What AM2 Mobo to buy?

[MilkyWay]

I have a AM2 3800+ Single Core and i need a motherboard for it ages ago fried a mince Winfast Mobo that wasnt good to begin with and had been meaning to get a new motherboard. Anyway looking for a Motherboard max i would be willing to spend is £55 give or take because i have to think about shipping/postage. I have been looking and i think that i could get a nvidia 570 sli chipset board but i had seen a few AMD 580X CrossFire chipset motherboards but i think they may be out of my price. I wanted to get a board with firewire and possibly E-Sata. I would prefere the 16x dual pci express.

Just joined the forums and been reading TPU news for about 1 and a half years. Would be appreciative if anyone could name a few motherboards or a few sites i could check out. Will help out on the forums in future.

 

[JC316]

I would recommend the Biostar Tforce 550 for AM2. They are the best for overclocking.

 

[DaMulta]

Overclocking

The Biostar TForce 550 certainly isn’t going to break any records in the overclocking arena. I was able to boot into windows as high as 265 FSB, but that speed soon proved to be unstable. Upon rebooting to tweak a bit more, I found I was unable to get the board to POST at anything above 250 from that point forward. This is certainly not caused by a lack of options in the BIOS, as the TForce 550 BIOS has every option a hardcore overclocker could need. In the end, a minimal 240 turned out to be this board’s sweet spot for rock solid stability.

Article Image

This overclock was achieved with stock AMD air cooling and was proven stable by running two instances of Prime 95 alongside RTHDRIBL (Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting).

Editor’s Note: I had issues with anything about 230MHz CPU bus and 480MHz memory bus. Simply put, this is not an overclocker’s motherboard.

 

[JC316]

Overclocking

The Biostar TForce 550 certainly isn’t going to break any records in the overclocking arena. I was able to boot into windows as high as 265 FSB, but that speed soon proved to be unstable. Upon rebooting to tweak a bit more, I found I was unable to get the board to POST at anything above 250 from that point forward. This is certainly not caused by a lack of options in the BIOS, as the TForce 550 BIOS has every option a hardcore overclocker could need. In the end, a minimal 240 turned out to be this board’s sweet spot for rock solid stability.

Article Image

This overclock was achieved with stock AMD air cooling and was proven stable by running two instances of Prime 95 alongside RTHDRIBL (Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting).

Editor’s Note: I had issues with anything about 230MHz CPU bus and 480MHz memory bus. Simply put, this is not an overclocker’s motherboard.

My retort:

 

[Jess Stingray]

I was about to suggest Asus Crosshair, but it's 3 times your budget. Sorry.

 

[HAL7000]

I would recommend the Biostar Tforce 550 for AM2. They are the best for overclocking.

don't you mean the BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 SE?

 

[Sovereign]

My retort:

And my retort, to add along with JC's (sorta old now that I have it @ 2.954.2MHz 1.50v and RAM @ CAS 4-4-4-10 1T, just need to take a new screenie) :

 

[JC316]

don't you mean the BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 SE?

Either one, I have owned both and had GREAT results with both.

 

[Sovereign]

Overclocking

The Biostar TForce 550 certainly isn’t going to break any records in the overclocking arena. I was able to boot into windows as high as 265 FSB, but that speed soon proved to be unstable. Upon rebooting to tweak a bit more, I found I was unable to get the board to POST at anything above 250 from that point forward. This is certainly not caused by a lack of options in the BIOS, as the TForce 550 BIOS has every option a hardcore overclocker could need. In the end, a minimal 240 turned out to be this board’s sweet spot for rock solid stability.

Article Image

This overclock was achieved with stock AMD air cooling and was proven stable by running two instances of Prime 95 alongside RTHDRIBL (Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting).

Editor’s Note: I had issues with anything about 230MHz CPU bus and 480MHz memory bus. Simply put, this is not an overclocker’s motherboard.

Ah! Heres my CPU-Z verified screenie I did for HWBOT not too long ago :

(MOBO = Biostar TFORCE 6100 AM2)

 

[MilkyWay]

I think i can go up to £60 im not looking for the worlds ultimate motherboard because its only a AMD 64x 3800+ that going into it, i need either crossfire or SLI tho as i might be getting new graphics card around start of next year. I dont want a Crossfire 480x board tho.

At Christmas if i have some cash i will get a better CPU but need something better than the Compaq Presario i have currently.

Wondering if this Motherboard would be a good choice as i think i could get that but wondering about the Nvidia 570 sli chipset boards there are some around £60-£50

Asus M2R32-MVP
Has full x16 crossfire and E Sata 2
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=467396

 

[MilkyWay]

Thanks sounds like you have used the board before and sounds good for a single slot PCI Express mobo but would like to get entry level Crossfire or SLI.

