The Best AMD Overclocking MOBO?

[TheOriginalGoth]

I'm looking to overclock my FX 8320 to around 4.5ghz. Though my current motherboard won't allow me to achieve that overclock. So I'm looking for any suggestions on some motherboards I can get. The highest amount I'm able to spend is $280. Any help?

 

[Johan45]

By far the CrosshairV Formula z is the best. But a Sabertooth 990FX R2 would suit you just fine and leave you a bit of coin in your budget.

 

[Blaylock]

#1. ASUS 990FX Crosshair V Formula

#2 Asus 990FX Sabertooth R2.0 (Non-GEN3)
or
#2 ASRock 990FX Extreme9

There is debate on what's the #2. Not much debating for #1 though.

 

[TheOriginalGoth]

If I get the ASUS 990FX Crosshair V Formula Z won't the Noctua NH D15 block the first PCI 16 slot? Or for most of these motherboads for that matter?

 

[Johan45]

It really shouldn't. You want the fans side to side not up and down.

 

[RGone]

Well my question really is, how do you know the current motherboard is the problem? You don't say what mobo is in use now and what type cooling is in use.

In the order " I " would purchase the motherboards.


Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z $229.99


Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 $179.99


Asrock 990FX Extreme 9 $169.99

Money no object probably the CHV-Z. HOWEVER, for $50.00 Usd *less* you can get the Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 and have the $50.00 Usd left over to apply to better cooling for the VRMs and that is really a must on either of those three boards if you wish to go beyond 4.5Ghz and after spending 'more than' $150.00 Usd for another mobo...I would want enough cooling overall to run an FX 8 core in the 4.7Ghz to 4.8Ghz speed range since that is a noticable speed increase over 4.5Ghz.

But when you throw out that word "best", you can get a false impression. Best for someone not going into really really good cooling like running DICE or LN2 for benching could easily get by famously with the Sabertooth 990FX R2.0.

BUT "then" if you are not going to good watercooling and 4.5Ghz is your Max cpu speed...well then you could actually get by for even less coins with this mobo.

ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0 $129.99 Good to 4.5Ghz normally but NO more.

The word 'best' about something really is often mis-leading in the long run. And with the power hungry and HOT FX 8 core processors, the board yes but cooling is right there as a top requirement.

RGone...

I'm looking to overclock my FX 8320 to around 4.5ghz. Though my current motherboard won't allow me to achieve that overclock. So I'm looking for any suggestions on some motherboards I can get. The highest amount I'm able to spend is $280. Any help?

 

[Blaylock]

So True.

 

[Mandrake4565]

My choice would be the Saberkitty! CHV is an awesome board but unless you're looking to Overclock the pee out the the Cpu on Sub Ambient cooling unnecessary. The Sabertooth will clock the Fx 8xxx just as well as a CHV on ambient cooling.

 

[boanerges57]

ive had great results with a gigabyte ga990fxa-ud3. ive overclocked a few chips on rev 1.0, 1.1 and 3.0

 

[Blaylock]

^ This would NOT be the best OCing board.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I'm looking to overclock my FX 8320 to around 4.5ghz. Though my current motherboard won't allow me to achieve that overclock. So I'm looking for any suggestions on some motherboards I can get. The highest amount I'm able to spend is $280. Any help?

If your only going for 4.5ghz, ANY motherboard will do. Get the one that suits your needs on the plug and play end. Does it have enough PCI-e slots, enough USB ports, Sata ports, ect.

But really 4.5ghz is a pretty mild overclock, probably easily had on just about any "good" after market air cooler also.

Other than that, the above suggestions are right on KEY. You won't find more settings than in the Formula-z, should help make plenty of questions on what to actually do when you do got to overclock. lol.

 

[Woomack]

The only board I would buy ( again ) would be ASUS CHV/CHV-Z.
The best 990FX boards have one advantage - better power section and lower temps what helps in OC but also won't make you to use any weird cooling solutions. I had no chance to test Sabertooth but various reviews say it's good. ASRock highest series also have good reviews.

I wouldn't even touch anything from Gigabyte. 990GX UD5 was total fail. Even though GB couldn't make good power section they were saying that all is fine with these boards ( the same with any other 990FX UDx ). Later they made 2-3 refreshed PCB but it took them over a year to make it and it's still not perfect. Also there was a long list with really bad BIOSes. I was writing guides on GB forums how to solve RAID issues and improve performance as their team couldn't even fix it for half year.
Moving from GB to ASUS gave me 300MHz+ OC at almost the same settings, without bumping voltages etc. That says a lot.

 

[TheOriginalGoth]

I bought the Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z and I have a AMD FX 8320 Black Edition

- - - Updated - - -

4.5 is just a starting thing as I'm somewhat new to overclocking. So I'm using 4.5ghz as a starting point.

 

[Blaylock]

Very nice O_G. You've made a good choice.

 

[Johan45]

You'll like that board Goth, just make sure your starting point is stable. For the 8320 that's already a 1Gig OC.

 

[SavageBrat]

lol..the Gigabyte UD7 must be a rare breed as you never see it mention.. good or bad..

 

[Woomack]

Gigabyte AMD boards have bad reputation as GB just failed early design and didn't even care to correct it later. Latest boards are on 3-4 PCB. I see you have rev 3 in sig but users had to wait over a year till GB released rev 2. Rev 1 had problems with power section which caused too high voltage bump under load ( or drop , depends how you set voltage options ) , overheating and limited OC.
ASUS or ASRock higher mobo series are still offering higher OC but if you know how then you can set good clock on GB too.

 

[SavageBrat]

Well considering the the the UD7 has only 1 revision.. we went from 1 to 3 no middle.. higher overclock I can't really say as I haven't seen one mention here on the forums with an 8 core installed.. might have to do one.. bad over clocks as there isn't really any proof of that , granted for the "lower end of the line" but not the UD7 it's self, granted I wish there was a better way to fine tune the vcore voltage .. and I just skimmed 19 pages with the search button looking for a mention of an gigabyte fxa 990 UD7 couldn't find any.. but bad overclocker I may have to argue granted not an 8 core..but quite happy..

 

[Mr.Scott]

You have a good chip, not necessarily a good board.
The UD7 lacks features that much cheaper boards include. That prices the board out of the park against something similar or better.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

You have a good chip, not necessarily a good board.
The UD7 lacks features that much cheaper boards include. That prices the board out of the park against something similar or better.

^^ This.

What takes your FX 6300, mine does on 3 cores at a whopping 1.568 Vcore.

Nice chip indeed.