Biostar, Giga, ASRock, MIS... FIGHT!

[pinkles]

Ok, I am picking out a mobo and I have narrowed it down to these four options (I am open to other mobos if you know of any better ones)

I have narrowed it to these four because they all have support for what I want: AM3 (obviously), ability to do x16 by x16 crossfire, and not extremely expensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138193
Biostar: 140$

Supporters [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441
Gigabyte: 180$

Supporters [xxxx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157196
ASRock: 155$

Supporters [ ]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=MSI_790FX-GD70-_-13-130-223-_-Product
MSI: ~150$

Supporters [ ]



I will add "x"s to the mobo you want me to get! I have the final vote and my vote counts as forty five "x"s

All prices came from newegg.com

 

[coonmanx]

Both the Biostar and ASRock boards offer great bang for your buck performance. I'm going to say go for the Biostar board.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

I have never been a big MSI fan. Something about 4+1 phase power on their highest end 790 board bugged me. I currently have a Gigabyte and it has perfect voltage regulation. In my untrained eyes, biostar and Asrock as "lesser" brands because they aren't publicized as much (which means smaller company, which could lead to poor CS) so I vote Gigabyte.

 

[coonmanx]

Biostar has great Customer Service. ASRock is Asus's brand.

 

[xoke]

See sig.

 

[Prunecandy]

that biostar is supposed to be a monster oc'er

 

[xoke]

that biostar is supposed to be a monster oc'er

If your CPU is unlocked, yes it is...I love the board and BIOSTAR, but in my opinion they need a BIOS update to get full potential out of Base Clock overclocking.

With a 955BE, NameGT (he is like the South Korean K|ngp|n) hit 7125mhz....he picked up 68XXmhz on a 1090T, both were only around 250 on base clock.

http://67.90.82.13/forums/showthread.php?t=252011

 

[Prunecandy]

If your CPU is unlocked, yes it is...I love the board and BIOSTAR, but in my opinion they need a BIOS update to get full potential out of Base Clock overclocking.

With a 955BE, NameGT (he is like the South Korean K|ngp|n) hit 7125mhz....he picked up 68XXmhz on a 1090T, both were only around 250 on base clock.

http://67.90.82.13/forums/showthread.php?t=252011

thats amazing

 

[xoke]

thats amazing

Yea, he doesn't suck, lol

 

[pinkles]

I plan on getting either the phenom II 955 or 965 black edition, so I will be working with an unlocked CPU.

Yea, he doesn't suck, lol

That's a lot of cores running a lot of mhz!

 

[xoke]

I plan on getting either the phenom II 955 or 965 black edition, so I will be working with an unlocked CPU.


That's a lot of cores running a lot of mhz!

For what it's worth, I was in the city building a computer for a friend of mine this weekend. He wanted something similar to what I'm running (see sig). I "skimped" and picked him up a 955BE, TA890FXE, 4Gb Gskill, and a 5870. Anyways, that 955BE overclocks exactly as far as mine does without doing major tweaking.

Your results may vary, but the 955BE is 1.375v@3200 mhz...the 965BE is 1.39v@3400 mhz. Therefore I contend they are the exact same CPU, except one cost $25 bucks more. Again, your results may vary...but I hope you see what I'm saying. I jumped in Bios, set his multiplier to 18 (3.6ghz) and walked away...we gamed all weekend without issue.

 

[pinkles]

Haha, cool! Thanks for letting me know, ever bit I save counts!

 

[xoke]

Haha, cool! Thanks for letting me know, ever bit I save counts!

Understand what that $25 is though...it's a guarantee of 3.4ghz. there is a chance that if you get a 955BE she wont budge past 3.3ghz (it will be the first recorded instance in history) but it could happen.

Every CPU is different, remember that. I had 3 q6600s, all of them had different "top speeds" ...you never know. 99% chance your 955BE will do 3.6ghz in my opinion, if you can cool it.

Best wishes!

 

[pinkles]

Hey, I'm running a q6600 right now! Stock b/c my mobo won't overclock... never buy OEM mobo's... lol

[offtopic]Speaking of cooling... what cooler do you suggest?[/offtopic]

 

[Prunecandy]

Hey, I'm running a q6600 right now! Stock b/c my mobo won't overclock... never buy OEM mobo's... lol

[offtopic]Speaking of cooling... what cooler do you suggest?[/offtopic]

how much do you want to spend on it?

 

[pinkles]

No more than $100

 

[xoke]

Hey, I'm running a q6600 right now! Stock b/c my mobo won't overclock... never buy OEM mobo's... lol

[offtopic]Speaking of cooling... what cooler do you suggest?[/offtopic]

Well, at first I was running an Enzotech Extreme, nice coler but I believe it is more suited for Intels...it really starts to shine at high temps, but AMDs like it cold. Just this weekend I stumbled across a Coolit ECO A.L.C., it's a "water cooling" kit much like the Corsair model....thus far, I'm really pleased, but I'm not going for any kind of extreme overclock.

In my opinion, if you want to get stupid fast with an AMD, save yourself the headache and get a custom watercooling kit. If your OK with 3.6-3.8ghz, a good air kit will suffice.

I haven't used any of the top air kits, I'm sure they are all very good, but I'm more than pleased with the ECO. It's a nice balance between good cooling/size/and silence. It's small, flexible, I have all my RAM slots, and it looks pretty sweet...see link below. My 2 cents...

Noctua D-14, True, Thermaltake Hyper 212,,,etc are all as good, if not better depending on your wants. I lug my PC around quite a bit, so I couldn't be happier with the ECO A.L.C.

Was posting about it earlier tonight... http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=644041

 

[k88]

I prefer Biostar then MSI, later asrock

 

[QuietIce]

My vote is for the Gigabyte board. It's 790FX and even 790X predecessors were excellent OC'ers.


For a great cooler the TRUE Black Rev.C and some nice fans just can't be beat ...
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulbledrec.html

Fans from quiet through "you'd better use a fan controller or wear earplugs"
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scsf63cfms12.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12mesp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12hisp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12trblhisp.html

For an exceptional value and decent performance Yate Loon's are also well thought of around here:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/yateloonfans.html


Here's a link to muddocktor's TRUE and Megahalems testing thread:
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=629296

 

[Prunecandy]

My vote is for the Gigabyte board.


For a great cooler the TRUE Black Rev.C and some nice fans just can't be beat ...
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulbledrec.html

Fans from quiet through "you'd better use a fan controller or wear earplugs"
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scsf63cfms12.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12mesp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12hisp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12trblhisp.html

^^^^^^^^^^^