best budget micro atx motherboard for amd fx8350 cpu

[r3drocksr3d]

can anyone recommend a budget micro atx motherboard for the amd fx8350 cpu? i have the ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 but have common overheating issues with the mosfetts with this board causing cpu throttling. Does anyone know of any micro atx motherboards with good reviews that will not have the overheating issues? UK prices if possible, many thanks!

 

[drea.drechsler]

can anyone recommend a budget micro atx motherboard for the amd fx8350 cpu? i have the ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 but have common overheating issues with the mosfetts with this board causing cpu throttling. Does anyone know of any micro atx motherboards with good reviews that will not have the overheating issues? UK prices if possible, many thanks!

I think it's probably very safe to say that no mATX board can handle that 220W TDP (overclocked) beast without VRM throttling under load, even without overclocking. The best you can do with your board is glue some Enzotech heat sinks on the FETs and locate a fan blowing on the VRM section to somewhat delay the onset of throttling.

If you must buy something else, Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 ( https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813145049 ) looks best with (what looks like) a 4+1VRM and a nice 'fin-y' heatsink on the FET's. It's also pretty cheap so you won't feel too bad if it doesn't work out for you.

 

[DSzymborski]

can anyone recommend a budget micro atx motherboard for the amd fx8350 cpu? i have the ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 but have common overheating issues with the mosfetts with this board causing cpu throttling. Does anyone know of any micro atx motherboards with good reviews that will not have the overheating issues? UK prices if possible, many thanks!

The ASRock 970M PRO3 was the only mATX motherboard I recall that somewhat managed to run a 125W CPU. Your problem is that almost no mATX were 970s and none that I'm aware of were 990fx. I believe all have the same anemica 4+1 power phase.

The fundamental issue here is that mATX and 125W AM3+ CPUs just don't go together, let alone when you start talking budget. Nor would I be investing $100 in this 2012 platform at this point; you're far better off underclocking the 8350 until you're not suffering from overheating and saving the $100 for something far better.