MB choice for AMD Ph. II 955

[rustic]

I have bought so far:

CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

Ram: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail OCZ3P16004GK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297

HSF: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

Boot Drive:Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033

Storage:Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

I will be using a single GPU such as Geforce 260 core 216 minimum.
I also will possibly want a mild OC on the cpu, about 3.6 ish.
I also dont need onboard video.

With that said, which mobo out of these should i get:

GA-MA790XT-UD4P= cheapest, (1) pcie16, 790x chipset- will that hurt OC?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

GA-MA790FXT-UD5P= about $40 more (2) PCIe16, 790FX- better performance?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128377

MSI 790FX-GD70= same price as one above, lots PCIe16, 790 FX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223

Also I was a little worried about the ram speed, from what ive read it may not run at 1600 speed but it wont be a big deal right?

Still need to get the case which will probably be Antec 902.
Still need video card problably geforce 216 or better.

thanks for your time.

 

[Ha-Nocri]

GA-MA790XT-UD4P has 2 PCIe x16 slots also, altho you can run 2 cards in CF only in X8. Good reviews for 790X boards are lacking, so I would recomend either one of the 2 790FX boards which are both excellent. You can add in the competition DFI's LP DK 790FXB-M3H5 and Asus' M4A79T Deluxe...

 

[rustic]

ok thanks. looking at the MSI board more closely now.

 

[Zurvan]

GD70 at $170 is great. But I had seen the DFI 790FXb M3H5 at $150 a few days back, and its having good reviews as well so you may want to find more about it.
But,since you want only single card setups and your OC ambitions arent too high it is best you invest in a 790GX board. 790GX is relatively newer chipset, overclocks as well as the 790FX, only thing it doesnt provide is full X16 crossfire. You also get a decent IGP that can be pretty handy when your vid card troubles

Also, OCZ has released an AMD edition of the exact same memory you have chosen. It has certain features supported only by AMD . You may want to get those instead.
EDIT: nvm you have already bought mem sticks

 

[Blue Jester_2112]

I just picked up the MSI board along with a 720 from ZipZoomFly for a great combo price, I beleive it was $280-ish. I also grabbed the same OCZ Platinum kit as you. All of it should be arriving today so I'm moderately stoked (would be totally stoked except my new PSU and 4890 are lagging behind). I went with the MSI board because the few reviews that were out there seemed very favorable and for the 4 PCIe slots for the possibility of dual/tri/quad crossfire down the road

 

[michta35]

I ran the m4t8aT-E GX board. It was not a bad board. However, the gx asus boards have issues with voltage drops under load which is no good for a nice OC. I went to an m4a79T deluxe and this board absolutely rocks. 200+ more mhz on my OC so far.

 

[Sprocket7]

Hi Rustic,
I'm in the same position as yourself pretty much with an identical chip. Haven't bought anything yet, but the shopping list is ready for 'activating next week'. The AM3 mobo was the hardest thing to choose but I found a very informative article entitled "Battling for the AM3 Crown - AMD 790FX Motherboard Shootout" by Vincent Chang which is well worth reading.

 

[rustic]

thanks fellas.

Sprocket7. so does that mean you are gonna go with MSI?

 

[Neuromancer]

That MSI board is pure sex.

If performance is your goal there was a review recently of the 4 790FX AM3 boards.

With DFI as the 100% benchmark, the gigabyte board scored about 101% the MSI 101.4% and the ASUS 101.6%. All things being equal ASUS is the best, but at around $20 cheaper (last I lookeD) and only .2% behind, MSI is were I would go.

Not a big fan of Gigabyte, but they certainly are very popular for the price/performance conscious.

 

[Ha-Nocri]

Yes, here is the text. At the end, considering everything, author recommends MSI as #1 choice, but Gigabyte as #2 b/c of only 2 PCIe X16 slots. Look at this video for overclocking on the Giga board. That is if we are going into details. Otherwise, you just cannot be wrong if you chose any of the 4 790FX board...

 

[Sprocket7]

Rustic,
Must say I was pretty indecisive weighing up first one then the other and then changing etc. But the layout of the article is very clear and shows clearly which provides what.

The MSI 790FX-GD70 offers too much for this newbie to do it full justice right now. But I reckon it will be fun to learn and grow into it over the next couple of years. It's bound to be superceded but the intrinsic quality will still be there for a good while yet. And for all that I'm happy to spend the extra £30 or so.

Having decided on my mobo, 955 chip and Mugen 2 cooler my biggest fear before ordering is the actual physical size of my memory and whether it will fit OK. (This w/e I'll be x-checking sizes).

 

[michta35]

Either the giga or the m4A79T Deluxe are both good choices imo.