Motherboard for Phenom II x6 1100T BE with AMD firepro V4900

[justFEAit]

Hello,
Trying to work out which motherboard would be right for me.
I'm a student building a personal computer to run CAD (incl. ANSYS/UGS NX/SolidWorks/etc.). Probably a bit of light gaming as well.

so far i've decided on (but could be swayed...) :
>AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition
>AMD FirePro V4900
>at least 8GB RAM
>1TB HDD
>Antec P183 V3 (case)

What I need to decide on:
>Motherboard (what I'm looking for help on)
>PSU (i'll worry about this last, but any help would be appreciated)

I'm working on a bit of a budget, but don't intend to upgrade anything in the near future. Not going to overclock either.

Thanks.

 

[abekl]

This is a good MB for the price. Very full featured:
GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

If you have a few more dollars to spend, consider this board, really a top of the line board:
GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510

 

[justFEAit]

ah yes, they did find their way into my radar

was considering the
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521&Tpk=GA-970A-D3
(just because of availability in my area, I'm in Australia btw)
what is the difference between the D3 and the UD3? is it really worth trying to find the UD3?

also, can't find the 900XA in my local stores, the most im willing to spend (if i don't go for the 970A)
is the
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 4XDDR3 4XPCI-EX16 RAID SATA3 USB3 ATX
or
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

I guess what I'm asking here is, what does the 'U' mean (ie, UD3 vs D3)
and is the 990FXA worth the extra $30-50 on top of the 970A?

Thanks for your reply btw!

 

[nnorton44]

The UD3 has heatsink on VRM its 8+2 phase.

 

[justFEAit]

yer think I'm feeling the GA-990FXA-UD3 because its *meant* to be more durable (I want my computer to last at least 5 years before any upgrades).
Plus the 990FXA looks to be a more satisfying MB in terms of sockets etc (soz for any bad terminology, MBs is not my forté)
found it (at msy for those reading from Australia) for AU$157

for anyone reading this thread:
http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=3908,3900,3901,3894

compares a few of the MBs discussed here.

what do people think? good choice?

 

[nnorton44]

Yeah the 990 is a good board. I have the GA-970A-UD3 and love it.

 

[justFEAit]

Best answer selected by justFEAit.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr.