Shopping for a new motherboard

I think it's time I upgraded my home PC from a DDR2 platform to a DDR3 platform, and with the AMD Bulldozer CPUs on the way, I'm looking for a AM3+ platform with SLI support, with both video slots running at 16x. Surprisingly, there aren't many boards that fill my needs under $160US.... here's my shortlist:

Gigabyte: GA-990FXA-UD3 - http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3894#ov

MSI: 990FXA-GD65 - http://us.msi.com/product/mb/990FXA-GD65.html#?div=Detail

Asus: M4N98TD EVO - http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4N98TD_EVO/#specifications (this one doesn't have AM3+ CPU support, only AM3, but it's cheaper than the other two, and I only listed it because of the price)

NOTE: there are other boards that are cheaper, but the SLI is not dual 16x, they are generally dual 8x, or one card is 16x and the 2nd is 8x. I'm currently running a single Nvidia GTX570, and I'm not planning on SLI in the near future, but I want the option.....

I'm looking for a bit of input here, or if someone has another suggestion in the sub $175US price range, feel free to post.

My current CPU is an AMD PhenomII 955 at 3.20ghz (stock). It's an AM3 so there will be no compatibility issues with any of the above MBs. I plan on installing (2) 4gb DDR3-1333 or 1600 depending on cost when the day comes.

THX!

:major

 

One other thing, my DVD drives have IDE connectors ( :-o yup - old, but they work GREAT), and the only board of the 3 I listed that has an IDE header is the Asus M4N98TD EVO . . . the other 2 are strictly SATA, so this figures in to the overall cost: I'd have to replace 2 perfectly functional DVD burners. I know they're only about $20-$30ea, but that's not the point.... I'm not happy about being forced to replace perfectly good functional hardware. Yeah, I realize the irony: I'm replacing a perfectly good functional motherboard and RAM, but that's by choice.
LOL

 

I'm an ASUS man all the way and not always an Intel guy either, all depends on price/performance ATT but the gigabyte is a better mobo, as it supports the FX series which is the BD which your ASUS choice doesn't seem to have. As I don't have any BD specs to go on except that it's between 8, 12 and 16 cores, I'll have to wait. Plus it's still 45nm with 32nm coming out next year. I hope the BD comes out soon as I've read that Intel is holding off on the Sandy Bridge-E until BD is on the market. Hurry up!:-D

As to your RAM, I wouldn't fool around with 1600's for that beast, get the best that you can afford, especially if you OC like I do.

EDIT: I see you sneaked one in ahead of me. Well, in chess the pawns are always sacrificed first. Donate them like I do with all my unwanted/needed functioning hardware. There's lots of demand.

 

Would something like this solve the IDE to SATA problem?

http://www.amazon.com/SATA-PATA-Dri...GO/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1311480207&sr=8-14

 

@ Puppywunder58: actually, no, it wouldn't work. That adapter is designed to work exactly the opposite of what I need: it is to allow the connection of SATA drives to an IDE cable to the motherboard. However - I just remembered that I have a dual IDE Promise Ultra TX2-133 PCI controller (or it's an Ultra 100? :confused I don't remember the exact model but I know it's Promise and I know it's PCI :-o ) that will allow me to use the older drives on a non-IDE motherboard, but I have a strong feeling that drivers will be a problem for X64 Win7..... I guess we'll see when the time comes. Or I'll just buy new DVD drives.

@ augiedoggie: Thanks for the input! I've read some reviews of the Asus board I listed and there are FAR too many negative reviews about the BIOS resetting everytime the PC is shut off; many DOA boards, many boards that fail after 2-6 months, etc. Plus the lack of BD/AM3+ support makes it more unattractive. The only reason I listed it was because of price and the IDE connector.... SO - between the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 and the MSI 990FXA-GD65, what would be your choice? The pricing is almost identical, and the specs are almost identical. I'm leaning toward the Gigabyte, but that's only because they seem to be making great boards lately. If this was 2 years ago, I'd be leaning towards the MSI.

