FX-6300 Motherboard Upgrade

[broskibrows]

I am looking to build a new PC with Ryzen, but I wanted to use my old PC (that I am currently using) for other stuff. Currently it has an MSI 760GMA-P34(fx) which actually has no VRM heatsink. I was thinking of just buying a new mobo to transfer everything to and found the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P-FX (thanks for that name Gigabyte)

Link on Newegg

I also noticed that it only has 3 stars. But there isn't much variety in AM3+ boards these days so this is really the only choice that isn't $100+. Would this be a worthwhile upgrade? This would be going in the PC I am using right now, and I have experienced throttling in Overwatch, etc.

Full PC Specs:
FX-6300
MSI 760GMA-P34(fx)
8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
RX480 (bought a few months ago, upgraded from R9 270, planning on putting the 480 in the Zen build)
CX600M
1TB HDD
500GB Samsung Evo SSD
Windows 10
Thermaltake Versa H21 Window
(I originally purchased this system as a prebuilt from CyberPowerPC, on TigerDirect, for $600.)

 

[rocktalkrock]

I don't think the Gigabyte motherboard would change much. There is not a big difference between the 760G chipset or the 990FX chipset and the small heatsink on the Gigabyte board is probably more for looks than for any practical use. They both have the same number of VRM's. I would put the money you would spend on that upgrade into the new Ryzen build instead.

 

[broskibrows]

I just wanted to know because I actually have my CPU underclocked to 3.1GHz because it overheats if it's any higher

 

[rocktalkrock]

Check if you have good ventilation in your case, if the CPU heatsink is screwed on straight or if the thermal paste was applied improperly. The older AMD CPU's had a bad reputation for running very hot.

 

[broskibrows]

Check if you have good ventilation in your case, if the CPU heatsink is screwed on straight or if the thermal paste was applied improperly. The older AMD CPU's had a bad reputation for running very hot.

Yeah I have made sure ventilation is good, also have re-seated the cooler with Arctic Silver many times. Temps stay pretty reasonable but only when at 3.1GHz or below. Just to let you know I have 2 120mm fans in front, 1 in rear and 1 on top.

 

[madmatt30]

Got to disagree immensely.

The MSI is utter utter crap , the ds3p is a decent budget 970 board.

Everything MSI made on the am3+ socket before the 970 gaming was truly awful & suffered throttling problems because of the ultra low quality 3+1 vrm setups.

Caps & MOSFETs on the msi board cause forced throttling as soon as they hit 70c, purposefully done by MSI because they are aware of how bad the boards are - the bios physically forces false inflated CPU temps when the vrms overheat so amd's built in protection kicks in.
It can be disabled but they then stand a good chance of physically catching fire.

The gigabyte is a 4+2 phase with heatsinks , the MOSFETs are good upto 90c & it will run a 6300 (even overclocked) absolutely fine with no throttling.

So yeah , I'd say if you want to keep that old system running with the 270 then it's a good choice without spending too much money.

 

[broskibrows]

Got to disagree immensely.

The MSI is utter utter crap , the ds3p is a decent budget 970 board.

Everything MSI made on the am3+ socket before the 970 gaming was truly awful & suffered throttling problems because of the ultra low quality 3+1 vrm setups.

Caps & MOSFETs on the msi board cause forced throttling as soon as they hit 70c, purposefully done by MSI because they are aware of how bad the boards are - the bios physically forces false inflated CPU temps when the vrms overheat so amd's built in protection kicks in.
It can be disabled but they then stand a good chance of physically catching fire.

The gigabyte is a 4+2 phase with heatsinks , the MOSFETs are good upto 90c & it will run a 6300 (even overclocked) absolutely fine with no throttling.

So yeah , I'd say if you want to keep that old system running with the 270 then it's a good choice without spending too much money.

Yeah, after finding out the overheating issues were because of the Mobo and not the CPU I wanted to swap it out.

 

[madmatt30]

Got to disagree immensely.

The MSI is utter utter crap , the ds3p is a decent budget 970 board.

Everything MSI made on the am3+ socket before the 970 gaming was truly awful & suffered throttling problems because of the ultra low quality 3+1 vrm setups.

