990FX Overclocking Board - Stable Power and Temperature

[maddogfargo]

Well, it's time to upgrade from my Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev 1.0 board.

My priorities are, in order:

1 - Stable power delivery with LLC and low ripple to OC my FX 8350 at lowest possible voltage and temps.
2 - Safe and low VRU and NB Chipset temps under load.
3 - Good FSB/HT overclock capabilities

I've reviewed this recent Tom's article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/990fx-motherboard-review-amd-fx,3464.html

This has me considering:

- ASRock Extreme 9 for lowest temps and 12 phase power that runs very cool under load
- Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0 for 2nd lowest temperatures, but best load efficiency and highest overclock

Worth noting: The Asus board is a 6+2 phase power board, making it particularly impressive to me that it did so well under load.


My plans are to add a custom water loop to my CPU in the near future and go for 5.0GHz. I've had this CPU to 4.8 GHz on my current UD3 board. But without LLC I am fighting a fair amount of droop. Needed 1.5-1.525v core to get 4.8 stable and the VRUs were getting HOT. I'm hoping with a better board and better cooling I can hit 5.0 and land in the 4.7-4.8 range for my 24x7 OC.

Any advice, experiences doing similar, as well as other comparative reviews showing good boards for hitting 5.0 with good voltage and temperature, will be much appreciated.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from SR-71 Blackbird as he had the ASRock Extreme 9 and was recently considering the Asus M5A99FX as well.

 

[i7Baby]

I'd get the ASRock. I'm convinced more phases is the way to go. Especially for overclocking.

The ASRock Fatal1ty version is also a good 990 board.

 

[ingtar33]

the reason the 6+2 phase asus board did as well as the Fatality is because asus uses much better VRMs then asrock... or... well... anyone else.

I was able to get my 8320 up to 5.3ghz on a corsair h100 cpu cooler with a similar 6+2 asus board the m5a99x evo. Currently i'm using a Sabertooth 990fx r2.0... same high class vrms... only this is an 8+2 setup. the sabertooth is also the board used at the top of all of the top piledriver clocks. You can get one of the Asus ROG boards... but they don't really overclock any better then the sabertooth~ those boards are really great if you want high quality sound... they also are solid overclockers so it's not a total loss.

really it's up to you. it's definitely a step up to go from a ud3 to a m5a99fx pro... that asrock is nice... but i don't trust asrock vrms... so YMMV.

 

[maddogfargo]

Thanks, both of you, for the info.

On both the Fatal1ty and the Sabertooth, can you two link me to an article or review where it talks about the VRM quality and maybe some operating temperatures? I'd like to do as much reading/research as I can before I purchase.

5.3 is pretty impressive BTW. Nice job.

 

[i7Baby]

Well you've looked at Tom's. You'll just have to keep Googling to find more.

http://www.legitreviews.com/asus-sabertooth-990fx-motherboard-review_1639

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4393/asrock_fatal1ty_990fx_professional_amd_990fx_motherboard_review/index.html

 

[ingtar33]

Thanks, both of you, for the info.

On both the Fatal1ty and the Sabertooth, can you two link me to an article or review where it talks about the VRM quality and maybe some operating temperatures? I'd like to do as much reading/research as I can before I purchase.

5.3 is pretty impressive BTW. Nice job.

I'll admit i've not "read" about the quality of VRMs... it's more of an "accepted" fact among the overclocker's i chitchat with... so I guess you could call my testimony a bit more suspect because of that.

That said Asrock (like MSI) has built a reputation over the years of using substandard VRMs... it shows up often when they stick only a handful on a board... like the debacle with their first edition FM2 motherboards (many burst into flames... and they were using the same vrms they use on every other motherboard. they just weren't using many of them, or cooling them well)

As for asus, you'll notice their 6+2 boards often overclocking better then competitor's 8+2 boards. this was because of the new digital vrms they started to use were of such high quality.. and all you have to look at to see the proof is the motherboards used on some of the top overclocks on fx chips; they're almost all asus boards, with the sabertooth headlining most lists.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I own the Asrock Extreme 9 and the Sabrtooth Rev.2 and the Sabertooth is the better overclocking board.

 

[maddogfargo]

Well you've looked at Tom's. You'll just have to keep Googling to find more.

http://www.legitreviews.com/asus-sabertooth-990fx-motherboard-review_1639

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4393/asrock_fatal1ty_990fx_professional_amd_990fx_motherboard_review/index.html

Thanks. But most fo the articles I get back from Google are 'reviews' that read more like marketing material. So I look for knowledgable overclockers who can point me to the more technical articles.

Thanks for the info. I'm reviewing these now.

 

[maddogfargo]

Went ahead and ordered the Sabertooth R 2.0. Thanks all.