Help deciding on a AMD motherboard for FX-8320

[dissemble2discover]

I have a budget of 80~150 to decide on a new AMD motherboard for a AMD FX-8320 processor that will be used.

I use VMware virtual machines a lot and have them running at least everyday. I do encryption of devices often and depend on programs that utilize 100% of the CPU.

I sometimes do gaming, but it's not the primary focus of my usage. I'm not sure which motherboard would be best for the FX-8320, because reliability and SATA 3.0 ports are a need for me.

My questions really are:

1) What would be a good motherboard that is known to be reliable and work best with the AMD FX-8320?

2) Does the chipset on the motherboard matter when it comes to the CPU and performance I get out of it?

3) Are there specific motherboards that accept water-cooling solutions better in terms of mounting space?

4) Is there a better 8-core processor I should get instead of the AMD FX-8320 around the same price point?

5) is there a best thermal grease to use for the FX-8320 to provide better cooling over other greases?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($5.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($126.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $132.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-30 16:49 EST-0500)

 

[Gibbyy]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-m5a99x-evo-rev-2-amd-990x-s-am3plus-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-atx
This is nice, but also has lesser models at £80 and £60

 

[dissemble2discover]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($5.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($126.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $132.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-30 16:49 EST-0500)

That motherboard looks like it would do it.

Should I go water cooling for the FX-8320 or cpu fan? Which water cooler would fit onto this socket?

I see a lot of Corsair water cooling systems, but they are not for the AM3+ slot. Does it matter if I use an AM3 slot water cooler for a AM3+ slot on this motherboard?

Do you have any that you recommend of both Water coolers and fan assemblies?

 

[dissemble2discover]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-m5a99x-evo-rev-2-amd-990x-s-am3plus-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-atx
This is nice, but also has lesser models at £80 and £60

The link doesn't show a valid page on my end.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

What case are you getting?

Get a 990 chipset.

 

[dissemble2discover]

What case are you getting?

Get a 990 chipset.

I will be using a Rosewill THOR V2 Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case to house everything in.

 

[dissemble2discover]

What case are you getting?

Get a 990 chipset.

Should I go with water cooling or fan cooling for this processor on this motherboard?

Do you know any water coolers that are reliable that would fit on a AM3+ slot? I see a bunch of the popular ones, but I am not sure if AM3 Water coolers will fit on a AM3+ slot.

Does AM3 vs. AM3+ matter when it comes to these water coolers?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

What cooler are you looking at.

 

[dissemble2discover]

What cooler are you looking at.

These two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181032

Would this work on top of the AM3+ slot even though it says AM3?

 

[dissemble2discover]

What cooler are you looking at.

Do you think any of those two coolers would be good for the amd fx-8320?

 

[Sharath Chandra]

I have done some research for building my own system, which is not primarily for gaming. here are my suggestions.

1) What would be a good motherboard that is known to be reliable and work best with the AMD FX-8320?
I suggest to get a AMD 970 chipset which are less expensive unless you looking to use some of the extra expansion slots.
You can take a look at AS Rock 970 Extreme 3 R2 - I am planning buy this personally but having a hard time finding it here im my country. It looks like it comes with a fully updated bios and small upgrades and on the papers of AS rock it supports FX 8320 and usually the revisions should have all the fixes that were needed so should be hassle free.

Also, in the AMD 9 series(970, 980G, 990X, 990FX) only 980G comes with an onboard graphics card, so if you dont want to spend on a graphics card now, you can consider that.

2) Does the chipset on the motherboard matter when it comes to the CPU and performance I get out of it?
I belive what you need to look at first is that if the chipset supports the type of CPU you are planning to use, the number of PCI slots, USB and the SATA ports the chipset supports.
Then based on the chipset you might find different priced versions of the same chipset from a manufacturer with custom upgrades like an esata port or additional USB ports or a bios flash feature. And if you are in some serious testing you can look at the maximum RAM and overclocking support on the Motherboard.
I am not an expert in the area but most of the motherboard are in this league are of 2600MHZ FSB, so other major difference in performance I think would be the amount and speed of RAM and Graphics card you can put in in the MB and how well it works with the processor.