Can you explain this a bit further? I don't really OC much, but I actually plan on OCing my current CPU once I get the new MB and RAM. I know that the higher speeds of RAM (1866+) may require the use of an AM3+ CPU; the MSI site states 1866 and 2000 as "OC only", and the Gigabyte site clearly states that 1866 and 2000 are only supported by AM3+ CPUs. This is reason why I was looking at the 1600s or 1333s. The 1600 is the fastest supported by my current CPU, and the 1333 modules are VERY inexpensive.

 

I'd rather say that board is totally useless for you if you want FX/BD support. I was trying to be nice about it.

I can't say as I don't know either board, I'm skittish with MSI ATM as my 2600K mobo was DOA this Feb., not a reason to avoid them either, everybody has their share of DOA's no matter the brand. Gigabyte has a complex BIOS from what I've read but you're a smart guy.

Well, if you're going to OC to the bleeding edge then I'd go for some Corsair 1600 Dominators at $70 for 4 GB but I think I'd save the money and get some 1333's if you're just going to do a moderate OC on your current 955. Spend the money on the good stuff for your BD build.

Hang on there, I'm getting confused now. So you're going to use your 955 in the AM3+ MOBO in the interim? I'd not waste my money on cheap RAM if that's the case.

 

Yeah - the Asus board is totally out of the picture. And a bit more research showed me that the MSI board does NOT have the full 16x for both video slots when running SLI; the 1st slot is 16x, the 2nd is 8x. While not necessarily a deal-breaker, it is priced the same as the Gigabyte board, so it's out also. If the MSI board was $20 less than the Gigabyte, maybe..... so it looks like the Gigabyte board is the one.

Exactly. I'll be running the 955 until the new BDs come out, and then I'll probably wait a few months to let the prices fall. The 955 has been a GREAT chip so far, and I'm in no hurry to change it out. As to the RAM, I'm thinking I might grab a pair of 2gb 1600s to start with, then I'll add a pair of 4gb sticks as more money becomes available (and the price is likely to drop over the course of a month or two), or maybe I'll start with a single 4gb, then get another one in a month or two.... I can get a pair of Kingston 4gb 1600 for around $70, soooo.... I'm confusing myself now :-o .... and as I said earlier, I will probably OC the CPU once I get the new MB, but it will be small, maybe to 3.6 or 3.8 (from 3.2 stock).

 

Well, since you're just planning on doing a moderate OC, then the Kingstons are a good and less expensive way to go. Let me warn you though from experience, OC'ing can be addictive and those sticks though decent might not be able to handle anything much more, oh baby please just give me a few more MHz !:-D You'll find the wall.

I have a purpose for my machines which is folding@home as compared to your gaming interest except that I go near the bleeding edge more than most so I tend to spec in better components than may be needed for the purpose intended but faster is always better in my book but not always in the pocketbook. Enjoy the new build and I await your benchmarks when you set up the BD.

 

Just to confuse the issue even more, I came across an Asrock board, the 990FX Extreme4 that fills all my needs, AND it has an IDE header for my DVD drives.... but it's $20 more than the Gigabyte board, and that $20 is the cost of a SATA DVD drive, but I have two DVD drives, so to replace both would be $40, so I actually save $20 or so (I think :confused ).

Ya know - I drive myself crazy when it comes to buying major upgrade components. I did the same thing back in Dec when I was shopping for video cards. It's tough to drop $250-$300 and be totally secure and confident in the choice. Back in Dec, my new GTX570 failed after 5 days, and I returned it and the distributor told me there was nothing wrong with, they didn't know what "artifacting" was, and had never heard of the Heaven benchmark (which is when the artifacting was most noticeable). Their "tech" dept only used the free 3DM06 to test video cards, and my card ran it w/o artifacts, but got terribly low scores (which they know nothing about; as far as they were concerned, if the 3DM06 bench finished w/o a crash, they card was OK). I demanded they send the card to the manufacturer after 2 weeks of them telling me the card was OK and me telling them about artifacting and giving them the link to download Heaven and telling them 20 times that Heaven is free. Well, the card eventually made it to the manufacturer (PNY) and 36 hours later they told the distributor the card was bad (duh) and to issue me a new card. I said "NO! I don't want the same make/model card" and I demanded credit for their ineptness in testing. I was eventually issued a credit and got a completely different make (Zotac with lifetime warranty; I've never had any problems with any Zotac cards). Uhhhh.... I don't know why I felt compelled to bore everyone with this.... ummmm.... oh yeah- it has to do with making the right choice when laying out a few hundred bucks, and then there's the nightmarish possibility of getting a dud.

