How good is the Crosshair IV Formula

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

Exist some things that u need bear in mind to buy a mobo.

1- What do u want install? Crossfire? SLI?
2- How much RAM? What speed?
3- What is ur budget?
4- Do u want a very good OC, or just a normal OC?

Now, the Crosshair IV is one of the best mobos that u can get for the money, but if u don'y want use OC or Crossfire don't have sense spend $230 in a mobo, when u can find the Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 that do the same job with less price. Or some 790FX mobos that are very good in price/performance and OC.

Thanks for the input saint

I apologize for the scatter-brain post I made...it was before coffee.

1) I want to install an HD 5830 and eventually Crossfire when I work up the cash.
2) I was looking at, as far as RAM goes, either 8GB of G.Skill Ripjaw 1600 or 6GB of 1333 (whatever I can get as best value)
3) budget isn't really a major major concern but I would like to keep my build under 1400.

I should mention though that I already have windows 7 and a lot of HDD space. Also have a sound card and wireless card.

4) I would like to overclock a good amount but I wouldn't call myself an overclocking enthusiast. Taking the 1055T to ~3.5GHz would be enough excitement for me. Didnt really feel the need for the unlocked multiplier of the 1090T.

The thing that really attracted me to the IV is that its a top end board. My buying philosophy has always been that if you buy quality now, you won't have to buy for a while. I have heard really good things about the 890FX chipset (even though it's not too different from the 790) and that it has a really nice BIOS.

Hope that gives some more insight and provides for some good feed back.

Thanks again

Also, I mostly do 3D graphics work and work with Photoshop and After Effects rendering files hence the x6. However, I do like my games, hence the 5830.

I see in the newegg product description that the RAM support skips right over 1600, does that matter or does it not really support 1600?

That the 1600 isn't listed in the RAM speed, doesn't mean that isn't supported, just mean that u need set all the specs of the RAM manually in the BIOS.

Best answer selected by antwanman12.

i appreciate the help, the money I saved from moving to the gigabyte board will give me some more head room to move to the 5850.

+Best answer

Any time, that's why we are here.

If u have another question, just post in the forum.

P.D. For the 3.5GHz u need a CPU Cooler, the Hyper 212+ is a very solid option for price/performance.

HYPER 212+ not bad,
but i suggestion for Corsair h50 or THERMALRIGHT ULTRA120EX VER.C

The H50 and Hyper 212+ have a very similar performance, if u want something better go with the NH-D14 or Thermalright Venomous X.

I was just about to pull the trigger on the Crosshair IV, but complaints are now popping up on Newegg and elsewhere about overheating problems with the northbridge. Apparently the screws on the northbridge coolers are too short so it isn't completely connected, leading to overheating problems that can be bad enough to shut down the board within a couple of minutes. I'm now taking a hard look at the GA-890FXA-UD5 instead.

if ur not going to over clock and have a sound card just get the msi 890fx gd70 its a good over clocker and doesn't have the sound card ..... and u will save some money