Best AM3 boards??

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

I need a high end AM3 board to match with a PII 965. This rig will be my primary gamer, and will most likely see 2x5850's in the near future. I'm asking for suggestions on the best 2-3 AM3 motherboards on the market right now. Budget is up to $175. Please explain why you think a certain board is a good choice. All thoughts are greatly appreciated, but fanboy comments might get you a :slap:

FordGT90Concept · Jan 10, 2010

I just grabbed an MSI 790X-G45 and everything went great. Don't know how well it overclocks and it doesn't have IEEE1394.

DirectorC · Jan 10, 2010

If was going to build an AMD system right now, this is what I'd get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128398

Fourstaff · Jan 10, 2010

Can you wait a bit for the 890 boards to come out?

assaulter_99 · Jan 10, 2010

Gigabyte 790fx ud5p, asus crosshair formula III comes to mind... They are some of the best.

Silverel · Jan 10, 2010

Fourstaff said:
Can you wait a bit for the 890 boards to come out?

I second this. No sense grabbing a board right now if you can wait a bit for integrated USB3 and SATA 6gb/s

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

Fourstaff said:
Can you wait a bit for the 890 boards to come out?

Nope. Board needs to be purchased within the next couple of days. It will be replaced with a 890 when it comes out.

dir_d · Jan 10, 2010

MSI-790FX-GD70 theres alot more voltage controls than even gigabyte. You can control everything if you are a really skilled overclocker.

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

dir_d said:
MSI-790FX-GD70 theres alot more voltage controls than even gigabyte. You can control everything if you are a really skilled overclocker.

I've thought about this board. Just hesitant pulling the trigger, since I've had nothing but bad experiences with MSI boards in the past. Tempting though.

Dark_Webster · Jan 10, 2010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363&Tpk=M4A79-T

What do you think of this? I know that is really hitting your budget, but one friend of mine has it and it's a great board overall, stability and overclocking included.

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

Dark_Webster said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363&Tpk=M4A79-T

What do you think of this? I know that is really hitting your budget, but one friend of mine has it and it's a great board overall, stability and overclocking included.

I think if I go over my budget, I'll jump to a Crosshair. I would really like to keep it under $175.

Chicken Patty · Jan 10, 2010

Paul,

My first AM3 board is the one in my specs, the UD5. I'm impressed to say the least. 4.1Ghz at just a hair over stock voltage on the 965. I know the CPU has to be good as well but the build quality of this board is great. It has everything you need, the BIOS is not full of extra options for those planning on wasting a million gallons of LN2. Just right if you ask me.

other than this, the Crosshair 3 is a heck of a board from what I've seen.

kenkickr · Jan 10, 2010

If I had to sell my Crosshair III, just a awesome board so don't even ask :laugh:

, I'd probably go with this Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. SATA III and some USB 3.0 support for under $200 and you don't have to wait til the 890 comes out for those features.

assaulter_99 · Jan 10, 2010

Once you have a good look at the crosshair, you just have to pull the trigger! cant go wrong!

Anyways it has wicked looks and does the job too, the enthousiast's dream!

Chicken Patty · Jan 10, 2010

kenkickr said:
If I had to sell my Crosshair III, just a awesome board so don't even ask, I'd probably go with this Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. SATA III and some USB 3.0 support for under $200 and you don't have to wait til the 890 comes out for those features.

Yep. THey kept all the Legacy features as well and made it look good. The board is very solid!

exodusprime1337 · Jan 10, 2010

i picked up an asus m4a79t deluxe, was 188 at the time, but the board has more features that you can shake a stick at and is a breeze to oc with. I highly recomend this board as it helped me get my phenom 2 965 c3 up here above 4 ghz no problem, plus it runs cool, has power and reset on the boad, a great quality sound card(well better then my audigy 2 zs which anything is i guess), and it wasn't too expensive for the features.

Munki · Jan 10, 2010

I have an Asus M4A79XTD EVO, and I cannot complain one bit. For $120 its simply the best AM3 board I have owned. The features outnumber the cost by a long shot for me, although this is just a suggestion from my personal experience. :toast:

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

Hey CP and Ken, what about the UD4? It has Sata 6 and USB 3.0. I'm trying to figure out the differences b/t the UD4 and UD5. I'm just so out of the loop with AMD. LOL

kenkickr · Jan 10, 2010

The differences I see are the UD4 uses the 790X chipset and only gives 2 x PCI-Ex16 slots, 1 LAN, and no ESATA were the UD5 uses the 790FX chipset and gives 3 x PCI-Ex16 slots, Dual Lan, and ESATA. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=3263,3258

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

kenkickr said:
The differences I see are the UD4 uses the 790X chipset and only gives 2 x PCI-Ex16 slots, 1 LAN, and no ESATA were the UD5 uses the 790FX chipset and gives 3 x PCI-Ex16 slots, Dual Lan, and ESATA. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=3263,3258

LOL. Could I be any more lazy this afternoon? :laugh:

Actually working on my Thesis. So, I'm glad someone was willing to do a bit of research for me.