 

BTW - when are the Bulldozer CPUs coming out? I initially heard it was supposed to be early/mid June 2011, but I think that was just samples for E3, they don't seem to be in retail channels...

:confused

 

I never put much stock in the register but this is interesting.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/22/amd_q2_2011_numbers/

That's all I got. They're playing their cards close their chests so far. We'll see in August.

 

If you're treating yourself to a new mobo, pony up the extra $20 for an OEM SATA DVD+RW drive:

• This will allow you to objectively pick the best board - not the best board that also has IDE. :-D
• The read and write speeds of a SATA drive are waaaay faster. If you copy disc-to-disc on a regular basis, it might be worth replacing both with SATA in exchange for the time savings on burning.
• Any internal drive (HDD or Optical) used for system boot or OS install should be a native connection to the mobo - not through an expansion card or IDE/SATA adapter. I've seen too many issues where a BIOS won't support such devices; only a driver that loads with Windows.

If you are absolutely stuck on keeping your IDE drives and using an expansion card to hook them up, it might be a good idea (in lieu of buying an internal SATA DVD+RW drive) to get an external USB (netbook style) DVD+RW drive you can use for installs, diagnostics, a second drive on your notebook, etc.

 

I have an external USB DVDRW already that I use when a netbook comes my way that needs work. It's not that I'm stuck on keeping the IDE drives, but I see no reason to get rid of perfectly functional hardware, but I'll probably end up getting new SATA optical drives anyway, simply because IDE is a more-or-less obsolete platform, and I'm going to need SATA DVD drives sooner or later anyway....

NEWS FLASH - the new FX series of AM3+ CPUs from AMD are supposedly coming out in mid September:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/20298/amd_s_upcoming_fx_series_cpus_launching_september_19/index.html

 

Hmm, no mention of 45nm chips in there, that's good if true. I read that the octocore will need some $320 for folks to ante up, and if that's true then that put's the FX right up against Intel's Sandy Bridge 2600K, 8 real cores vs a 4+4. There will probably be plenty of fanboy trash talking going on between the two camps.:-D

 

I hope the BD chips come out soon, so that the SB-E chips can come out. Ugh, hate the waiting game for bleeding edge.

If they are coming next month, then the rumours of SB-E for 4th quarter would be awesome. Otherwise, my new build will be similar to Augie's. Buying a new system now is difficult, since new stuff is coming around the corner. Then newer stuff around the next corner, etc.

 

I have a %30 rule, I will only buy in if there's a minimum %30 improvement in performance and the price can fit my budget, notice that I don't have the Intel hexacore Gulftown? I will not pay $1100 for a CPU no matter what.

 

I agree; however there is always that "early adapter" group of consumers who want to be the first in their circle of friends to have the latest and greatest.

When I worked in PC parts sales, our store had a waiting list for the first I7 chips, even at $1000 a pop, that lasted about two months until Intel's shipments caught up with demand.

 

Some possible pricing for SB-E and FX http://en.expreview.com/2011/07/27/...r-processor-retail-pricings-leaked/18484.html Looks like I'm out of the game for SB-E's for now. Anyways, I'm not doing anything until everything's out, benched and tested in the real world by first adopters.

 

$269 doesn't seem too bad for the FX, not bad at all when you consider that the price will fall for December holiday sales, and/or after the first of the year. I'd guess that by Feb/March 2012 the price will be down around $200-$225 (I should say "I'd hope" instead of "I'd guess" )

Yeah - I'm not buying one until at least 6 months after their arrival in retail channels. This gives me plenty of time to wait for a price drop, and to research the performance of the CPU. Besides, the way things go is that several other models will likely be released by mid/late November if the first release is indeed in mid Sept.

