Which Motherboard?

[MrTechie]

I am new here to the forums and I have some questions. I am doing a budget build and I have reached an impasse. I have searched everywhere for motherboards and here is what I have come up with for a list of options (at least so far):

ASRock 970 Extreme3
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3

My Components that I will order (* = and have ordered) so far:

*Video Card: MSI nVIDIA GT 630 4GB GDDR3
Processor: AMD FX-8350
*PSU: Corsair Builder Series 600W
*HDD: 128GB Kingston V200+ SDD (running the OS), 2TB 7200RPM Seagate SATA (data storage)

Assuming that I don't plan on overclocking my processor..are the motherboards I chose too much or not enough? Or do you guys have other suggestions for MoBo's that I have overlooked? If I decide to overclock?

 

[Knufire]

I'm assuming you're not gaming and don't plan on going multiple video cards? The Gigabyte 970A-UD3 is the way I would go in that case.

 

[MrTechie]

I will be doing some gaming...but definitely not up to the level that would label me as "Enthusiast Gamer".

But at the same time I will be using programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects...so would I need to get another Video card to SLI or CF them together?

 

[Johan45]

Welcome to the forum Mr Techie
The board Knufire suggested should suffice. You should give this a read before you oreder anything tho. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=727263
Also get a decent aftermarket cooler these things are hot.

 

[trents]

Will the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 do SLI? He's already got one Nvidia card.

 

[Bobnova]

Not really, 16/4 isn't ideal. That said, SLI GT630s isn't going to get you a whole lot further than one GT630. Assuming they can SLI, I don't think it's possible with that card actually.

 

[Johan45]

I missed the sli question I'm not familiar with the software but if you're going to run two cards you'll want the 990fx chipset. I'd still move up a notch to the UD5

 

[trents]

Not really, 16/4 isn't ideal. That said, SLI GT630s isn't going to get you a whole lot further than one GT630. Assuming they can SLI, I don't think it's possible with that card actually.

No. What I'm asking is will the chipset of the board support Crossfire and SLI? I know SLI is supported on high end AMD chipsets but is it on this board?

 

[Bobnova]

Gigabyte product page says no: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4396#ov

Not sure it matters though for the reasons in my previous post.

 

[Johan45]

And you're right Bob the 630 doesn't SLI

 

[Ajay57]

Well Johan maybe one of these motherboards would do the job for the CPU and SLI!! AJ.

1, http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7404903&postcount=5

Its always worth a look see!

 

[MrTechie]

Well, based on the responses and the specs I have read, it appears I will go with the 990FX-UD3.

But, now that brings up the final issue. Since the GT 630 doesn't support SLI, with its specs could I just get another video card and put it into one of the PCI x16 lanes and not use SLI? Or could I use it by itself?

 

[Ajay57]

A single card is much better because it requires less power produces less heat, and most of less problem solving to deal with if it goes wrong! So that all said what card are you thinking of? AJ.

 

[MrTechie]

If I go with the card I have currently and use only one, the card is an nVIDIA GFORCE GT 630 (w/ 4GB GDDR3).

If I got another card, I am not sure what I would go with as I am trying to stick to a budget. Recommendation?

 

[trents]

You would be much better off selling your current video card and investing in a single card with some pop than getting two mediocre cards and trying to go CF or SLI. I think for around $120 USD you can get a reasonably potent AMD card, at least better than what you have now. I'm not a gamer and not into potent video cards but my impression is that AMD gives a little more bang for the buck in the mid a upper mid range card category. Look at the AMD 7770 series.

 

[Ajay57]

Most members would say AMD Card is the way to go, but depending on your budget i would try to buy a card with 2 GB of DDR5. And a 256 bit card as well which up grades you all round from the GT 630! At least a 7850 maybe?

1, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

This would be a good example 256 bit 2 GB of GDDR5 etc.