Upgrade to FX-6100, Need Mobo and Ram

[relfel66]

Just wanted to get some advice on a mobo and ram to match up with a FX-1600 for around $115. On a tight budget (money on my paypal lol) and want to get going on something with a bit of room to overclock, nothing crazy (stock cooler)
Any advice would be welcome at this point. I've been thinking M5A97.

MOBO > ?
CPU & Cooler > FX-6100 & Stock Cooler (Will be using Arctic Silver 5)
MEMORY > ?
POWER SUPPLY > BFG 550 Modular
VIDEO CARD > EVGA GTS 250 512MB Superclocked
HDD> OCZ Vertex3 60GB(Boot),Seagate 320GB,WD 500GB
O/S > Windows 7 64bit
Case > Corsair Graphite 600T

 

[kyfire]

for the mobo... http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-970A-D3-AM3-SATA-Motherboard/dp/B0056G10WK

for ram.... 8gig of 1600MHz from a good brand ( ie: Kingston, Corsair etc )

 

[relfel66]

With that ram I would be over my price limit. I think I have got my choices down to: M5A97 LE R2.0 or the GA-970A-D3 and G.SKILL Ripjaws 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL.

 

[RGone]

@ relfel66, if you buy that too cheap motherboard, really either one of them, you are going to kick yourself over-time. They are just not sturdy enough to do maybe and that is a real maybe, very small overclock. And neither are really sturdy enough for a real overclock. We see users come in here day after day after day, buying those cheap boards and wanting then to overclock and they always say they just want a "little". Lucky if they get that consistently. FYI overall.
RGone...

 

[ssjwizard]

4+1 power phases on either of those motherboards. Thats a bad idea if overclocking is involved AND your using a bulldozer based CPU. If you plan to do very little overclocking, and by that I mean 1 step past what turbo will give you then yes either of those motherboards will work.

If you havent ordered that CPU yet Id recommend you pick something else. A 4300 is better than a 6100, and a 6300 is by far better than both. Either way if at all possible avoid Bulldozer based parts.

RAM is whatever, get anything in your budget, 1600Mhz is fine. 4Gb is enough. Definitely get 2 sticks. If you absolutely have to get a single stick now and grab another later on since that should be easy to afford later, and could possibly open your budget up some.

 

[relfel66]

So in order to overclock at all I need to get a $200 board? I got the processor for $60, thought it would be an upgrade for me, over a q6700 and a basic board, guess not. Maybe I should just sell the thing and move on. Are these processors really that bad?

 

[Mandrake4565]

The FX 6100 is not a terrible processor they are just not that great either. As RGone said most new overclockers believe that if the board says they can overclock on it, they can. This quote from SSJWizard, sums it up.

This is not 100% true, 4+1 power phases on either of those motherboards. Thats a bad idea if overclocking is involved AND your using a bulldozer based CPU. If you plan to do very little overclocking, and by that I mean 1 step past what turbo will give you then yes either of those motherboards will work.

If you are really planning on overclocking you need a good motherboard to do it on. $200.00, well that all depends on the processor. When the 6xxx and 8xxx series processors are overclocked, they require a lot of power from the VRM section of the motherboard to keep the overclock stable. This is usually a two fold problem with lower end motherboards, they cannot supply enough power and the VRM section does not have adequate cooling. So if a slight overclock is what you are looking for the M5A97 may work.

 

[Hicksimus]

If you are only going to OC using the stock CPU heatsink then you can get by with some $90-$110 boards. But if you are going to OC more in the future like 4.2 to 5GHz then the bare minimum are some $130 boards though the closer you'd get to 5GHz the more you' want to buy a board specifically built for the task.

My FX-6100 was drawing over 300w at one point so yes, these processors are that bad when you OC. A similarly OC'd 2600k would have been drawing around 150w to give you some reference.

Still, I'd take a lightly OC'd 6100 over the q6700 any day.

 

[Johan45]

I second that. The board I'm using now won't let me go past 4.6G no matter how many volts I throw at it. I have reached the boards limit. $30 more would have gotten me a Sabretooth and more available current for my processor.

 

[ssjwizard]

So in order to overclock at all I need to get a $200 board? I got the processor for $60, thought it would be an upgrade for me, over a q6700 and a basic board, guess not. Maybe I should just sell the thing and move on. Are these processors really that bad?

