Motherboard recommendation

[blackersabbath]

Hi guys,
Building a new system with an AM3 socket CPU, not sure which one yet, still weighing options out. I'm only going to run one graphics card but I'm looking to overclock with the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 heatsink and would like the option of unlocking cores. I don't need RAID or anything super fancy like that either, just a nice, stable OC board

 

[k88]

what is your budget? maybe you can go for 890 chipset

 

[beenthere]

A 790/890 chipset mobo from Gigabyte would be my recommendation for reliable performance. Their website compares the various models so you can buy what you need. Depending on where you source the mobo, you may actually be able to buy a more feature filled mobo for the same or lower price if someone is running a sale. Find the models that meet your need and shop-till-ya-drop!

 

[blackersabbath]

My budget is as close to $100 as I can get. I've been looking at the 890gx/890fx chipsets too. The Biostar TA890FX looks good but not too sure about the openbox at newegg which is where I will be buying everything

 

[xoke]

My budget is as close to $100 as I can get. I've been looking at the 890gx/890fx chipsets too. The Biostar TA890FX looks good but not too sure about the openbox at newegg which is where I will be buying everything

I Dry Ice benched on an open box TA890FXE..still got some great scores on HWbot with it. You don't really have anything to worry about, only thing you could lose is a few cables or some time. NegEgg will RMA it if it flat out doesn't work. And they will keep doing it till you get a working one. You might be missing some cables, but Biostar really doesn't ship much with their boards anyways, lol. I almost always buy open box...even if I can afford something brand new. Never had a DOA yet (knock on wood.)

 

[blackersabbath]

Thanks xokeman, I'll probably go with that board then. Does it work with other RAM than what's listed on their site? I don't want to buy RAM and not have it be compatible with the board

 

[xoke]

Thanks xokeman, I'll probably go with that board then. Does it work with other RAM than what's listed on their site? I don't want to buy RAM and not have it be compatible with the board

I know it works with Mushkin, Gskill, Dominators, Geil, and Kingston. It's a pretty easy going board...if you have RAM incompatibility it will be the first case of it I have heard of with that board.

FYI...if you looking to overclock really high with it try and get a black edition CPU. It's a good board, had my 1090t & 965BE well over 5ghz with it...but it doesn't like base clock overclocking much. It maxes out around 250-275ish...so a CPU with an unlocked multiplier is very helpful. I ran an x2 555 BE on it as well, unlocked all four cores (granted maybe not on every 555) and worked like a charm.

The BIOS layout is a little clumsy, but workable. It only has 5 SATA ports, but it will do RAID and all the rest of the basic stuff. It will support dual card crossfire, but not 3 or 4 card...not that you care. Are there greater boards out there, yes, is there anything in it's price range that even comes close...nope.

 

[blackersabbath]

Thanks again, I was definitely thinking about going with a BE CPU. I want to try to unlock cores but not sure which one is going to be the best to try it with. Any one of them will be a great improvement over what I have now

 

[xoke]

$80 555 BE, if it unlocks all 4 cores and overclocks a mere 300mhz you have a $180 970 BE. If not, it's still a fast dually.

 

[blackersabbath]

Ok, thinking of going with this combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.515648

Seems like a decent deal to go with the board, I do see the 940 BE for 95 bucks as an OEM that's already a quad... wondering how that one OCs

 

[xoke]

Ok, thinking of going with this combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.515648

Seems like a decent deal to go with the board, I do see the 940 BE for 95 bucks as an OEM that's already a quad... wondering how that one OCs

555, 560, 940, 955, 965, 970...all clock about the same, they are all Deneb core (the first two just had cores turned off or not up to spec). Now, the top tiers ones might have more headroom as they are probably binned a little better...but you never know, I've seen 955 blow right by my 965 running in similar situations. If I had to guess on the overclock of a 940....I'd say 100% chance of 3.4ghz, 75% chance of 3.6ghz, 50% chance of 3.8ghz...25% anything beyond that. That, like anything else is luck of the draw, you might get a beast that does 4.0ghz, you might get a turd that only does 3.2ghz. Same with the 555 BE vs. 940 BE, if you lucky the 555 unlocks...if not your stuck with a dually. That said, I'd spend the $95 if you have it for the guaranteed quad core. Duallys are startig to become fairly useless in my opinion.

EDIT: For about the same price I would try to find some 1600mhz RAM, not 1333mhz, unless the deal is just epic. Sure, you may not run it at 1600mhz, but why not if the price is similar. Check these out...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227496

 

[blackersabbath]

Well, I checked up on the Biostar site and the 940 isn't supported so I think I'm gonna go with the 955 instead... I was hoping to save the extra money but the 940 is an AM2+ socket

 

[xoke]

Well, I checked up on the Biostar site and the 940 isn't supported so I think I'm gonna go with the 955 instead... I was hoping to save the extra money but the 940 is an AM2+ socket

I'd bet it would work...AM2+ CPUs normally go fine in AM3 sockets...but better safe than sorry. Check out this combo though... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&Page=4

 

[blackersabbath]

Cool, those sticks look pretty good. I'd heard to go with CAS 7 on AMD but those should give me some head room for overclocking

 

[xoke]

Cool, those sticks look pretty good. I'd heard to go with CAS 7 on AMD but those should give me some head room for overclocking

Cas 7 is the place to be, but those are Cas 8 at 1600 (for $93!)...with some tweaking I'll bet they do cas 7 at 1600...almost for sure at 1333.

 

[blackersabbath]

Cool, now I just gotta pick a graphics card and I'm all set 8)

 

[theflyingrat]

I'd bet it would work...AM2+ CPUs normally go fine in AM3 sockets...

AM2+ CPUs never work in AM3 sockets. The x4 920 and 940 did not have DDR3 memory controllers, and the pinout will prevent their placement in an AM3 motherboard, anyway.

It's the opposite - AM3 CPUs will work in most AM2+ motherboards, since they have both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory controllers.

 

[xoke]

AM2+ CPUs never work in AM3 sockets. The x4 920 and 940 did not have DDR3 memory controllers, and the pinout will prevent their placement in an AM3 motherboard, anyway.

It's the opposite - AM3 CPUs will work in most AM2+ motherboards, since they have both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory controllers.

I always get that backwards...thank you for clarifying!

 

[blackersabbath]

Ok, the Biostar board is unavailable. I decided on some Mushkin RAM at a good price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226103

I'd like to get that Biostar board but newegg doesn't have it and I want to order tonight or tomorrow.... What do you all think about the ASRock 890 board?

 

[TonyMc]

This the mobo I use http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631R
Although it's a GX and not an FX it's a great overclocker. It got my 955 BE to 3.8ghz easy. If you can swing the extra $30.00 the FX version is in stock.