Questions about Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3

[kroobs]

Looking for a good mobo for my very first build (budget gaming/Amd based).
I'm basically looking at Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3

Questions:
1. Do I really need x16 on both slots if I consider crossfire in the future? (I think I've read that it's barely noticeable)
2. Will this work with a 1600mhz kingston ram and 955 BE processor? (I think I read that I will have to tweak the voltage to 1.65?)
3. Any other good board that I should know about?

 

[nathanmmnm]

Hold till the 12th oct or so, official launch of bulldozer is possibly soon and would be a shame to buy a AM3+ board and put a black edition phenom II chip in it two weeks before the next gen 32nm CPUs come out which fit in the same socket.

Course the 12th oct is a rumour, still I would recommend you wait and see. If the Bulldozer chips dont appear then buy an i5 - its quite a bit better than the Phenom II.

 

[itzdanielp]

As Nathan said the new Bulldozer chips are coming out very soon.

But for your other questions...

x16 on both slots is not needed as a GTX 590 (Most powerful card currently out, comprised of 2 GPU's) barely saturates a x8 bus. So 2 x16 is pretty much pointless.

Yes it will work with 1600MHz Kingston RAM, and you shouldn't have to tweak the voltage at all.

Most AM3+ Boards from Either Asus or Gigabyte are going to be solid boards, there is definitely nothing wrong with going with either manufacturer.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

"Course the 12th oct is a rumour" its not a rumor, its confirmed, but that doesnt mean you will be able to buy one 12 oct. It also doesnt mean they wont be delayed.....AGAIN.

 

[kroobs]

Almost forgot about this thread heh.
Thanks for all the replies!

@nathanmmnm & iam2thecrowe:
Yeah, I'm going to wait a bit to see what bulldozer has to offer.
(When it does and truly comes out for sale!)
I'm also looking, as you said, at the i5-2500K as an alternative if anything.

Also thank you itzdanielp for answering all my questions!
I've been searching and I guess x8/x8 seems to be the way to go.
I've also found that I guess x4/x4 isn't that bad either (except on multi-display setups)
So I was able to find this cheaper Asus Mobo.
http://www.excaliberpc.com/607535/asus-m5a99x-evo-amd-990x.html#TabSpecification

 

[kroobs]

Best answer selected by kroobs.

 

[nathanmmnm]

"Course the 12th oct is a rumour" its not a rumor, its confirmed, but that doesnt mean you will be able to buy one 12 oct. It also doesnt mean they wont be delayed.....AGAIN.

Its a subjective question, from past experience I simply dont trust AMD release dates so IMO even official release dates should generally be regarded as "rumours" until proven otherwise - perhaps "official rumour" is a better way of disguising ones thinly veiled disrust