Need AM3 mobo for light gaming system

[zalick]

I bought this board: MSI 760GM-E51 AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
DDR3, DX10/Hybrid CFX ready w/ HDMI & DVI

but an ATX case and DDR3 1600 RAM. I realize the board fits in the ATX case and I can OC the board to fit the RAM.

I'd prefer not to OC to fit the 1600 RAM. I'd also like a board with USB 3.0.

I have these components:
Processor: AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor ADX435WFGIBOX.

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular

GPU: ASUS CuCore Series EAH4850 CUCORE TOP/2DI/1GD3 Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

-----
My question to you all is: Should I just OC the board, sacrifice USB 3.0 and keep it? If not, what's the best AM3 mobo w/ USB 3.0 for around $100? I'd spend up to $150 if it was worth the cost.

I don't plan on crossfire or SLI ever. I also don't plan to OC.

I'd like to purchase ASAP since I was planning on building this tonight and now I'm sitting here stewing over my mistake!

Thanks.

 

[cmcghee358]

Do you have anything to utilize USB 3.0?

Just keep it dude. Your RAM is fine, the performance gain of 1333 to 1600 isn't that much. In fact if your RAM id 1333 CAS 7 its faster than 1600 CAS 9. Just goes to show that the performance increase is so low it's not even worth going after.

 

[zalick]

Do you have anything to utilize USB 3.0?

Just keep it dude. Your RAM is fine, the performance gain of 1333 to 1600 isn't that much. In fact if your RAM id 1333 CAS 7 its faster than 1600 CAS 9. Just goes to show that the performance increase is so low it's not even worth going after.

I have nothing USB 3.0.


Thanks for the quick response. The board is 1600(OC), so do I need to OC the board to accommodate the 1600 RAM, or can I just use it as-is and the RAM will run slower?

 

[cmcghee358]

You can stick the RAM in and time it to 1333, or adjust it's settings to run at 1600.

Do you have a link to the RAM.

 

[zalick]

You can stick the RAM in and time it to 1333, or adjust it's settings to run at 1600.

Do you have a link to the RAM.

Its the GSkill Ripjaw 4gb

 

[cmcghee358]

Give this a read:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Memory-Overclocking/152/3

 

[jocelyn87]

I was going to recommend my board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275 ) since I just this week built an almost identical system, but realized it also says 1600 (OC) in the specs. I really can't say I care too much/notice anything...the machine is fast So I agree with just keeping the board you have.

 

[zalick]

Give this a read:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Memory-Overclocking/152/3

Thanks for the info. If I read that correctly:
my memory clock on my RAM is 1600. Divided by 2 = 800. I would need to set the external clock of my CPU to be 800 then?

 

[zalick]

I was going to recommend my board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130275 ) since I just this week built an almost identical system, but realized it also says 1600 (OC) in the specs. I really can't say I care too much/notice anything...the machine is fast So I agree with just keeping the board you have.

Thanks, that is the exact board I was looking at if I exchange.

 

[cmcghee358]

Thanks for the info. If I read that correctly:
my memory clock on my RAM is 1600. Divided by 2 = 800. I would need to set the external clock of my CPU to be 800 then?

No in your case your CPU frequency is going to be 14.5*200, totalling 2.9 GHz.

That makes your base memory clock 200 then gets adjusted by the memory multiplier. For 1333 the memory multiplier is 6.66(200*6.66=1332). So to make it 1600, change the memory multiplier to 8x(200*8=1600)

Your latencies should be set to whatever the factory determines. Best thing to do is find the support page for your memory on the G.SKILL website to get all the details for what your memory needs to be set at.

 

[zalick]

No in your case your CPU frequency is going to be 14.5*200, totalling 2.9 GHz.

That makes your base memory clock 200 then gets adjusted by the memory multiplier. For 1333 the memory multiplier is 6.66(200*6.66=1332). So to make it 1600, change the memory multiplier to 8x(200*8=1600)

Your latencies should be set to whatever the factory determines. Best thing to do is find the support page for your memory on the G.SKILL website to get all the details for what your memory needs to be set at.

Thanks! You explained it much more clearly than the article.

Can't wait to build this now and not wait for a return!

 

[zalick]

Best answer selected by zalick.