Swap M5A97 for M5A99X-EVO for Phenom 965 OC potential?

ocmusicjunkie

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Jun 6, 2012
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Hey guys, I am curious what feedback I get on this...

Right now I have a Phenom X4 965b (yeah, the one EVERYONE has since they dipped under $100). It had been on my Dell mobo for a few months running stable at 4.2ghz without issue, until I ended up with the mobo dying from a PSU issue. I moved the chip onto an Asus M5a97 because it was the cheapest board I could get that was SATA III, and honestly I wasn't even sure the processor had survived when the board was fried. Well it certainly did, and it runs just fine, but I can't get it anywhere past around 4.0ghz before it starts having issues with stability, unless I dial the voltage up high enough that I end up with heat issues. I took a brand new X4 965 that I'd had laying around for a future project and tried to see if maybe the first CPU had actually been partially damaged. The new processor had identical results.

So, my question is whether I would expect the power phasing on a slightly better board would give me a better shot at getting a stable overclock where I used to run at. (looking at the M4A99x-EVO, or at most, M5A99FX)

Also, I have a M5A88-M coming that I just ordered a couple of days ago. I need a AM3 mobo that will fit inside a CM 343 mATX case, and it was the first board I found from a good manufacturer that offered both SATA III and USB 3.0. However, It's also going to be used with the second Phenom I mentioned earlier- so now I am wondering just how well that particular board will be able to run at least a mild (~3.8ghz) overclock. Is there a mATX board out there with solid 6+2 or 8+2 phasing that I should look at instead?