# Is AM3+ Dead/Dying?



## KuyaArnold (Aug 3, 2014)

So I just bought a FX6300 cause I dont really need the onboard graphics you'd get from the A series and the thing I noticed is there are few am3+ boards (Maybe its just in my country *cough *cough Philippines) compared to the FM2+ boards.. 

So is the market moving away from the am3+? I mean in the future when I want to upgrade my board will I run out of options cause everyones using FM2+? 

Should I  be worried or switch to intel because they have a good motherboard market?


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## digibucc (Aug 3, 2014)

there are still a few better chips you can upgrade to, FX 8350 for example. but regarding future releases:
a) there's no way to know for sure, but
b) chances are slim the am3+ socket will continue much further.

I wouldn't be worried. it's still plenty powerful for anything you'll want to do in the next couple years, and longer if you upgrade within am3+. however i don't understand why you question switching to intel, they change sockets about the same.
also it's worth considering, that being forced to upgrade your motherboard because of a socket could be a good thing. the features your motherboard is responsible for are easily overlooked, and in many cases a newer board with better usb, memory support, etc is a better upgrade than a cpu.

and FYI I run both, intel and amd. after some switching back and forth I have come to  the conclusion that I like both, and dislike neither.


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## KuyaArnold (Aug 3, 2014)

digibucc said:


> there are still a few better chips you can upgrade to, FX 8350 for example. but regarding future releases:
> a) there's no way to know for sure, but
> b) chances are slim the am3+ socket will continue much further.
> 
> ...




Thanks! But my current board is the bare minimum ) So thats actually the first im going to upgrade... After what you said though, I think I'll upgrade my CPU last (its not overclocked yet and it still gets most games on high) 

Im just concerned that by the time I'll get a new motherboard, the choices would be fewer than I'd hope..


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 3, 2014)

digibucc said:


> there are still a few better chips you can upgrade to, FX 8350 for example.


not really  a match for a OC'ed 6300 due to the CMT module configuration, as the 8320 has similar performance to a 6300 a 8350 is just a OC'ed 8320.

for example i use also a FX-6300 but mine is @ 4ghz, unless highly optimized multithreaded software or game, i would notice nearly no gain on a 8350 (9370/9590 maybe ... but for that price no thanks  )
bottom line : a 8xxx  doesn't have 2 core more than a 6xxx it has only 1 more.... the CMT modules make AMD cpu act like dual/tri/quad core with HT in the end.

yet as digibucc said: it will last enough longer.

now for the motherboard ... well you can still manage to find a good 990X 990FX for cheap actually (hum ... let's just hope Philipines have a good pool like where i am ... i got the 990X i have in my actual main rig for less than 90$ )
so might be dead but still perfectly usable/fine for any task you may ask a computer for.


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## Sempron Guy (Aug 3, 2014)

KuyaArnold said:


> So I just bought a FX6300 cause I dont really need the onboard graphics you'd get from the A series and the thing I noticed is there are few am3+ boards (Maybe its just in my country *cough *cough Philippines) compared to the FM2+ boards..
> 
> So is the market moving away from the am3+? I mean in the future when I want to upgrade my board will I run out of options cause everyones using FM2+?
> 
> Should I  be worried or switch to intel because they have a good motherboard market?



I live in the Philippines too and there's quite a list of AM3+ boards you can have. There is the Gigabyte 970A-DS3P which is the usual recommended board below $90/4000 pesos. The Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3/ Asus 990 at sub $150/6500 pesos and the Gigabyte UD7 and Sabertooth at sub 10k pesos. And unless they are gonna release a new platform, the AM3+ board will still be there and less likely to be phased out.


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## KuyaArnold (Aug 3, 2014)

Sempron Guy said:


> I live in the Philippines too and there's quite a list of AM3+ boards you can have. There is the Gigabyte 970A-DS3P which is the usual recommended board below $90/4000 pesos. The Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3/ Asus 990 at sub $150/6500 pesos and the Gigabyte UD7 and Sabertooth at sub 10k pesos. And unless they are gonna release a new platform, the AM3+ board will still be there and less likely to be phased out.



Hmmm can you give me specific places? Im also looking at the Sabertooth :3


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## Red_Machine (Aug 3, 2014)

Just as a side note, I bought a high-end AM3 board back in 2010, expecting it to be forwards-compatible as AM2 and AM2+ were.  It wasn't.  AM3 was the shortest-lived AMD socket of the modern era.  I felt cheated.  So don't expect AM3+ to be forwards-compatible or future-proof, either.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 3, 2014)

Red_Machine said:


> Just as a side note, I bought a high-end AM3 board back in 2010, expecting it to be forwards-compatible as AM2 and AM2+ were.  It wasn't.  AM3 was the shortest-lived AMD socket of the modern era.  I felt cheated.  So don't expect AM3+ to be forwards-compatible or future-proof, either.


not totally true since some AM3 board can handle a AM3+ cpu like the Asus Crosshair IV Formula who used a 890FX chipset, by the mean of a beta bios, some user could run Bulldozer/Vishera line of cpu, so technically it was forward compatible, but yet the blame is to put on motherboard manufacturer. 

still with the actual price of a high end 990X/990FX based motherboard ... (which is on par with some mid end H85/H87 most of the time) its not a big problem
future proof ... well as long as it can hold for between the next 6 and 12 month who care .... time for update will be there by the time, be it Intel or AMD who really care in the end... as long as you dont take a nVidia GPU you are fine (Trollbait!!! nah i'm joking, my deepest apologies for that    )


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## Ebo (Aug 3, 2014)

As long as you go for the 990FX chipset with the 950 SB, you will be fine.

The sabertooth comes in 2-3 versions and the latest is expensive since it is the only AM3+ board that has pci-e 3.0. Is that worth your money, i cant tell but i can say that the preformance difference is close to non existant in real world gaming, mabye 5%, it dosent really matter. 

Gigabyte has 1 thing going for them besides making great bords, and they are as I know of they only MB manufacturer that comes with dual bios which mean a flash fail is not an option since it automatically loads the fail safe bios.

Asrock can work, but dosent use much to deliver stabile power enough to the CPU which  can mean unstabile OC, mabye their more expensive boards do better with that, I dunno.

MSI for me has been a very pleasent meeting, since my board is the MSI FX990FXA-GD65, it can hold its own. 
This is the first time ever ive had a MB from MSI, since ive allways sworn to either Gigabyte or DFI(when they existed) and for me it worked.

Go find the card that suits your wallet and go from there, since preformance differences are so small today.


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## micropage7 (Aug 3, 2014)

yeah  AM3+ is on the way out so you gonna have less board to choose
maybe for now if you wanna use that, buy the highest that you could buy


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## d1nky (Aug 3, 2014)

DDR4 is around the corner, so i doubt you'll see anything new from AM3+. Also PCIE3 and other sata technologies would suggest that a new platform will be needed for future AMD high performance processors.

Any way for me the sabertooth R2 is probably the best AM3+ mobo out there. Well worth the money and can hold an overclocked 8 core very well.


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## OneMoar (Aug 5, 2014)

AM3+ is indeed dead  amd wont be releasing new cpus until q4 2015 and they will be ddr4 witch means a new socket


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