[SOLVED] Best motherboard for amd fx 8320

[chrismonty]

Hi,

I've got an AMD fx 8320 and I need a new motherboard for it, I'm looking for a good one for slight overclocking but nothing huge. I know there are much better CPU's out there but I'm on a really small budget and don't want to have to replace everything.

Thanks for your help.

 

[kanewolf]

"Best" is whatever you can find on your budget. You didn't tell us what you are willing to spend...

 

[chrismonty]

Sorry say around £40 but I could go more if it was a really good motherboard.

 

[DSzymborski]

You'll want a 990fx motherboard if you're going to overclock it, but the exact one will be hard to say as these motherboards are pretty much only available on secondary markets. What you *can* get will depend on what people are trying to sell and what is a good buy can change within hours based on changes in eBay bids and new listings.

Be forewarned that most non-budget AM3+ motherboards are going to be in the $100-$150 range even used. And you don't really want to run an 8320 at stock, let alone overclock, on the typical budget AM3+ motherboard (run far away from anything with a 78 in its name).

 

[DSzymborski]

Sorry say around £40 but I could go more if it was a really good motherboard.

Unfortunately, really good motherboards that you want to overclock a 125W CPU on will be more than that.

Looking at the final selling price for the 990fx motherboards with completed sales on eBay (including postage)

£84
£141
£162
£127
£118
£86
£87
£48 (untested and sitting in a garage for two years).

Sometimes 970 motherboard get around £40, but I wouldn't want to overclock on the ones that are (the good ones go for nearly as much as the 990fx ones).

 

[kanewolf]

There are 970 motherboards on E-Bay UK that sold for around 40 pounds. There are 990fx motherborads, but they are all above 100 pounds.

I would go with a 970 for your budget.

 

[chrismonty]

So something like a Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970

 

[kanewolf]

So something like a Gigabyte 970A-DS3P AMD 970

That board does support 125W CPUs. As @DSzymporski said, overclocking on 970 motherboards may be limited.
That particular board only has a 4 pin supplemental CPU power plug. That will limit more.

An MSI 970 Gaming, or an Asus 970 Pro, or a Giabyte 970 gaming all have 8 pin supplemental power plugs. That means they all have more robust power infrastructure.

 

[DSzymborski]

The Gigabyte 970 to have for overlocking was the UDP3, which has a more robust configuration of voltage regulator modules. I wouldn't overclock at all on the DS3P as it has a more anemic configuration and remember, it's an old, *used* motherboard now. But it can run a 125W CPU at stock.