the really big dogs are using then, go to the manufactueres web site and compare specs and heatsinks to what you are thinking about.

reading has cost me nothing, lazyness has cost me hundereds

 

[HAL-9000]

I feel that the motherboard is more important than the processor, blow a processor and you just pop in another procssor, pop a vrm or mosfet and it's time for a new board and processor.
seek out those people that run that same cpu, read the sigs of the real hotdogs see what they use. go to hbot.org, and see what the really big dogs are using then, go to the manufactueres web site and compare specs and heatsinks to what you are thinking about.

reading has cost me nothing, lazyness has cost me hundereds

Thanks.. I'll do that. I still need a few other parts for this build so I have plenty of time for research.

 

[RGone]

Asus "turbo unlocker" has nothing at all to do with unlocking cores. They have 'core unlocker' for that function. I followed his link to 'read' what Asus called turbo unlocker and they are actually talking about what AMD calls Turbo Core. Not much load and 'all cores' get a mhz boost. Medium load and half the cores get a mhz boost and then only a single core may get a speed boost if the load is heavy. That is Asus's description of "turbo unlocker".

What I did not question in my first post was why go for an 8xx chipset motherboard when the Bulldozer and 'maybe' soon the PileDriver processors will be out? Would it not be better to look to an upgrade path with the later 9xx AMD chipset?

I know he said, " Phenom II x6 Black Edition " was his proposed processor for the build but he better have one in his hand already since it has been months since any of us in the USA could find one of those 6 core Black Editions for sale in Retail.

 

[HAL-9000]

Asus "turbo unlocker" has nothing at all to do with unlocking cores. They have 'core unlocker' for that function. I followed his link to 'read' what Asus called turbo unlocker and they are actually talking about what AMD calls Turbo Core. Not much load and 'all cores' get a mhz boost. Medium load and half the cores get a mhz boost and then only a single core may get a speed boost if the load is heavy. That is Asus's description of "turbo unlocker".

What I did not question in my first post was why go for an 8xx chipset motherboard when the Bulldozer and 'maybe' soon the PileDriver processors will be out? Would it not be better to look to an upgrade path with the later 9xx AMD chipset?

I know he said, " Phenom II x6 Black Edition " was his proposed processor for the build but he better have one in his hand already since it has been months since any of us in the USA could find one of those 6 core Black Editions for sale in Retail.

You're right.. I got my features mixed up.

I've pretty much already steered away from this MB for a few reasons. The chipset being one of them.

As for already having the Black Edition:

 

[HAL-9000]

go to hbot.org

are you sure about that url?? it couldn't be more off topic lol

 

[Knufire]

Hwbot.org

It's a database of overclocks...when people benchmark for fun and stuff, that's the database that they submit to. It's good for looking up previous OCs of your CPU to get an idea of what you can aim for.

 

[HAL-9000]

Hwbot.org

It's a database of overclocks...when people benchmark for fun and stuff, that's the database that they submit to. It's good for looking up previous OCs of your CPU to get an idea of what you can aim for.

SWEET!.. TY

 

[caddi daddi]

i hope it didn't go to far off topic.