3) Are there specific motherboards that accept water-cooling solutions better in terms of mounting space?
This should depend on the case you are putting it in, because it takes space. Motherboards should have good enough slots to connect the cables for the fan and the pump i guess and also support other fans/ devices, guess most of them do.
I do not have personal experience on a water cooling system but what I read is that low end water cooling systems are good initially for low loads and less run time, you need a good one for long run time and stressing you CPU which would be more expensive.

I like the cooler master hyper v series in air cooling (if you want to take a look) but they are bulky and might block a RAM slot, I am yet to decide on that.

4) Is there a better 8-core processor I should get instead of the AMD FX-8320 around the same price point?
Unless you are looking at Intel, AMD FX8350 is the only better one but the 8320 give you a better price to performance. The only difference between these two I have seen is that 8350 is 4 MHZ and 8320 is 3.5Mhz with a considerable price difference.

5) is there a best thermal grease to use for the FX-8320 to provide better cooling over other greases?
I have no clue

 

[dissemble2discover]

I have done some research for building my own system, which is not primarily for gaming. here are my suggestions.

1) What would be a good motherboard that is known to be reliable and work best with the AMD FX-8320?
I suggest to get a AMD 970 chipset which are less expensive unless you looking to use some of the extra expansion slots.
You can take a look at AS Rock 970 Extreme 3 R2 - I am planning buy this personally but having a hard time finding it here im my country. It looks like it comes with a fully updated bios and small upgrades and on the papers of AS rock it supports FX 8320 and usually the revisions should have all the fixes that were needed so should be hassle free.

Also, in the AMD 9 series(970, 980G, 990X, 990FX) only 980G comes with an onboard graphics card, so if you dont want to spend on a graphics card now, you can consider that.

2) Does the chipset on the motherboard matter when it comes to the CPU and performance I get out of it?
I belive what you need to look at first is that if the chipset supports the type of CPU you are planning to use, the number of PCI slots, USB and the SATA ports the chipset supports.
Then based on the chipset you might find different priced versions of the same chipset from a manufacturer with custom upgrades like an esata port or additional USB ports or a bios flash feature. And if you are in some serious testing you can look at the maximum RAM and overclocking support on the Motherboard.
I am not an expert in the area but most of the motherboard are in this league are of 2600MHZ FSB, so other major difference in performance I think would be the amount and speed of RAM and Graphics card you can put in in the MB and how well it works with the processor.

3) Are there specific motherboards that accept water-cooling solutions better in terms of mounting space?
This should depend on the case you are putting it in, because it takes space. Motherboards should have good enough slots to connect the cables for the fan and the pump i guess and also support other fans/ devices, guess most of them do.
I do not have personal experience on a water cooling system but what I read is that low end water cooling systems are good initially for low loads and less run time, you need a good one for long run time and stressing you CPU which would be more expensive.

I like the cooler master hyper v series in air cooling (if you want to take a look) but they are bulky and might block a RAM slot, I am yet to decide on that.

4) Is there a better 8-core processor I should get instead of the AMD FX-8320 around the same price point?
Unless you are looking at Intel, AMD FX8350 is the only better one but the 8320 give you a better price to performance. The only difference between these two I have seen is that 8350 is 4 MHZ and 8320 is 3.5Mhz with a considerable price difference.

5) is there a best thermal grease to use for the FX-8320 to provide better cooling over other greases?
I have no clue

Thank you so much for all this information. It helped me decide which parts to go with now.

I completely forgot to buy a graphics card. I am so used to borrow the OEM parts from my store bought systems and mix and matching them in a custom system. All the OEM motherboards I ran into had onboard graphics.

Thanks for the heads up on that one, especially!