Help me pick an AMD motherboard

[RogueHermit]

Hi all,

I'm new here, since I am in desperate need of help finding a motherboard for a gaming machine.

Now for the details and stuff I want in a board:
AMD Phenom II x6 1090t
8gb 1600 DDR3 RAM (non OC support)
SATA 6.0 GB/s
USB 3.0 support
ATI Radeon 6950

I'd like a board that has most of these features that is still under $150 USD (approx). I may do some moderate overclocking somewhere down the road, so that's something to keep in mind.

Let me know if there's any details I missed.

Thanks!

 

[rolli59]

MSI 890FX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130565
Asrock more budget minded http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198
Both boards support crossfire.

 

[RogueHermit]

Doesn't the 890 only support 1600 when it's overclocked? I don't really understand how all that stuff works though. But I have Corsair Vengeance 8gb 1600 memory standard picked out. Would that work perfectly at 1600 speeds on first bootup?

 

[rolli59]

It will run 1333MHz as default, you can configure manually to 1600MHz.

 

[RogueHermit]

But it'll still work at 1600 speeds once I go into the BIOS and set it up correctly?

 

[rolli59]

Yes!

 

[RogueHermit]

Wow, that answers a lot of questions. Thanks a bunch! Now, not to be too picky, but are there any cheaper ones with the same features, or would you still suggest that one?

 

[rolli59]

I would actually recommend the Asrock first because of the price difference and most all the features the FX board has.

 

[RogueHermit]

Oh oops, totally didn't see that. How is ASRock for customer support/reliability and such?

 

[rolli59]

I have not seen any more complaints against them than the other manufacturers, they are in the process establishing themselves as one of the top manufacturers but have been great value for the money for a few years now.

 

[RogueHermit]

Alright, well I think I have my mind made up and I'm going to be saving a whole lot of money. Thanks for your help! Now I just need to order the ASRock eventually...

One last question, does it support the turbo ability of the Phenom II?

 

[rolli59]

I believe so, since it is a CPU feature.

 

[RogueHermit]

Actually I'd assume it would since Newegg lists the 1090t as one of the combo deals. Well that answers that!

Thanks for the help!

 

[dirtmountain]

The first AM3+ board is out at newegg, it's an 870, but my bet is that within a few days/weeks they'll have the 890FX available on retail sale. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and Asrock are all releasing the AM3+ using the SB850 chipset. That would give you the chance to upgrade to the Bulldozer CPUs in the future. Just a thought.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128485

 

[rolli59]

^+1
And it is from a reputable manufacturer.

 

[RogueHermit]

Alright, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for it then! Just to be clear, that will work flawlessly with 1600 RAM?

Thanks!

 

[dirtmountain]

The 870 I posted will work with 1600 RAM, you'll just have to set timings and voltage (depending on what DDR3 RAM you get) in it's BIOS. It's a budget motherboard compared to a 890FX without 16x/16x or even 8x/8x gaming capabilities. It's 16x/4x, but since it uses the new AM3+ socket it can be used with the upcoming Bulldozer CPUs from AMD. The new AM3+ sockets will work with all AM3 CPUs and will be compatible with the next generation of AMD CPUs.

Here's a roundup review of the 870 motherboards, it's a bit dated, but should give you a good idea about capabilities of the platform.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/amd-870-roundup.html

 

[RogueHermit]

Best answer selected by RogueHermit.