- Jul 27, 2014
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NOTE: Tiers in chipset below are quite not same as with Intel list or 990FX/ 990X list. Tier 2 boards often are not fit for FX 8, sometimes even for FX 6, and so should be avoided, unless either you’re considering FX 6 (w/ exceptions) or you don’t have better options/ budget.
970 chipset
AMD’s mainstream AM3+ chipset comes with 22 PCIe 2.0 lanes 4 PCIe x4 lanes. It is not officially SLI capable, though a couple of MoBos do have certain chips which make them SLI capable. In general, all boards have SATA3 and many have USB 3.0 as well. M.2/ SATAe/ mSATA ports are missing, SATAe should not be confused with eSATA.
The board quality in general is fine, but not great, as many boards have a hard time with FX 8 on them, overheating of VRMs being a major issue, so they have been appropriately tiered and labeled. Other than those, many boards have great OCing power with FX 8 so they’ve been placed higher. Most are basically sub $100 boards, with exceptions as well.
The tiering focuses on overall quality first, ie, if the board can sustain FX 8’s load, with OCing. Then come the features. Read individual tier description for more info.
Key:
Red: MSI
Blue: ASROCK
Green: GIGABYTE
Gold: ASUS
Black: EVGA
__________________________________________
Tier One-Class A: Very High quality. Great boards for OCing, have optional SLI capability but more importantly can OC FX 8 well, if you have to get a 970 chipset board, these will be your top choice. High quality, and no overheating issues.
No SLI capabability:
GA-970A-UD3P
M5A97 or EVO or PRO (R.2 as well)
GA-970A-UD3
SLI capable:
970 GAMING
970A SLI Krait (USB 3.1 supported)
Tier One-Class B: High quality. Good board for OCing FX 6, fine for mild OC on FX 8, don't expect extreme OC due to moderate power phases design, but is a good overall board quality wise, better than any Tier Two board.
Extreme 3 R2.0
NOTE: Regardless of SLI capability, all MoBos are fit for OCing FX 8. All MoBos from here in this chipset can only contain FX 8 on stock speeds or are good for upto FX 6.
__________________________________________
Tier Two: Good quality. These MoBos are NOT FIT to be paired with FX 8, with OCing in mind. And if a Motherboard is not good enough for OCing a particular CPU, is always good to NOT get that MoBo for that CPU. But besides that, they’re fine for FX 6 or lower. Quality is decent, a couple MoBos have some issues, so be careful and look around for labels.
Not SLI capable:
970 Extreme3
M5A97 LE R2.0
970 Pro3 (R2.0 as well, this MoBo is good for OCing FX 6)
970A-G43 (See NOTE1 below)
GA-970A-DS3P
GA-970A-DS3
GA-970A-D3 (See NOTE2 below)
GA-970A-D3P
SLI capable:
970A-G46 (See NOTE3 below)
970 EXTREME4 (See NOTE3 below)
NOTE1: G43 is known to NOT OC FX 6 well, due to no heatsinks on VRM and known overheating issues. Avoiding this board is HIGHLY recommended.
NOTE2: D3 (r1.0/1.1/1.2) do NOT have heatsinks on VRM so they should be avoided for OCing FX 6. R1.3 and 1.4 are heatsinked so they’re fine for OCing FX 6.
NOTE3: G46 and EXTREME4 are known to have overheated VRMs with 125W CPUs, so do not expect high OC with FX6 on these boards. 970 GAMING is a much better option in this regard.
__________________________________________
NOTE: This thread is a part of the article series 'Motherboard tier list'.
970 chipset
AMD’s mainstream AM3+ chipset comes with 22 PCIe 2.0 lanes 4 PCIe x4 lanes. It is not officially SLI capable, though a couple of MoBos do have certain chips which make them SLI capable. In general, all boards have SATA3 and many have USB 3.0 as well. M.2/ SATAe/ mSATA ports are missing, SATAe should not be confused with eSATA.
The board quality in general is fine, but not great, as many boards have a hard time with FX 8 on them, overheating of VRMs being a major issue, so they have been appropriately tiered and labeled. Other than those, many boards have great OCing power with FX 8 so they’ve been placed higher. Most are basically sub $100 boards, with exceptions as well.
The tiering focuses on overall quality first, ie, if the board can sustain FX 8’s load, with OCing. Then come the features. Read individual tier description for more info.
Key:
Red: MSI
Blue: ASROCK
Green: GIGABYTE
Gold: ASUS
Black: EVGA
__________________________________________
Tier One-Class A: Very High quality. Great boards for OCing, have optional SLI capability but more importantly can OC FX 8 well, if you have to get a 970 chipset board, these will be your top choice. High quality, and no overheating issues.
No SLI capabability:
GA-970A-UD3P
M5A97 or EVO or PRO (R.2 as well)
GA-970A-UD3
SLI capable:
970 GAMING
970A SLI Krait (USB 3.1 supported)
Tier One-Class B: High quality. Good board for OCing FX 6, fine for mild OC on FX 8, don't expect extreme OC due to moderate power phases design, but is a good overall board quality wise, better than any Tier Two board.
Extreme 3 R2.0
NOTE: Regardless of SLI capability, all MoBos are fit for OCing FX 8. All MoBos from here in this chipset can only contain FX 8 on stock speeds or are good for upto FX 6.
__________________________________________
Tier Two: Good quality. These MoBos are NOT FIT to be paired with FX 8, with OCing in mind. And if a Motherboard is not good enough for OCing a particular CPU, is always good to NOT get that MoBo for that CPU. But besides that, they’re fine for FX 6 or lower. Quality is decent, a couple MoBos have some issues, so be careful and look around for labels.
Not SLI capable:
970 Extreme3
M5A97 LE R2.0
970 Pro3 (R2.0 as well, this MoBo is good for OCing FX 6)
970A-G43 (See NOTE1 below)
GA-970A-DS3P
GA-970A-DS3
GA-970A-D3 (See NOTE2 below)
GA-970A-D3P
SLI capable:
970A-G46 (See NOTE3 below)
970 EXTREME4 (See NOTE3 below)
NOTE1: G43 is known to NOT OC FX 6 well, due to no heatsinks on VRM and known overheating issues. Avoiding this board is HIGHLY recommended.
NOTE2: D3 (r1.0/1.1/1.2) do NOT have heatsinks on VRM so they should be avoided for OCing FX 6. R1.3 and 1.4 are heatsinked so they’re fine for OCing FX 6.
NOTE3: G46 and EXTREME4 are known to have overheated VRMs with 125W CPUs, so do not expect high OC with FX6 on these boards. 970 GAMING is a much better option in this regard.
__________________________________________
NOTE: This thread is a part of the article series 'Motherboard tier list'.
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