Best AM3 boards??

[PaulieG]

So, now I have things narrowed to the Gigabyte UD4 or UD5, the MSI GD70 or an Asus Crosshair. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Reefer86]

They are all really strong choices.

 

[Fourstaff]

So, now I have things narrowed to the Gigabyte UD4 or UD5, the MSI GD70 or an Asus Crosshair. Decisions, decisions.

Get the cheapest? I see no point in comparing between the 4 of them, as many have said all of them are solid. Since that you are upgrading when the 890 comes anyway, all the more reason to get the cheapest.

 

[PaulieG]

Get the cheapest? I see no point in comparing between the 4 of them, as many have said all of them are solid. Since that you are upgrading when the 890 comes anyway, all the more reason to get the cheapest.

That is a very good point.

 

[Deleted member 67555]

If I had to sell my Crosshair III, just a awesome board so don't even ask, I'd probably go with this Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. SATA III and some USB 3.0 support for under $200 and you don't have to wait til the 890 comes out for those features.

This or a 890 will be my next board, there are only 2 SATAIII but it has a SATAII controller separate from the SATAIII so you could possibly do SATAIII Raid0 and USE SATAII for storage
Plus it has 2@ x16 XF or 4@ x8 XF

Seems like a solid board to me

The only problem that makes me want to wait for a 890 is that I'm not sure if you can have more than 4gb of memory @1866 or higher it is notated that 1866 or higher must be used in slots 3&4

 

[PaulieG]

Still can't make a decision. I'm thinking the UD4 for the lower cost, and I'll just put the savings toward a 890 when it's released. I'll looking forward to having a AMD rig around again...The overclocking is just more fun.

 

[STUdog]

ASUS M4A79 Deluxe FTW

One of the only boards with 4 usable PCIE 16 x slots, only 2 16x electrical tho, only one nic tho

I have my AM3 965 @ 3.7ghz stock volts, And can do stable 4ghz at 1.55v but gets a bit warm, its summer here and is way too hot,

Note, my 965 is the new 125w version

 

[Chicken Patty]

I can vouch for the ASUS boards, I had a M3A79-T and it was one heck of a board. Overclocked my Phenom 9850 to 3.6 GHz, for that CPU, that's heck of a overclock!

 

[STUdog]

The only thing I dont like with asus boards are there life span, maybe its just me and taking my pc erverywhere, but they seem to die within like a year or 2, as in northbridge will die or come off.

 

[Chicken Patty]

The only thing I dont like with asus boards are there life span, maybe its just me and taking my pc erverywhere, but they seem to die within like a year or 2, as in northbridge will die or come off.

I can't say as I never had mine for that long, but Kei a member in here had his for many many years (ASUS M3A32-MPV Deluxe) and he sold it here. Still running without issues.

 

[Kei]

Yep, I've been an ASUS man for many years now and never had one die on me before. I've only ever had one board arrive DOA...don't remember what year that was lol. My M3A32-MVP Deluxe I consider to honestly be the best board I've ever owned in my life. If I had some extra cash laying around I would have never ever ever ever sold the board honestly...and even so I still regret selling it (I know CP and everybody told me not too lol...curiosity and shiny pics are evil).

Paulieg, if you're gonna try to save a few bucks on buying a board and sell it when the 890's come out I would strongly suggest going with a 790GX board over a 790X board. The GX boards are almost the samething as their 790FX bigger brothers with the exception of the extra PCI-E lanes and the onboard video which you can just turn off.

Other than that they're nearly identical all the way down to how they overclock. The bios on those boards (from the big 3 that is) are very robust so you won't be hurting for overclocking options, and one of the GX boards even came in 2nd position in one of Tom's Hardware's OC contests...I couldn't believe how well it did (something like 5.3-5.6Ghz with serious cooling).

As usual I stand by the ASUS boards for their bios layouts and utilities. The EZ Flash2 is awesome at doing bios flashes and works it's magic in roughly 30 seconds or less. The bios's actually HAVE save slots unlike some other manufacturers which to me is extremely annoying not to have.

My current 790GX board clocks even higher than my previous 790FX board which is just ridiculous, but speaks volumes about how good the GX boards can really be.

Kei

 

[Chicken Patty]

Yep, I've been an ASUS man for many years now and never had one die on me before. I've only ever had one board arrive DOA...don't remember what year that was lol. My M3A32-MVP Deluxe I consider to honestly be the best board I've ever owned in my life. If I had some extra cash laying around I would have never ever ever ever sold the board honestly...and even so I still regret selling it (I know CP and everybody told me not too lol...curiosity and shiny pics are evil).

Paulieg, if you're gonna try to save a few bucks on buying a board and sell it when the 890's come out I would strongly suggest going with a 790GX board over a 790X board. The GX boards are almost the samething as their 790FX bigger brothers with the exception of the extra PCI-E lanes and the onboard video which you can just turn off.

Other than that they're nearly identical all the way down to how they overclock. The bios on those boards (from the big 3 that is) are very robust so you won't be hurting for overclocking options, and one of the GX boards even came in 2nd position in one of Tom's Hardware's OC contests...I couldn't believe how well it did (something like 5.3-5.6Ghz with serious cooling).