Caps & MOSFETs on the msi board cause forced throttling as soon as they hit 70c, purposefully done by MSI because they are aware of how bad the boards are - the bios physically forces false inflated CPU temps when the vrms overheat so amd's built in protection kicks in.
It can be disabled but they then stand a good chance of physically catching fire.

The gigabyte is a 4+2 phase with heatsinks , the MOSFETs are good upto 90c & it will run a 6300 (even overclocked) absolutely fine with no throttling.

So yeah , I'd say if you want to keep that old system running with the 270 then it's a good choice without spending too much money.

Yeah, after finding out the overheating issues were because of the Mobo and not the CPU I wanted to swap it out.

A bone of contnetion the old cheap msi & asrock boards,the msi g43/g46 & asrock pro 2 /3 ,extreme 2/3 all exhibit the same forced cpu throttling.

The bios physically forces 100c temps on the cpu sensor when the vrm's overheat so the chip throttles back to 1.4ghz & until vrm temps drop.

Its a very very dirty trick to play & has wasted countless hours of my time trying to help people in these scenarios.

The first thing most people do is go out & buy a big 120mm tower which acually makes it worse because it removes vrm airflow.

Buy the dsp3 ,drop a gammaxx 300 on there (if youre using the stock cooler),run it at 4ghz which it will do all day long easily & you may find yourself able to hold off ryzen for a little while (zen+ is coming early next year with likely increased performance & the current prices may drop a bit more)

board is actually cheaper on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-970A-DS3P-FX-6Gbps-Motherboard/dp/B074QCKSYZ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509956474&sr=8-1&keywords=ds3p

gammaxx 300 red for $18

https://www.amazon.com/Cooling-DEEPCOOL-GAMMAXX-Cooler-Compatible/dp/B0714FNV2C/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1509956659&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=gammaxx+300

 

[rocktalkrock]

I still don't see the logic in sinking more money into upgrading a system running a CPU architecture that was out of date the day it was released. Zen+ is coming early next year and Zen2 after that, and Zen3 will follow. There will always be something newer and better just on the horizon and waiting for the next shiny new upgrade is always going to be tempting, no mater how long you wait. I still think putting your money into a new system is much more worthwhile.

 

[madmatt30]

I still don't see the logic in sinking more money into upgrading a system running a CPU architecture that was out of date the day it was released. Zen+ is coming early next year and Zen2 after that, and Zen3 will follow. There will always be something newer and better just on the horizon and waiting for the next shiny new upgrade is always going to be tempting, no mater how long you wait. I still think putting your money into a new system is much more worthwhile.

I agree but $70 to keep an old system running (& a 6300 & a r9 270 is a decent combo for a secondary pc really) isnt that big an outlay.

You cant get money for second hand fx rigs so theyre not really worth selling on imo.

Op has already stated hes building ryzen irregardless so I think its worth the little outlay to keep that system running.

BTW - between systems at the minute (my ryzen 1700 is on a test bed waiting new case delivery) & have been gaming on my old fx6300 the last week & a half - it still does far better a job than youd imagine,honestly surprised me.
Forza 7 & Wolfenstein Colossus ,60fps locked without a single issue.

 

[rocktalkrock]

But what video card are you using? My guess is that's a much bigger factor. In the end there's no right or wrong answer, just choices, but you would probably agree there is an obvious reason why "you can't get money for second hand FX rigs". And i'm quoting a man with "immensely" strong opinions.

 

[madmatt30]

But what video card are you using? My guess is that's a much bigger factor. In the end there's no right or wrong answer, just choices, but you would probably agree there is an obvious reason why "you can't get money for second hand FX rigs".

Im using a gtx 970 ,on a par with the op's 480 about,

& yeah its fairly obvious why you cant get money for fx rigs (which is why I still have 2) for the money they're not worth selling on at all.

That said the same goes for ivy/sandy & even haswell rigs to a point.

I flogged my 2 ivy bridge builds cheap earlier this year,when the ryzen quads are only £80 in the uk youre not going to get any worthwhile money for any old platform.

 

[rocktalkrock]

That's because the latest tech is so cheap people just buy new, as you said. Upgrading an old rig only makes sense if it's cheap and easy.