 

Well, it's been about a month since I first started this thread, and I'm down to 4 top choices: two are from ASrock (their low end boards are crap; their high end boards are freekin' excellent; kind of odd that there's such a difference) and the other two are from Gigabyte....

ASROCK: 970 EXTREME4: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=970 Extreme4&cat=Specifications
ASROCK 990FX EXTREME4: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=990FX Extreme4&cat=Specifications
GIGABYTE: GA-990FXA-UD5: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3891#ov
GIGABYTE: GA-990FXA-UD3 http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3894#ov

I haven't found too many reviews of ANY of the boards listed, but the few that I have found show each board in a favorable light. The least expensive is the ASrock 970 Extreme at approx $115US, the most expensive is the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 at approx $185US. I'm leaning towards the ASrock 990 Extreme (after rebate it's about $165US), but I guess I'm looking for input, info, suggestions, other points-of-view, etc...

THX!

(EDIT- Newegg just lowered the price of the ASrock 970 by $10US to only $105US!!! That's a great deal! I can add 2x4gb DDR3 and finalize the upgrade for about $160!!! The price is excellent, and the board has A LOT of features that some of the more expensive boards don't have- like dual CPU fan headers for a push-pull CPU cooler, plus 4 or 5 more fan headers- fan headers are important to me, they help keep the PSU cabling to a minimum; I don't have to run extra cables to power case fans- but this 970 Extreme only has 5 SATA headers, which is enough, but I'd fill 'em all with my current setup (if I went to SATA DVD drives), and I would like to have a free SATA port or two for future use but there's a good chance I won't use the extras... GEEEZ! Upgrading major components is enough to drive ya freekin' CRAZY!!!! :heli )

 

Do you really need a 3 Crossfire 990X E4 mobo? If you will use it fully eventually then I have no issues. Otherwise, look at some mATX's just for a comparison. Please remember that these cards are hot! You really want to put 3 in there?

 

I'm running an Nvidia GTX570 now, and the boards listed are the only new boards that will run SLI with a newer AM3+ CPU. The AMD 990 chipset supports AMD/ATI Crossfire and Nvidia SLI (OK- not all of the MBs with this chipset support SLI and Crossfire, but MANY of them do, some are Crossfire only; all the boards I listed in my last post are both SLI & Crossfire comatible). While I only have a single GPU now, I'll likely add a 2nd GTX570 at some point. Even if I don't, the chipset leaves my options open for a switch to Crossfire AMD/ATI (which is HIGHLY unlikely since I'm a hardcore Nvidia 'trustee'). The boards I listed all have dual X16 support for SLI/Crossfire (versus 8x/8x or 16x/8x; the ASRock 970 is 16x/8x, but the price makes it VERY appealing). This is a main requirement. Also, they all feature the USB3.0 front panel header that is STILL missing on some "so-called" high end boards from MSI and others (this header has been named "USB3 ICC" by the industry; I actually have a thread about my problems with this header here).

So- I'm looking for an AM3+ mobo with FX (aka "Bulldozer") CPU support, with SLI support (Crossfire is unimportant to me; I have used Nvidia cards almost religiously for the past 3-4 years and have NO plans on going back to ATI/AMD), with front panel USB3.0 support via the 20pin "ICC" header, with numerous (more than 4) fan headers (dual CPU fan headers is a HUGE plus), and an IDE header is also a HUGE plus. I don't care if the board supports two 16x PCIexpress GPUs or if it support four, I'll be running a MAX of two in SLI (I do not use AMD/ATI cards), but when running two GPUs, the board must run each at 16x. If the price is right, I can deal with one GPU 16x and the second at 8x.... so these are my 'requirements'. If I missed a great board with these features, PLEASE let me know!! It will help make my decision even more difficult! :banghead

LOL

 

Uhm, so you're not going to run ATI/Crossfire, right?:-D If I find a better board I'll sure let you know. You've got it covered pretty well except for ASUS.