Best AM3 Overclocking motherboard

[QuietIce]

I'll be honest with you. The Asus Amd boards are all a bit "meh" for me. Voltage regulation issues (bios may have fixed these), ...

The BIOS re-writes/updates did fix the LLC problems they were having with the 890FX boards and the M4A89GTD as well, I believe, so the voltage regulation issues are resolved for those boards.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Okay good. I thought I read something about it getting better, but I don't understand why it's even a bios feature. There is no voltage calibration on the Gigabyte boards, yet the voltage is 100% stable under load. Stock load, overclocked load, even benching load has no droop or fluctuation.

 

[Apht3rThawt]

I think he meant the PCIe lanes. 16/16 as opposed to 16/8 of 8/8.

That's what I meant gentlemen, like freeway lanes. I have both 890fx and 890gpa/gx mbs. Bios updates changed multi to full steps; x1. I use older FE bios on 890gx and F4 on the 890fx. Don't see llc on gigabyte amd. My gigabyte s775 has it, or G/mch, I assume is the same.

 

[QuietIce]

Okay good. I thought I read something about it getting better, but I don't understand why it's even a bios feature. There is no voltage calibration on the Gigabyte boards, yet the voltage is 100% stable under load. Stock load, overclocked load, even benching load has no droop or fluctuation.

My M3A32 is exactly the same way.

All board power systems have voltage regulation but, more recently, it's been labeled "LLC" and made an adjustable option in BIOS (sometimes simply on/off, sometimes by %). I'm not sure why board manufacturers changed the way they're doing things but I'm sure, somewhere in there, they're saving money ...

 

[ClintonL]

actually will definitly get a gigabyte now as the asus's pci-e spacing isn't that good (for my soundcard/tv tuner).
Just deciding between the 890GPA-UD3H and the 890fxa-ud3h

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Definitely get the FX chipset. The board may cost more, but you definitely get a great quality board.

 

[RedDeviL]

Gigabyte 890fx, awesome mb.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1524511

Bro, can you please post your OC detail? i have the almost same system as you do(8gig ram & 1 HD5770). but having trouble with OC. please post your detail. it will be a great help.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

790FX board, and my new 555 BE...

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1557473

 

[fat jez]

I'm coming to this party a bit late, but I bought the Asus M4A89TD Pro/USB3 and boy am I regretting it. The spacing of the PCIE slots is poor - if you want to crossfire, then you only have one spare 4x PCI-E slot and 2 PCI slots. I use the 4x slot for my Adaptect RAID card, so that leaves me no spare slots for a PCI-E soundcard.

Why do I need a PCI-E soundcard you ask? Because every time I shutdown my PC, I get a loud burst of static through my speakers as the capacitors discharge.

As for overclocking, Asus in their wisdom put some of the power chips on the reverse of the motherboard where they get incredibly hot, to the point where the motherboard throttles back the voltage and multiplier until they cool down. I had my CPU stable at 4.2GHz under water, but this throttling back has put a stop to that plan (V core was around 1.5V if you were wondering, temps were up to 52 degrees C). I did stick some ram heatsinks on them which helped a bit (the multiplier would stay at 21x for longer) , but with no airflow at all across the back of the motherboard, that was a hiding to nothing.

Really wish I'd gone for the Gigabyte board now.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Why do I need a PCI-E soundcard you ask? Because every time I shutdown my PC, I get a loud burst of static through my speakers as the capacitors discharge.

Is that why that happens?

I know someone that has that exact same board and their computer does this too. I was wondering why it kept having that horrible static on bootup and shutdown. I think I'll avoid this board if that is a common problem then.

 

[fat jez]

By way of an update, I ditched my Asus M4A89TD Pro/USB3 and replaced it with a Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UDZ instead. I'm now running at 4.2GHz with no throttling problems at all. Sound quality is excellent too. Much happier with this board than the Asus