At a loss (compatibility) on what mobo to buy for this build. Help super appreciated!

starlight.evenings

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Nov 29, 2018
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I've never used an SSD before and want to run one with an HD together; one for games and one for work in the same full size gaming tower. (New build.) Which motherboard could I buy?

Budget: 150 dollars and under for the motherboard. There will be no overclocking.

Quicklink to build parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hPdVRJ

Plain text:
CPU: [Socket AM3+] AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core
GPU: [PCI Express 3.0] Single NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Ram: [240-Pin DDR3 1866] G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series (4x4GB)
SSD: [NVMe M.2] Samsung 500GB 970 EVO
HD: Undecided, pretty standard 10k RPM 500GB
PSU: [600W] Thermaltake TR2 TR-600

Cooling: A lot of fans. Just a lot of fans and Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO for CPU. No liquid cooling. No overclocking.
 
Solution


OH no...i just noticed! you're going for an M.2 NVME. No, you can't plug that directly into a PCIe slot as it needs an M.2 socket.

Asus 970 Pro Gaming /...
Even without overclocking as a goal a strong VRM is a good idea for FX8350 processors.

GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P (rev. 2.0) AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
or
ASUS M5A97 EVO R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 AMD Motherboard

Should fit your budget with money to spare although they are getting harder to find now.
 

starlight.evenings

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Nov 29, 2018
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Thank you SO much. So the 970 EVO says "PCIe 3.0 x4 Interface" and has a shape like it can fit into the GA-970 mobo. The mobo has the description "2x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Slots (one runs at x4)" so I can..plug the SSD into that slot?

Mind blown craziness?
 


OH no...i just noticed! you're going for an M.2 NVME. No, you can't plug that directly into a PCIe slot as it needs an M.2 socket.

Asus 970 Pro Gaming / Aura
Gigabyte GA-990FX-Gaming motherboard
ASRock 970-G3

But I really don't know if there are ANY available. you can try looking; maybe on eBay and be happy with used? The only other thing is give up on NVME and go SATA SSD as NVME PCIE adapter cards are finicky to get working to boot an OS from.

THIS IS OLD TECH! Not only is it getting harder to find things you want, and worse when you want the latest protocols supported, but unless you have a lot of hardware that you're trying to roll into this 'build' it's simply not worth spending a lot of money, or time, on it! Your 'FPS per Dollar' is going to be terrible if you are buying all this hardware.
 
Solution

starlight.evenings

Prominent
Nov 29, 2018
8
0
520


You are a life saver! Yeah that makes perfect sense. I used to build PC's frequently but that was some time ago so my idea of what is bang for buck is VERY outdated. I appreciate this a lot and try to find premade builds on a build search site that are within an 800 dollar frame. Thanks again!
 


If you are interested in current 'bang for the buck' leaders it's still AMD, of course. But now go looking for a Ryzen processor, Ryzen 5 2600, and a B450 motherboard, Asrock B450 Pro4 suggested. After changing memory to DDR4 memory, but two sticks only (2x8gb, G.Skill Ripjaw V) as Ryzen doesn't like 4 DIMM's, instead of DDR3 you can stay with everything else in your list pretty much the same.

Finished cost may not be too much different, depending on where DDR4 memory goes, with performance oh so much better. And of course, you can go up-market and pick a 2700/2700X 8 core processor but that doesn't add tremendously more performance unless you have highly-threaded productivity apps that really need more cores to speed things along, but can jump cost considerably. For gaming, the 2600 6 core is really the sweet spot.
 

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