As usual I stand by the ASUS boards for their bios layouts and utilities. The EZ Flash2 is awesome at doing bios flashes and works it's magic in roughly 30 seconds or less. The bios's actually HAVE save slots unlike some other manufacturers which to me is extremely annoying not to have.

My current 790GX board clocks even higher than my previous 790FX board which is just ridiculous, but speaks volumes about how good the GX boards can really be.

Kei

Thanks for chipping in Kei. I do have to agree that the ASUS boards have good utilities. Luckily the UD5 I have has the in windows BIOS update so updating to latest BIOS was just as simple as downloading the file and hitting update

 

[Kei]

I should mention that I recommend the 790GX boards only if you're just trying to get back to AMD and you plan on getting an 890 series board as soon as they're released. If you're not really certain that you're going to go with the 890 series then by all means buy a 790FX board now.

The Crosshair III, GD70, and UD5 are all awesome boards and I believe are the absolute top for current 790FX boards, the M4A79T is awesome as well but just under those boards...it also costs less than the Crosshair if you're trying to go with ASUS.

Putting all bias aside If I was choosing between the M4A79T and the GD70 I'd end up still with the M4 because of familiarity with the bios and knowing exactly the quality I'll be getting with that bios. Strictly on board performance between the two I'd say GD70 hands down...it's not that hard to learn a new bios lol.

Kei

 

[Chicken Patty]

I should mention that I recommend the 790GX boards only if you're just trying to get back to AMD and you plan on getting an 890 series board as soon as they're released. If you're not really certain that you're going to go with the 890 series then by all means buy a 790FX board now.

The Crosshair III, GD70, and UD5 are all awesome boards and I believe are the absolute top for current 790FX boards, the M4A79T is awesome as well but just under those boards...it also costs less than the Crosshair if you're trying to go with ASUS.

Putting all bias aside If I was choosing between the M4A79T and the GD70 I'd end up still with the M4 because of familiarity with the bios and knowing exactly the quality I'll be getting with that bios. Strictly on board performance between the two I'd say GD70 hands down...it's not that hard to learn a new bios lol.

Kei

I haven't done my homework on the GD70 although I've heard nothing but great things. From personal experience, my current UD5 is a amazing board IMO. The BIOS has just the necessary things, unlike the DFI 790GX board I had. Thing had more options than I can learn in a lifetime! this board has just what you need to get a good overclock, nothing more nothing less. I can vouch for ASUS, but I haven't had hands on experience with the M4A79-T nor the Crosshair 3. I have with this UD5 and I highly recommend it.

Paul knows GB is He's had a few for his i7

 

[Super XP]

MSI currently has the BEST AM3 board right now. The 790FX-SB750

 

[Rapidfire48]

Crosshiar III

 

[brandonwh64]

i have a M4A79T-Deluxe and it is a great board

 

[Super XP]

I have the M3A79T-Deluxe AM2+ mobo and it works great. Though I would have prefered the MSI 790FX-GD70, but it was not out at the time I got the Asus.

 

[kenkickr]

MSI currently has the BEST AM3 board right now. The 790FX-SB750
http://www.msi.com/uploads/prod_b5792d435e80dfbb1be898b68684d480.jpg

If your going to use more than 2 graphic cards and require more than 1 NIC I guess but I would honestly go for the UD4. The Gigabyte UD4 is $30 bucks cheaper but does give you SATAIII and USB 3.0 over that MSI 790FX board.

The problem with most CFX boards is if you "need" to have more than 2 graphic cards then good luck being able to use any other expansion slot.

My vote goes to the GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

if he needs to save money i also suggest a 790gx board hell my Asrock AOD790gX 128mb took my Phenom II 940BE to 4ghz stable just the xiggy i had couldnt handle the heat so a good 790gx board hell i think P O S PC has MY asrock board for sale for about $80

 

[PaulieG]

If your going to use more than 2 graphic cards and require more than 1 NIC I guess but I would honestly go for the UD4. The Gigabyte UD4 is $30 bucks cheaper but does give you SATAIII and USB 3.0 over that MSI 790FX board.

The problem with most CFX boards is if you "need" to have more than 2 graphic cards then good luck being able to use any other expansion slot.

My vote goes to the GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3

I've about come to the same conclusion. If the 890 boards were not right around the corner, then I would probably go with the UD5 or Crosshair. Since I probably only own the board for 4-6 months, the UD4 will suit my needs just fine.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

well i still say take a look here

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=112393

Asrock 790gx board was orignially my board that i gave to CP that then gave it to POS PC great board 4ghz OC on a PII 940 and Athlon II 240

 

[kenkickr]

I've about come to the same conclusion. If the 890 boards were not right around the corner, then I would probably go with the UD5 or Crosshair. Since I probably only own the board for 4-6 months, the UD4 will suit my needs just fine.

and when your done you can sell it to me

 

[jjFarking]

I've about come to the same conclusion. If the 890 boards were not right around the corner, then I would probably go with the UD5 or Crosshair. Since I probably only own the board for 4-6 months, the UD4 will suit my needs just fine.
__________________
Looking for a Asus Crosshair III. PM me if you have one to sell!!

Seems a little contradictory

If you have decent systems already, why not simply wait out the next few months?
What's the rush in getting something right now?

 

[Kantastic]

Seems a little contradictory

If you have decent systems already, why not simply wait out the next few months?
What's the rush in getting something right now?

He needs his share of the WCG pie.