Best Gaming Graphics card for Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P

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shure

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May 18, 2014
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I recently bought the above Gigabyte motherboard for my son as his last Asus died. His specs are as follows:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 260
GPU: Radeon HD 5670
Ram: 12GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (Non-ECC 1600)
PSU: 650W

He wants the PC primarily for gaming, so naturally that means he's going to have to go on an upgrade path soon. He doesn't have a big budget but will probably focus on the graphics card first. I've identified the Asus AMD Radeon R9 270 DirectCU OC 2GB GDDR5 as probably the best bang for his buck, but am concerned that it might be overkill for the rest of his system and that he wouldn't get max benefit out of it. For a start it's PCI-E 3.0 whereas the mobo is PCI-E 2.0.

Is it worth him getting this card or is it a waste and would he be better off getting something cheaper and using any money saved towards upgrading e.g. the CPU later on? He can't afford to do everything at once anyway.

I'm aware this will never be a high end system but as money's tight he can't afford to get an Intel one.

Advice?
 
Solution
Wisecracker
...
thanks for your reply. So the Graphics card would be a better bet than a CPU upgrade initially, then?
Click to expand...

Yes. In a gaming build, it's your video card that is the primary driver of performance. The R9 270 is substantially faster than the HD5670. Your kid will love it.

The CPU-side of your rig is driven by the system clock. The base clock speed is 200MHz. To over-clock the CPU in the 'old school' manner, you must increase the system clock. In your case, the sweet spot will be 240MHz.

Other parts also run off the system clock -- it's a simple matter to adjust the system so that they run at spec speed. You may also consider over-clocking the integrated memory controller to increase memory bandwidth and reduce latency...
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Hi,

thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I really can't afford to buy a new system, unfortunately, and as I've said I can't afford to do both Graphics card and CPU. It has to be piecemeal. So from the above specs is it worth sinking the money into that Graphics card or will the CPU be a bottleneck? If so, would it be more advisable to change the CPU first (if so, which one) or is getting the above Graphics card - or a different, cheaper one - the best option?
 
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... Save some money for a new system is my advice ...
Click to expand...
Bad advice is bad advice.

The Radeon R9 270 will be fine. The Athlon II X2 260 will hold the card back but the overwhelming majority of games these days are GPU-bound. If you are interested (and want to invest in some inexpensive after-market cooling), the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P is a great over-clocking motherboard.

There is virtually no difference between PCIe Gen 2 and Gen3 performance -- do not not worry about that.
 
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Hi Wisecracker,

thanks for your reply. So the Graphics card would be a better bet than a CPU upgrade initially, then?

I would be interested in overclocking if it's worth it for this CPU. I don't mind getting my hands dirty but is it a straightforward process? I'm not especially knowledgeable but not totally computer literate, either. I built the system without too much trouble so happy to tackle if it's not excessively complex.
 
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Bad advice ? Lol , go forward for you with that athlon x2 with that OC , and fx-6300 is best buy from amd .

Dont give an advice with no relevance for +1 .
 
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That motherboard is very good. Put an FX 6300 or 6350 in it with a good CPU cooler and it will support a very good OC. Just read a good guide first so you understand the settings and voltages to tweak.

An FX 6-core with a decent OC will not bottleneck a GTX 970, let alone an R9 270/270x. You'll be fine.

4.5-4.6GHz is pretty common for FX 6300
4.7-4.8GHz is pretty common for an FX 6350

Examples:

Metro is a good example for newer, multi-threaded games.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZHlo0DAI38"][/video]

Valley is a good example for old, single-threaded games.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVA5ZPNPfLo"][/video]
 
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...
thanks for your reply. So the Graphics card would be a better bet than a CPU upgrade initially, then?
Click to expand...

Yes. In a gaming build, it's your video card that is the primary driver of performance. The R9 270 is substantially faster than the HD5670. Your kid will love it.

The CPU-side of your rig is driven by the system clock. The base clock speed is 200MHz. To over-clock the CPU in the 'old school' manner, you must increase the system clock. In your case, the sweet spot will be 240MHz.

