Why do the AMD mobos always look weak?

Amd chips have higher multipliers and so the bus speed is lower. lower frequency= less heat, so there might not be any need to have a monster passive heat sink on the north bridge.

Lol then why not buy your own heatsinks and replace them. Also the intel boards are aimed at enthusiast who are expected to oc it if am3 shows some enthusiast promise they might make lavish boards for you.

That's also a reason why " Decent" (read SLI or CF compatible) Intel boards all cost 3X the cost of similar AMD motherboards... I mean so much F'n copper on there it's absurd!!

I mean there's no way the common mortal can afford 300$+ motherboards each time a new platform comes out!

I was only using AMD platforms before due to the reduced cost, and available features, until AMD crapped out with their Phenoms... I run a Q6600 right now, but pretty sure that will be the last Intel platform if the new Phenoms OC has they advertise them...

These aren't "sick" enough for you?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813141010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813131022R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813130161R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813131323R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813130136R
(as a side note, I was going to go with the above board before I went with Intel.)

Does the amount of copper or heatsinks really matter that much? Does it really matter how "cool" your motherboard looks? If you want a cool looking computer, why don't you buy some of those LED fans. I think I heard just installing them will make your FPS go up at least 10%.

Yeah...... generally bigger heatsinks are not a good thing. If the board needs bigger heatsinks, then you need to worry about cooling it better. Also, Intel Core2 Duo and Quad setups are more dependent on the motherboard for their performance sine the memory controller in on the motherboard. On AMD and i7 platforms the motherboard makes little difference at stock speeds, but of course it's always a different story when you overclock.

I love my DFI Lanparty 3200 CFX DRG, and I think it is a good "looking" motherboard as well, even though it is an obsolete platform (939). It's been rock solid, tough and fun to have. Probably the only reason I haven't made the move back over to Intel yet. But the day is coming I am afraid......

I'll do it right here. I built a 9950 BE on a Foxconn A7DA board with 4 gig (2x2) of OCZ DDR2-800 ram. This was the first Foxconn board I've ever bought, but I was willing to try it, as it was one of the first boards available with the SB750 southbridge. I've managed to get the 9950 BE up to 3.2ghz, but the mobo has not been stable, even though the CPU temp, according to Core Temp, has never even gone as high as 40c. By the way, I have a TRUE mounted with a Scythe 120mm fan, which is mainly responsible for the low temps. I presently have it running a 14 multiplier with a FSB of 210.

I'm probably going to change over to one of these ASUS boards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131339


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131331

I don't have a need for four video cards, so will probably go for the 790GX model.

Overall, I'm pleased with the 9950 BE, even though it doesn't run nearly as fast as my QX9650 Intel machine. It runs 24/7, and until today hasn't had so much as a hiccup at 2.94ghz speed. What happened today? My cat sat on the UPS and suddenly turned everything off. The Foxconn board has been having trouble since. Troubleshooting has shown an error on the board, so that leaves me with either trying to RMA a 6 month old board or buying a new board. In any case, I think that for the price of a 9950 BE and a decent motherboard, I think its a good deal. And if it will drop into your present motherboard, its a great deal. No, the 9950 BE isn't extremely fast, but for practical use, its well good enough. Besides, when it comes to games, the graphics card makes far more difference than the CPU speed. All in all, I think its good enough that I'm thinking of getting another one for my office, which is where the present 9950 BE runs.

LOL, it's true I swear!! And if you duct-tape a Folgers coffee can to your exhaust pipe (thus simulating the sound of specialty exhaust kids put on most 4 cylinder cars), then affix a 'wing' to the back of your car....

You'll find your 0-60mph times cut in half! Plus, your fuel efficiency increases by 25%!!!

Plus, you'll feel so much more confident riding in your new sports car, and having a fast computer with a cool motherboard, that women will fall for your every pick up line.

The op is clearly an expert. He knows that you are supposed to buy a motherboard based on its looks.

OH wow! You went for the big board. I settled for the Rampage Formula myself. Its got such pretty lights on it, glowing green, yellow or red depending on the overclock settings. I must look at it once a month or so, when I clean the dust and lint off the heatsink.

Seriously though, I could care less about the looks of a mobo. I care about its performance. Even though the Antec case has a window on it, I usually look at more interesting stuff than the hardware inside of the case.