Cheap AM3+ gaming motherboards?

[PlymouthJoseph]

Okay, because I want to overclock my guest PC, which is currently using a FX-4100 (Disgusting I know, will be upgrading to a 8350 within the next 2 months), I am wanting to get a gaming motherboard but what has overclocking capabilities. The computer currently has a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 which is utter crap. It has Speed Stepping enabled and there is no way to disable it. It will sometimes put my 4.5GHz overclock down to 1.7 or something because of no reason. No overheating issues or anything... So I am looking at another motherboard so I can disable Speed Stepping.

I have 2 boards in mind and which I cannot see a difference between them.

MSI 970 Gaming
MSI 970A Sli Krait Edition

Many thanks

- Joe

 

[Dunlop0078]

Msi is a good board but if i were you i would go for ASUS m5a99x evo R2.0 and not just because its the board I have lol. That MSI is a bit old and it uses one of their older UEFI BIOS's which in my opinion is terrible the asus bios is much better. Also the msi is a 970 chipset which is good but the 990x chipset is a bit better for overcloking and the asus board has more power phases. I am also going to post a similar gigabyte board I have heard good things about.

ASUS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874&cm_re=asus_m5a99x-_-13-131-874-_-Product

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514&cm_re=GIGABYTE_990-_-13-128-514-_-Product

 

[Dunlop0078]

But if you dont want to spend the extra 20 on one of the boards I suggested the msi should work just fine.

 

[anti-duck]

The 970 Gaming will be better for overclocking because of the higher power phase, 8+2 vs. 4+2 on the Krait, you can get boards with a low power phase that are brilliant overclocking motherboards, but they need to have a high quality VRM rated at high operating temps, both of these boards use low quality Nikon caps, but it doesn't matter nearly as much with the 970 Gaming as it has double the power phase making it a lot less likely for the caps to overheat. Another really good board is the Gigabyte 970A-UD3P which may overclock better than the MSI 970 Gaming because it has some vDroop control, but the MSI Gaming 970 has really clean, stable power delivery. I always recommend the MSI Gaming or the 970A-UD3P to people looking for a 970 chipset motherboard

 

[PlymouthJoseph]

Those are actually really nice looking boards, only down side is they're both closer to £95 from Amazon.co.uk while the 970's are about £75 each.

Was looking for some cheaper than that but they are both really good so it looks like I will have to save a little more.

Only thing is, out of the Asus and Gigabyte, which one do you think will be the better one for overall stability and overclockability? Because I wanna overclock the 4100 to at least 4GHz.

 

[johnnyb105]

I HAVE THE ud3 GIGABYTE BOARD WITH A AMD 8320 SITTING AT 4.4 GHZ IT HAs never failed me this is a very good board to consider and I wouldn't spend the extra on a 8350 when you can get the same performance from a 8320 for less.

 

[anti-duck]

A bit of misinformation there, the two MSI boards originally linked are amongst the newest AM3+ motherboards, the 970 Gaming has a physically higher power phase than the M5A99X EVO Rev 2.0 but the M5A99X EVO Rev 2.0 does have a 6+2 digital VRM which is just as good, if not better than an 8+2. Another cheaper board with exactly the same digital VRM as the M5A99X EVO Rev 2.0 is the M5A97 EVO Rev 2.0. There's this misconception that 990X and 990FX are always built better for overclocking than any 970, in reality, unless you go for the top 990FX chipset motherboards with power phases ranging between a digital 8+2, up to a physical 12+2, it isn't true relative to a 970 board with a good VRM.

Any of the boards mentioned (excluding the Krait) could get you to 4GHz and higher depending on your cooling and your particular FX 4100.

 

[Wisecracker]

Gigabyte 970A-UD3P : £71.96 Inc VAT