Other parts also run off the system clock -- it's a simple matter to adjust the system so that they run at spec speed. You may also consider over-clocking the integrated memory controller to increase memory bandwidth and reduce latency.

There are a handful of steps involved by entering your BIOS:

1) Lock the PCIe bus to 100MHz;
2) Drop your memory speed to 667MHz;
3) Reduce your HT link multiplier to 8X;
4) Reduce your IMC/NB multiplier to 8X;
5) Drop your CPU multiplier to 14; and
6) Raise the system clock to 240MHz.

That's it :)

Your CPU will be running 14x240MHz, or 3.36GHz. Your memory will be running 6.67x240MHz, or, stock speed 1600MHz. Your HT Link Speed and IMC/NB will be close to spec at 1920MHz.

You may use the AMD OverDrive utility to monitor your clock speeds and 'thermal margins' -- and for its integrated stability test. You simply raise your CPU multiplier in .5x increments and test for temps and stability. If you 'stub your toe' simply add +0.0125v to your VCore and test again.

Your CPU multiplier is 'locked' on the high end at 16x (16x200MHz or 3.2GHz). With a $20- to $30 aftermarket cooler, you should have no issue running 16x240MHz, or. 3.84 GHz. It would not surprise me if you ran 14.5x240MHz (3.48GHz) on the stock cooler at 1.3625v (or less).

As noted above, for each 10% you over-clock the IMC/NB over stock 2000MHz, memory bandwidth is increased 5- to 6% and latency is reduced 5- to 6%. This can have a positive impact on your gaming. You should have no issue running 10x240MHz on the IMC/NB with your NB volts at 1.2v or less.

Gigabyte also allows saving multiple profiles in your BIOS (up to 8 if I recall correctly). You may save your 'stock default settings and your various OC profiles and voltages as you test different configs.

Simply read through the BIOS section of your motherboard manual and note how to change these various settings. If you have any questions, feel free to post away!

edit: I fergit ...

It's fun to OC and test the limits of your system ... I've had the system clock on the -UD3P stable beyond 300MHz so a piddlin' 240MHz is not a problem!

 
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Solution
Many thanks for the detailed advice. I'm just waiting for my replacement RAM to arrive (the 8GB Corsair RAM burned out along with the old motherboard) and then once the system has bedded in and looks like it's running well I might give the OC a shot!
 
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I had a 'freebie' AthlonII X2 240 laying around that I popped into a Giga-Volt -UD3P on the bench ...
Untitled.jpg

The was with a 'stock' AMD 125w copper heat-pipe/base cooler. I suspect I could have dropped the VCore even further without issue. I popped-in HD7870 (pretty close to the R9 370) and I'll likely run a few graphic benchies later on today.

The Giga-Volt will make you proud :lol: I left the CPU volts in the BIOS on 'Auto' and it ran at 1.445v (rolling eyes). I used the volt-slider in AMD OverDrive, walked it back to 1.325v, and ran the CB15 OpenGL Test on top of the AOD Stability Test -- didn't miss a beat.

Just a heads-up --- the NB & HT Link settings in the BIOS do not report in '10X' or '8X' (I furgot!) but in MHz like '2000MHz' or '1600MHz.' It actually makes sense as they are based on the stock 200MHz system clock (hence: 10x200MHz or 8x200MHz).

Raising the system clock to 240MHz, using the 'NB' 2000MHz setting results in 10x240MHz, or 2400MHz ... the 'HT' 1600MHz setting becomes 8x240MHz, or 1920MHz. That should save you a little consternation.

Good luck and enjoy!

 
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Ok, thanks. I'm fighting a losing battle with my replacement RAM causing my system to crash at the moment but will start my OC journey once I've beaten them into submission.

Appreciate the help:)
 
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Gigabyte is more finicky with RAMs than Asus -- sorry you are having trouble. Best practice is to use memory off of their "QVL" support list. More so than anything, it gives you the right to complain to them when their 'supported' RAMs get wacky.