 

[Grings]

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...tegory_id=342&manufacturer_id=0&tid=tf570sli#

as for sites to check out:
www.ebuyer.com
www.cclonline.com
www.scan.co.uk
www.komplett.co.uk
www.microdirect.co.uk
www.aria.co.uk
www.tekheads.co.uk
www.dabs.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.awd-it.com
www.saverstore.com
www.ginger6.co.uk
www.specialtech.co.uk

 

[MilkyWay]

Okay i would consider buying one of these but dont know which one

Biostar TF570 SLI
http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...tegory_id=342&manufacturer_id=0&tid=tf570sli#

Or the Asus M2R32-MVP
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=467396

These arnt final and i would still like suggestions but been most helpful should have asked on the TPU forums for recommendations ages ago.
buying a mobo tomoro 17th August so it arrives for next week

 

[Grings]

Either of those 2 really, depending which graphics card/s you go for.
And as with any purchase, check out scan and aria's today only/supersaver offers before you order, theres nothing more gutting than ordering something, then seeing it a tenner cheaper in another retailers offers

 

[MilkyWay]

i can get this for £65 Asus M2NE-SLI with 2GB pc-2 6400 Kingston QVL Memoryis that a better deal how well does this board perform

 

[Grings]

cant find much about that board, but supperassbass ( http://forums.techpowerup.com/member.php?u=854 ) appears to have an a64x2 3600 at 2.5ghz, so it should be good for @ least 260fsb (that chip has a 9.5 multi, plus thats a damn good deal, its worth getting and selling the mobo on ebay for £40 if it is shit

 

[rhythmeister]

Overclocking

The Biostar TForce 550 certainly isn’t going to break any records in the overclocking arena. I was able to boot into windows as high as 265 FSB, but that speed soon proved to be unstable. Upon rebooting to tweak a bit more, I found I was unable to get the board to POST at anything above 250 from that point forward. This is certainly not caused by a lack of options in the BIOS, as the TForce 550 BIOS has every option a hardcore overclocker could need. In the end, a minimal 240 turned out to be this board’s sweet spot for rock solid stability.

Article Image

This overclock was achieved with stock AMD air cooling and was proven stable by running two instances of Prime 95 alongside RTHDRIBL (Real-time High Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting).

Editor’s Note: I had issues with anything about 230MHz CPU bus and 480MHz memory bus. Simply put, this is not an overclocker’s motherboard.

That twonk prob didn't even put a decent bios on it!

 

[rhythmeister]

Biostar, biostar, biostar...or at least until we can get Supox boards in Europe...

 

[HAL7000]

Biostar, biostar, biostar...or at least until we can get Supox boards in Europe...

Suppox boards....well if they survive and can prove their MB's are worth buying.

I always liked most Epox high end Mb's, but there was a time span when they went with cheaper/ faulty parts and the consumer was unforgiving for their deception, even when they started to put out the HQ MB's again. Now Suppox, well they are young and a small company that may not even last in today’s market. It’s too bad but it is what it is,

But you bring up a good pont that Suppox may be a contender in the future.

 

[MilkyWay]

Bought a MSI K9A Platinum Socket AM2 for £51 from ebay (including shipping) previously had seen one but didnt bid high enough well this one was buy.

Its full 16x crossfire which i traded off for a mobo with only 8x when in sli with e sata2 oh well if i need e sata im sure i can get a card or something.

Its not the best Crossfire board but for the price and compared to the Biostar i was going to buy it seems better.

Im an ATI man as i had a ATI card in my old pentium 2 then i had a Vodoo 3 card was great but couldnt handle games at a higher spec later on.
Then Nvidia Geforce 4mx and it couldnt play lots of newer games so i got a ATI 9600 Pro AGP man best card i ever owned.
It could play Half Life 2 on what i can remember almost full spec.
The ATI X800 GTO i have isnt the best but it was cheap and for a 2 yr old card still can play new games. ATI rule at making affordable mid range graphics card specially with the new one coming out at christmas.
Once you get to a 8600 gto u think hmmn i could get a 8800 for a little more money.

BTW Thanks for the help!

ps Suppox havnt heard of them before.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Okay i would consider buying one of these but dont know which one

Biostar TF570 SLI
http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...tegory_id=342&manufacturer_id=0&tid=tf570sli#

Or the Asus M2R32-MVP
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=467396

These arnt final and i would still like suggestions but been most helpful should have asked on the TPU forums for recommendations ages ago.
buying a mobo tomoro 17th August so it arrives for next week

Im not to good at recommending mobo's, but let's say pretty much anything with a 650i chipset.

PS Suppox = Epox

EDIT: Didnt see you already purchased.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

You might look at a Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H that uses a AMD 690G. The one I tested was very over clockable and puts the Biostar T550 to shame.

This is what I got when testing for the max HTT that was stable in windows and would past test and only played with it for a hour.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128052