M3A79-T Deluxe or M4A79 Deluxe to go with AMD Deneb

rauchster

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Which motherboard would better support:

AMD Phenom II Deneb 940 X4 CPU
Zalman CNPS9700
OCZ 8Gb DDR2 800Mhz RAM
MSI R4870 1Gb GDDR5 GFX Card (Possibly 2-way Crossfire)

The price differential is marginal ($5), and the only differences I can see are that the M4 supports AM3, and the 3# has 6 SATA ports compared to the M4's 5. Different LAN chipsets too, but that probably will change nothing.

Any recommendations?
 

stoner133

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Well first the M4A79Delux doesn't support the AM3 any better then the M3A79T-Deluxe, it will run the 940 right out of the box without a BIOS update which the M3A79T-Deluxe won't do without the BIOS update. If you really want AM3 support your going to need the M4A79T-Deluxe which is a TRUE AM3 board with DDR3 support which really makes it the latest and greatest. One more difference between the two your looking at, the M4A79Deluxe has a jumper on the board to overvolt the cpu.


Here is the board you want:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363
 

Raviolissimo

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that's the key, not having to update the BIOS.

i think the M4A79 is going to be a great board. it's kind of descended
from the M3A79, which has a great track record. i'm hearing mixed
things about the M3A79 + Phenom 2 combination.

i would hope sometime soon Asus gets the M3A79 squared away
with the P2, if it hasn't already.

that M3A79 is hard to resist

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131339

"4x Winner of Customer Choice Award - AMD Motherboards" and all that jazz.
 

rauchster

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That's an AM3 board.
Not compatible with the X4 940.

Though I may switch down, due to some glowing reviews about the OC potential for the cheaper CPU.
 

poter676

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your all wrong guys... the M4A79 Deluxe is AM2+/AM3 that means its the card for the X4 940(AM2+!!!!)and all the AM3 processors since they have ddr2 and ddr3 controller on the processor .Now the M4A79-T is a card ONLY for AM3 (because the X940 doesnt have the ddr3 controller) that means X4 810 and X3 720 and only ddr 3.... so if you take the M4A79 Deluxe you can have all phenom on the market on it but ddr2.......if you take the M4A79-T you can only have the AM3 (810 720) but ddr3
 

sigep72

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WTF?????






 

nss000

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I recently posted a similar question. I want to build-out AMD-955 kit, but I do NOT EVER want to update the bios. How long do I need to wait to make sure the M4A79 Deluxe bios has reached a stable, robust performance plateau ?
 
Why don't you want to update the BIOS? It works fine normally.
As to your question though, it is hard to say. Asus is pretty good with BIOSes, and the current one is probably good for currently released processors, but if you want to use future procs, it may be awhile.
 

nss000

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I've failed several times to successfully update BIOS. I now consider that task both risky and beyond my skill-level ... I won't touch it. Period. I'll wait for stability.

Staying one-year behind bothers me not-at-all. My 3 working kits have 1:5:7 years on them ... the 7-y kit is a rock_solid AMD_2600+/WinME system with a recoverable full-tower case. It still uses Lemons infamous "June" PROXOMITRON proxy. Hate to see it go ....
 

james49

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it is a good board, and it will support ur 940 out of the box, but beware i have the same set up mobo , 940 x4, and 2 hd radon 4870 cards in crossfire, thw pcie16 slots are not spaced so well, the bottom one sets so close to the case u cant enstall floppy cord, the top one is very close to the cpu and will touch the copper tubing, the other 2 slots (the black ones) are so close together ull never get two 4870s to fit as thay will rub one another, i have to use the top one ,(rubs the cpu heat tubs) and the bottom one (close to the floor) and beleve me thay get hot. use the long bridge. good luck