Best budget AM3+ Mobo

L Helps · Mar 24, 2013

Hello,

Which mobo should I buy? I'm going to buy the fx 6300, hd 7870 xt and g skill ripjaws x 8gb ddr3 1600 with it. My budget is 85,-

I was thinking of the:

asus m5a99fx r2.0
gigabyte 970a-ud3
or the
asrock 970 extreme4

Or does anyone know a better mobo?

tenaciousk · Mar 24, 2013

if the extreme 4 is in that budget grab it.

L Helps · Mar 24, 2013

tenaciousk :

Can you please explain why I should get that one over the others? They are all the same price over here.

tenaciousk · Mar 24, 2013

Well, most of them are pretty much identical but for the same price the extreme 4 has more options, and more features.
ASRock Dura Cap (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors

Supports AM3+ Processor, 8-Core CPU

Supports Dual Channel DDR3 2100(OC)

Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX , 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossFireX

Supports NVIDIA SLI

4 x USB 3.0, 5 x SATA3, 2 x IEEE 1394, Dr. Debug, Power/Reset/Clear CMOS Switch with LED

7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), Supports THX TruStudio

Supports XFast USB Technology, Graphical UEFI

Supports On/Off Play, Instant Boot, Instant Flash, APP Charger, SmartView, Turbo UCC

Free Bundle : CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial

tenaciousk · Mar 24, 2013

Allthough, after looking closely, if you are planning on heavily overclocking get the gigabyte one. its has the 8+2 power phase so More/better VRM means better power regulation to your CPU and RAM.

L Helps · Mar 24, 2013

Alright but do you think the asrock is more rilieble then the asus or gigabyte mobo?

And does this matter?
gigabyte 8+2 power phase
asus 4+2 power phase
asrock 4+1 power phase

Also saw the asrock 990fx extreme3 is it worth the 10,- more?

tenaciousk · Mar 24, 2013

8+2 means eight phase for the cpu and 2 for the memory, which overall i believe the more phases it has, the more reliable it will deliver power to the processor. Overall either board should be fairly reliable

L Helps · Mar 24, 2013

tenaciousk :

Alright so you would choose the asrock 970 extreme4?

tenaciousk · Mar 24, 2013

Personally, that is the board i would get. But any of them will be fine boards at that price range. That is why i would go after the one with the most features.

serge44 · Mar 24, 2013

Just wanted to give my 2 cents. The Gigabyte is the best of the bunch. Even if you don't plan on overclocking you know you just have better hardware, so if the price jump isn't too much I think that'd be the best buy.

However watch out, there are several "revisions" of that motherboard, the latest being 3.0 (I think it went from 1.2 to 3.0 or something like that). Model number is the same though, so identifying them is a mess. I think the main difference between 1.2 and 3.0 is the BIOS, the 1.2 has "Hybrid Bios" and 3.0 brings UEFI.

Whatever you decide, It'd be cool if you post your decision and impressions around here, as I'm also looking for a MB within that range.

L Helps · Mar 24, 2013

serge44 :

I'm also leaning towards the gigabyte, this is the hardest decision ever.

L Helps · Mar 25, 2013

can anyone else help me out? I'm also looking at the asrock 990fx extreme3 wich is 10,- more

L Helps · Mar 25, 2013

nobody reccomends the asus? thought that was the best mobo brand.

L Helps · Mar 25, 2013

nobody recommends something else?

serge44 · Mar 26, 2013

Just wanted to let you know that Gigabyte sales staff confirmed to me that the Revision number is not stated in the product's model number; however, it's clearly printed in the label and barcode. So if you decide to go for that mobo, ask your vendor's sales staff to validate the revision in the label before getting it.

Good luck.

L Helps · Mar 26, 2013

serge44 :

Does it matter wich rev you get, its just another bios or not?

serge44 · Mar 26, 2013

L Helps :

Yes, but not just a BIOS update, it's a different BIOS architecture. Rev 3.0 is UEFI, Revs 1.2 and rearlier are Award/Legacy BIOS. Some cards (like Powercolor's 7870 LE Myst) have issues unless BIOS is UEFI.

L Helps · Mar 26, 2013

serge44 :

L Helps :

Yes, but not just a BIOS update, it's a different BIOS architecture. Rev 3.0 is UEFI, Revs 1.2 and rearlier are Award/Legacy BIOS. Some cards (like Powercolor's 7870 LE Myst) have issues unless BIOS is UEFI.

Alright I'm using a sapphire hd7870xt version don't know if that one has trouble with it. I contacted the store I want to buy it from but they also dont know what rev version it is.

serge44 · Mar 27, 2013

Well the cards share the same Tahiti LE GPU, but I've only seen the issue documented with Powercolor's versions, and even in Powercolor's website they address the issue. So you might as well be safe with Sapphire.

Sucks that those guys can't check a label; even if your card works, wouldn't you want to get the latest revision?

If you do go ahead please post your results here, I'd like to know.

L Helps · Mar 27, 2013

serge44 :

Yes but I saw there were problems with the 3.0 (bios) (I thought) only for overclocking though. And yes not knowing the rev nummer makes the choise even harder. And I will let you know when I decided!

L Helps · Mar 29, 2013

serge44 :

Hey, I am almost 100% sure I'm going for the gigabyte ga970a ud3 because of the good reviews and more power phases.

serge44 · Apr 5, 2013

L Helps :

Awesome. I'm sure it's a good MoBo, but keep us posted on your impressions.

Select a solution as Best Answer so we can close the thread, and good luck.

L Helps · Apr 5, 2013

you had the best awnser. Leaned towards gigabyte and yo convinced me. Don't know when I get my build though.

Best budget AM3+ Mobo

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