If you are still having issues, there is a setting in the BIOS called 'XMP.' If you select Profile 1, it will enable "spec'd" configuration settings that 'most of the time' will work.

 
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Appreciate the tip. I'll definitely look into that.

I already have the 2x4GB RAM from my previous build, so I'm loathe to buy more if I can get around it. Crucial sent me some replacement sticks but the system keeps crashing when it's in. I ran Memtest which took 8 hours but it came up clean, so the RAM itself seems OK. I think you are right that it's the Gigabyte compatibility which is the issue. I've had to take it out and put the old 2x2GB RAM (which, ironically, isn't on the QVL list) in as my son was having palpitations because he couldn't play his game😀

I'll try your XMP suggestion when I find a big enough crowbar to pry him off. Very grateful for your time and patience!
 
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Tried XMP settings with no joy. Even swapped the RAM with 2 x 4GB Patriot Viper 3 Venom Red RAM I had in my other machine, but again this didn't work.

It does work with only 4GB RAM, either with a single 4GB DIMM or two 2GB ones. Any ideas why it refuses to work above 4GB? Before you ask I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit SP1.
 
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Hi there,

I spoke too soon, unfortunately. As soon as he tried to play a game the system crashed again.

After some research I've found out that the Athlon II X2 260 can't recognise more than 1333Ghz, so I'm guessing that this may have something to do with it (but given my track record so far I'm just as likely to be way off base). My old Asus M4A77T/USB3 motherboard didn't seem to have an issue with it, but this Gigabyte one appears to be hyper sensitive.

The Gigabyte works fine with my 2x2GB Mushkin DDR3 1333Mhz RAM, but the trouble starts when I try to use any 1600MHz modules. I can boot to windows and even run diagnostic software like Speccy and Gigabyte's own EasyTune, but loading a game, or even web browsing, causes the system to crash.

I've tried manually lowering the frequency of the RAM, combining it with my Mushkin RAM (this worked in my old setup) and moving things to different slots, but so far nothing has worked. I even tried overclocking everything as per your previous reply, but it didn't make it any more stable, sadly.

So I'm back to 2x2GB DDR3 1333 RAM at the moment, which at least gives me a stable system. But I'm beginning to regret buying the Gigabyte motherboard. It's a beautiful looking piece, but I'd frankly rather have something butt-ugly that did what it's supposed to do! I feel like I've actually downgraded at the moment.

All my planned upgrades are on hold, of course, except that I'm replacing the generic PSU with an XFX TS 750W one for greater reliability and upgrade potential (in case the PSU contributed to me previous motherboard's demise). But I'm pulling my hair out trying to get the Gigabyte working with my RAM
 
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well, finally managed to sort out my RAM issue. If anyone's interested, I downclocked it to 1333. The system was still unstable and it turns out the motherboard had also changed the timings on the RAM to 9-9-9-24. I manually changed it back to the default 11-11-11-28 and the system has been running fine with no issues. Ran Prime95 and the Torture Test reported no issues after 19 hours 39 minutes, so finally have a stable system.
 
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Yee-haw! :)

Good job. The -UD3P for all its quirks is a decent foundation to build upon. Going from the HD5670 to an R9 270 should be quite a jump -- even when the AthlonII holds you back.

And, there are inexpensive remedies for that which may be used to 'encourage' your son to keep up with his homework and chores around the house ...
 
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Yes, it's a relief!

Can finally turn my attention to upgrading now. Bought an XFX TS 750W PSU to replace my Winpower 750W one, as with a R9 270x I wasn't sure the Winpower was strong enough. Made a bit of a mess of my budget but turns out that 2nd hand R9 280x's are selling for very similar prices to R9 270x's, so might aim for one of those as they come with 3GB as standard. The hunt is on!
 
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spoke to soon. Even after passing Prime95 stress testing with flying colours the system is still unstable with downloading or playing games. Back to the 4GB of RAM. At this rate I'm going to have to look at getting the FX-6300 before the GPU as otherwise I'll be stuck with just 4GB RAM
 
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