Which Chipset for AMD Phemon II X6

[Casper_2010]

Hi everyone,

If I would like to have motherboard from a (random chosen) manufacturer, the second choice you have to make (almost every time) is which chipset you want.
In the past there were a few, so the differences were simple and easy to find. Nowadays you have to choose between 16(!) chipsets for e.g. the Phemon II X6 CPU.

Is there any way to find out, which is best for your (mine) needs? (Assuming they all work exceptionally)

Thanks in advance for replying.

Casper.

 

[saint19]

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

1- What is ur budget?
2- Do u wan Crossfire?
3- Any 790 or 890 chipset can handle the X6 if the manufacturer release the BIOS to support it.

 

[Casper_2010]

Hi!

Thanks for the welcome!


1 - In principle I normally want a motherboard to be less expensive than the CPU. However, the current and previous motherboard I had/have to replace because of cooling problems. If there is a motherboard that is more expensive but can live longer than 3 years, I'll take it!
2 - ATI CrossfireX looks very promising, but I have 2 monitors with different sizes: 22" DVI-D and 19" Sub-D. Can CrossfireX support different resolutions (like nVidia Dual-view)?

Casper.

 

[saint19]

Hi.

Sorry for the later reply.

1- Currently I have this Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 it's very solid but if u want something better go with this ASUS Crosshair IV.

2- Yeah u can work with different resolutions with Crossfire.

 

[Guest]

If you are looking at new Mobo for x6 chips, then go 890fx, you will not regret it..

Toms did a good article comparing 5 890fx boards

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-890fx-crosshair-iv-formula-890fxa-ud7,review-31909.html

I went for the Asus Crosshairs so as to lose all legacy Ide and floppy and serial connections ( Finally) and for its extreme performance in the OC arena (My 1055t has seen 4.6ghz on air in this board)

Its layout is perfect for my smaller Coolermaster Scout case I had the chance to check physically the fit between this and the Gigabyte)

I love the looks and it has onboard X-FI for my gaming sound needs...

But It was such a close call between this and the Gigabyte UD5, soo close but the all PWM fan headers and easy tewaktown bios won me over in the end..

Overall, if you are spending £160 on CPU, Spend the same on a great MOBO, besides, you literally always get more with your mobo, and its the CPU that tends to get upgraded in the future MOBO dependant!

 

[Casper_2010]

Ok, 890FX it is then!
Overall it seems the best choice when you use DirectX 10 and 11, but will it also make a significant better performance when you use directX9?

At present I am totally not impressed by Win7 or Vista, e.g. what they've done with the "Start Menu". I like it simple and the newer versions aren't. Every time I buy a new computer with the assumption that It will be faster, and every time after the first service-pack the computer is noticeable slower. So finally I've decided to go to Linux. For the (Win) games I'll make the system dual-boot with my current Windows XP version.