Should I upgrade my motherboard from F2A58M-HD2 to F2A88X-D3H?

[Coki]

Hi, I currently have both motherboards on hand the newer one I got for free, and I'm running a AMD A10 6800k, would it be worth the time to change motherboards? I'm planning to sell one of them, I just don't want to regret it - especially as it has USB 3.0 which improves transfer rate of data though I doubt this will really benefit me. Also just for the record will I need to reinstall windows or flash a bios or anything?

Basically, would there be any noticeable difference?

 

[bootcher]

The A88 is a better motherboard, built for overclocking the CPU and has crossfire support. If you want to overclock your CPU and get more performance out of it you should upgrade it to the A88. If you are happy with your current performance and are not interested in overclocking then you should leave it as it is.

Overclocking will require more than just the motherboard, you will at least need a good PSU also and a good cooler for the CPU.

 

[Coki]

The A88 is a better motherboard, built for overclocking the CPU and has crossfire support. If you want to overclock your CPU and get more performance out of it you should upgrade it to the A88. If you are happy with your current performance and are not interested in overclocking then you should leave it as it is.

Overclocking will require more than just the motherboard, you will at least need a good PSU also and a good cooler for the CPU.

Thank you for responding so quickly, would I need to flash my bios or do anything extra apart from just unplug all the connectors and switch the boards(as well as unscrew all the nails of course).

 

[bootcher]

No need to flash the BIOS, though it is always wise to flash the latest BIOS from the manufacturer.

Depending on which windows you have sometimes you might run into some trouble if you simply unplug/replace all the hardware. I would use sysprep just to be safe:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html#post1161038
For windows 8 just google 'sysprep windows 8' and you will find tons of howto's.

 

[Coki]

No need to flash the BIOS, though it is always wise to flash the latest BIOS from the manufacturer.

Depending on which windows you have sometimes you might run into some trouble if you simply unplug/replace all the hardware. I would use sysprep just to be safe:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html#post1161038
For windows 8 just google 'sysprep windows 8' and you will find tons of howto's.

I swapped them successfully, but it seems the performance has become worse.
I am using minecraft as a benchmark as it is easiest, I previously had 200-400 FPS on the previous board and now it's fluctuating between 75 and 190, any solutions?
Also, I'm aware windows performance Information isn't really important but I am concerned as gaming graphics and graphics were previously 6.8 in the old MoBo and now gaming graphics is 6.3 whilst graphics alone are a laughable 4.5.

 

[bootcher]

Did you install latest drivers for the chipset/motherboard?

 

[Coki]

Did you install latest drivers for the chipset/motherboard?

Yeah, that's what makes it weird.
I did uninstall the previous AMD chipset/Catalyst and all, and all of the motherboards drivers seemed to download themselves, aside from the USB 3.0 one which I needed to do manually.

 

[bootcher]

Check your BIOS for the ram settings. Your integrated graphics depend on the ram for its speed, so see if it is configured to run at its highest possible setting. Also check your system power settings in the control, make sure it is not set to maximum power savings but to maximum performance.

 

[Coki]

Check your BIOS for the ram settings. Your integrated graphics depend on the ram for its speed, so see if it is configured to run at its highest possible setting. Also check your system power settings in the control, make sure it is not set to maximum power savings but to maximum performance.

I'm aware it depends on my ram settings, I previously had 2x4gb 1600Mhz, and now i'm still using them but in addition a 2gb chip as well - yes I put them in the correct slots by colour. Setting the power settings to high performance was the first thing I did; is there anything else I could do like set the voltage of anything or downgrade my drivers?

 

[bootcher]

Check the settings you have with CPU-Z. In general mixing ram can cause troubles since all ram will be clocked down to the speed of the slowest ram. Also voltage settings are only sometimes applicable if you are going to overclock.
Sometimes you have to set all the settings in your BIOS manually otherwise it will load the default fail-safe settings, which of course are not optimized for performance.

 

[Coki]

Check the settings you have with CPU-Z. In general mixing ram can cause troubles since all ram will be clocked down to the speed of the slowest ram. Also voltage settings are only sometimes applicable if you are going to overclock.
Sometimes you have to set all the settings in your BIOS manually otherwise it will load the default fail-safe settings, which of course are not optimized for performance.

I'm aware it underclocks, but I'd prefer to see how it fairs - I tried without the 2gb chip and the results were still the same. What exactly am I looking for in CPU-Z? Also what, should I manually set in the bios? I have an idea of what I'm setting but I just want to be sure.

 

[bootcher]

If the ram underclocks your APU will take a performance hit. It has no ram of its own and depends on the slow system ram. What to set in BIOS can vary depending on what settings you can tweak. If you know what you are doing set all settings for high performance. Your manual can help if you are not sure what setting is best.

You could try to reinstall the latest drivers, first uninstall current drivers with DDU, and install latest drivers after reboot.

 

[Coki]

If the ram underclocks your APU will take a performance hit. It has no ram of its own and depends on the slow system ram. What to set in BIOS can vary depending on what settings you can tweak. If you know what you are doing set all settings for high performance. Your manual can help if you are not sure what setting is best.

You could try to reinstall the latest drivers, first uninstall current drivers with DDU, and install latest drivers after reboot.

I was aware about the cons of under-clocking, thank you.
I fixed it and improved the scores on both normal bench-marking and windows performance testing, by changing the memory timings and D-Ram voltage to 1.45V, the 2GB ram chip doesn't seem to agree with 1.5/+
One more question, any tips of raising my NB(Northbridge) frequency, stock is 1800, I tried increasing it to 1900(multiplier goes up in increments of 100)it boot to windows but simple games like minecraft stuttered, I tried running terraria afterwards which worked for a while but then went off to result in a BSOD.

 

[bootcher]

you can try to increase its voltage a little bit. Run benchmarks after it and keep watching temps.