ASRock 890FX Deluxe4: Good for Future-Proofing?

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

I've been a lurker here for some time and decided to make my first thread, so thanks for any replies.

I get paid tomorrow and am going to complete my current build. Since it's Christmas time I'm on a pretty limited budget--some of the money will go towards an HDTV, amongst other things--, so I'm looking to save as much as I can while getting the best performance.

Some of the parts I've been thinking of buying tomorrow or Saturday are the $80 Phenom II X4 830, the $70 Antec NEO ECO 620C, the $140 SanDisk Ultra 120GB SSD, and finally the $125 ASRock 890FX Deluxe4.

Edit: I'll be going with the Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 120GB instead of the SanDisk Ultra 120GB. It's only $10 more expensive and significantly faster.

On Newegg it's stated that this board uses the AM3+ socket, but it's a board from 2010 and officially states support for AM3 processors on the page. I wanted something with the AM3+ socket so if Piledriver ends up being decent I can get a good upgrade by the end of next year or 2013. With the newest BIOS firmware the board states support for all the FX processors, but I'm not sure if it'll support Piledriver given the socket on the board should be AM3 and not AM3+. Perhaps they made a new revision that has the AM3+ socket instead? There's also the MSI 990XA-GD55 at the same price point, but I do lose some features and gain UEFI. Which would be a better option?

 

[rolli59]

I would go with the MSI 990 board over the 890 board!

 

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

For me the "break it or make it" when it comes to the motherboard is whether I can be sure I'll get Piledriver support. Did ASRock make a new rev. of this board that now has the AM3+ socket? If not, how does it support Zambezi in the first place?

 

[rolli59]

I do not see a reason to buy last generation chipset when you can get the new with added features. Like native SATA6GB and SLI support http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.us.asp?s=AM3%2b
It was advertised that the 8xx boards would support Zambesi!

 

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

I do not see a reason to buy last generation chipset when you can get the new with added features. Like native SATA6GB and SLI support http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.us.asp?s=AM3%2b
It was advertised that the 8xx boards would support Zambesi!

I understand SLI support if you're gonna be using NVIDIA graphics cards, and I currently have a GTX 460, but with AMD's new HD 7800 series coming out soon and GTX 460 supplies being much lower I probably won't SLI it. The 890FX chipset supports SATA 6Gbps as well, and all of the board's SATA ports are 6Gbps.

The thing that attracts me to the Deluxe4 over the GD55 is its feature set. I get a more balanced expansion card setup, eSATA, and one USB 3.0 header. Then again, with the GD55 I get UEFI and perhaps better future-proofing.

As of now the Deluxe4 is the only 8xx board that is being advertised as having an AM3+ socket and supporting Zambezi, so that's why I'm wondering about Piledriver support too.

Thanks for replying!

 

[rolli59]

There are more boards with the 890FX chipset for AM3+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600138080%20600008296%20600008420&IsNodeId=1&name=AMD%20890FX
But if I was buying a high and FX board I would go wit one of these 990FX http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600138080%20600008296%20600166242&IsNodeId=1&name=AMD%20990FX and seriously consider one of the Asrock boards.

 

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

There are more boards with the 890FX chipset for AM3+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600138080%20600008296%20600008420&IsNodeId=1&name=AMD%20890FX
But if I was buying a high and FX board I would go wit one of these 990FX http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600138080%20600008296%20600166242&IsNodeId=1&name=AMD%20990FX and seriously consider one of the Asrock boards.

That's true. I do have a set budget, though, and the $150+ 990FX boards are simply out of my range. With that in mind I decided to go for the MSI 990XA-GD55 instead. Front panel USB 3.0 isn't that big of a deal, and most external HDDs are using USB 3.0 instead of eSATA now and I still have those ports in the back panel I/O. It still has true CF/SLI, and I like the color scheme and overall look of the board a lot more. More importantly, it's using the newest chipset which means it's very probable it'll support Piledriver.

Again, thanks a lot for your help.

 

[AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls]

Best answer selected by AppleBlowsDonkeyBalls.