What motherboard for amd phenom ii x4 940

[rip7]

can anyone advise me on what motherboard would be best to go with an
amd phenom ii x4 940 im going to be using ddr3 and a standard atx size tower would prefer asus or gigabyte but would need a board that supports the chip out the box and dont break the bank £100 max if im honest
cheers
paul

 

[saint19]

Hi rip7 and welcome to Tom's forum.

The Phenom II X4 940 is socket AM2+, socket that only support DDR2 and not DDR3. Here are two good options for you:

1- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131618
2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130265

 

[rip7]

sorry should have said a amd phenom ii x4 970 not 940

 

[saint19]

Ok, that's another thing

What other components do you want use?

 

[rip7]

well at the moment i have 4gb of kingston ddr3 and a 8800gt out my old machine but was looking at a ati 4850x2 card not sure on case yet but prob be midi-full tower.

 

[saint19]

Here are some options:

1- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131633
2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441
3- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131655

Some are out of your budget, but if you want overclock I suggest you go with FX chipset that offers the best performance and overclock features.

 

[rip7]

thx for the quick reply some nice boards there
i did think about using my original case im using at the moment which is a thermaltake lan case but then i would have to use a matx board and wasnt sure if temps would be a problem with the quad core chip etc in a smaller case whats your thoughts on that the main problem being less room for expansion in a small case with matx board?

 

[saint19]

Exist good mATX, but in some cases the space are limited, more if you install it in a mATX case.

What could be the problem? Some GPUs don't will fit in the case, and is the same for CPU coolers.

A mATX case performs good with the rig, not at the same temps that an ATX case but with acceptable range, the problem will be if you want add Crossfire, SLI or a big cooler.

 

[rip7]

yeah i hear what your saying think be best stick with a atx case then not much limit on what i can put in there been looking at this board
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX but when i look on the gigabyte site it dont list the x4 970 only upto the x4 965 in the cpu support list i also get the same on asus own site but from what i gather there prety much the same chip just one slightly faster just need it to work out the box aint got another cpu to do bios update with.

 

[saint19]

That is logic, the Phenom II X4 970 is a new CPU, even is more new that Phenom II X6 and the release of the mobo, so, give it some time to ASUS and Gigabyte to work in a BIOS that support the CPU.

 

[rip7]

thanks for fast reply ill just wait a bit
cheers
paul

 

[saint19]

Your welcome

 

[rip7]

just a quick question if i got a motherboard from asus is it possible to update the bios even if i put in a chip thats not on the supported cpu list because chances of getting a asus board with very latest bios that lists my cpu are slim as the boards prob been on shelf of supplier a while.

 

[saint19]

If the rig can boot with the not supported CPU, u can do it.