Try stretching your budget a little bit and try for a Gigabyte 970A-UD3 it has 8 phase power distribution and VRM cooling. Its basically the cheapest AMD motherboard that can overclock even halfway decent from the 9xx series.

If you have the CPU already work with it, but just know its going to draw alot of power, and even when you do overclock them they dont really deliver new performance past 4.2Ghz ish. BD was a step forward for AMD, but it came with alot of drawbacks and little nuances that make them pretty much a misfire. PD/Vishera fixes a number of those nuances and helps improve power consumption to boot.

But look you already ordered the chip and you have a very tight budget. You dont need a high end motherboard but you want something more than the basics if you want to OC. If you dont want to OC then get one of those cheap motherboards and be happy with it. Unless you replace the stock heatsink you wont get anywhere anyways.

Best of luck building your new computer!

I second that. The board I'm using now won't let me go past 4.6G no matter how many volts I throw at it. I have reached the boards limit. $30 more would have gotten me a Sabretooth and more available current for my processor.

Your 990FX Pro isnt a bad motherboard, and TBH your not missing out on much. If your locked at 4.6G Id be more inclined to blame it on your chip. I finally upgraded off of my Gigabyte board to the sabertooth R2.0 and while it does a great job of running the same settings my gigabyte ran, the closer to 5Ghz I get the less awesome the board behaves.

 

[RGone]

Everything has to be taken within a context of what is going on around the usage and how well we expect someone to be equipped to deal with and isolate isssues.

The first board I looked at "trying" to find suitable $100 mobo shows what we are trying to say about suitable for overclocking in the overall scope of doing so.

The second board shown is one we have seen a lot here in the forums. It seemed to do pretty good. Maybe the cons is from a 'batch' of boards as can happen.

We know there are failures with anything in terms of just outright dieing. There are situations where bunches have the same issue and that can come from a running hardware change of parts used to make a product.


Customer Reviews of the ASRock 970 EXTREME4 $100.00 Motherboard.
Feedback button. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262
Pros: None

I learned to read into products before I buy them.

Cons: From the very beginning when the board was first released I had issues, first i had to swap another processor in to update bios, to one that supported the Fx 6100. (pain in the buttox) Then after a full year of stability issues, and upgrading parts trying to get the system running smooth new drivers nothing got better things got worse.

You can't overclock at all anymore or you will BSOD, wasn't able to in months anyways... You can't overclock you CPU or GPU.

Other Thoughts: Buy a proven brand, read into it, and don't waste your time with this board.

Says 8 core ready on the box... that was some B$

Cons for this board are within the first 7 or 8 user reviews.
Customer Reviews of the GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 $109.00 Motherboard.
Feedback button. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

Cons: 1. DOA. It would not POST.

Cons: Ram number 4 slot went out on me in the first two weeks.

Cons: worked for 3 hours then died,

Cons: Arivved DOA and will not post. No beep errors even without RAM secured to the board. Waiting on RMA for further info, as DOA boards are common enough.

Cons: First board died after three days of use. Second board died after a staggering three hours of use.

 

[relfel66]

Thanks for all the help guys, appreciate it. Not sure what to do now since I can't order from newegg because I don't have a credit card on my paypal! ( they got cut up ages ago lol)

 

[ssjwizard]

I have paid the egg with PP many times from account funding. I never keep a card on file with PP either. You can add funds to PP using one of those money cards if you need to.

You have $115 right now and need a Motherboard AND RAM correct?

 

[relfel66]

Correct
I think I got it to work this is what I'm looking at, maybe just run it as is, no overclock.

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M2A1600C9

 

[ssjwizard]

The M5A97 is a good board, its just not to well suited for OC. Im sure that IF you upgraded your cooler later youd be able to get some extra performance out of it. Just dont expect to get much past 4Ghz with it.

Best of luck!

 

[relfel66]

Went ahead and ordered it, will see what happens when I get it running lol. Thanks again for all the advice guys!

 

[relfel66]

Installed and running smooth, just getting up to speed. Pretty happy I was able to upgrade the board, processor and memory for $180.

 

[Johan45]

Sweet