Damn you Ken and CP. Now I may end up going over budget with this AMD rig. :laugh:

kenkickr · Jan 10, 2010

Your lucky I saw that post. I've been working on a mod for the stock 4890 heatsink VRM area and just put the card in to test it.

Too bad Shadowfold isn't here...he'd make you spend more :laugh:

erocker · Jan 10, 2010

M4A79T Deluxe. Yeah, it's the board I own. There's a reason for that. It is p0wnzorz!

PaulieG · Jan 10, 2010

erocker said:
M4A79T Deluxe. Yeah, it's the board I own. There's a reason for that. It is p0wnzorz!

Eric, what is it about that board that you like?

erocker · Jan 10, 2010

Paulieg said:
Eric, what is it about that board that you like?

Bios is easy, it runs cool at stock or overclocked, great layout, cheaper than the Crosshair III, runs CrossFire beautifully, very good ram compatability. The biggest plus is how cool it runs I suppose, I've never seen it go over 33c.

Reefer86 · Jan 10, 2010

I spent along time reading reviews over the am3 boards avalable at the moment as i went am3 about 2 months ago. Thes best boards are Asus M4a79T, Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 AM3 AMD 790FX / GIGABYTE GA-790FXT-UD5 AM3 AMD 790FX or the MSI 790FX board. Tbh the asus is a good board but higher overclocks over all were achieved on the MSI and the Gigabyte and better for unlocking cores (if thats your thing). I personally went for the Gigabyte and the MSI was out of stock and i am impatient.
The Gigabyte is a great board and would reccomend it to anyone. But I would go for the MSI 790FX-GD70 as it just looks so beautiful and got some very nice features.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223&Tpk=msi 790fx

Processor	5800x(2)/5700g/5600x/5600g/2700x/1700x/1700
Motherboard	MSI B550 Carbon (2)/ MSI z490 Unify/Asus Strix B550-F/MSI B450 Tomahawk (3)
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240, Arctic Cooling Freezer II 280/EVGA CLC 280/Noctua D15/Cryorig M9(2)
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB TridentZ/16GB Mushkin Redline Black/16 GB Dominator
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix RTX3060/EVGA 970(2)/Asus 750 ti/Old Quadros
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	(2) Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D /Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Be Quiet Pure Base 500/Bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G(2)/EVGA Supernova GT 650w/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless (5)
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless (5)
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

System Name	-= Son of a Whore =-
Processor	E8400 @ 4.0GHz (445 x 9)
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	3GB Corsair XMS2
Video Card(s)	EVGA 8800 GT 512
Storage	74GB Raptor + Caviars in RAID0
Display(s)	I-Inc 19" LCD 1440x900
Audio Device(s)	Audigy SE & Logitech X-540
Power Supply	Corsair 750TX
Software	Win32 v6.1.7600
Benchmark Scores	Logitech KB & Sidewinder X3

System Name	Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor	3570K // 10400F
Motherboard	ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling	Stock // Stock
Memory	2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage	Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s)	LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case	NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply	Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w

System Name	Old Skool
Processor	E6750 @ 3.6 ghz
Motherboard	GA P35 DS3L
Cooling	Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283v
Memory	4gb Kingston DDR2 @ 900mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 9800GT 512MB
Storage	SAMSUNG 320gb
Display(s)	VIEWSONIC vx2260wm
Case	HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Realtek (on board) + Logitech x540
Power Supply	CM 550w
Software	W7 Ultimate 64

Best AM3 boards??

PaulieG

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

DirectorC

New Member

Fourstaff

Moderator

assaulter_99

Silverel

PaulieG

dir_d

PaulieG

Dark_Webster

PaulieG

Chicken Patty

kenkickr

assaulter_99

Chicken Patty

exodusprime1337

Munki

PaulieG

kenkickr

PaulieG

kenkickr

erocker

*

PaulieG

erocker

*

Reefer86

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF Gaming X570-Pro Wifi II
Cooling	Hyper 212 EVO v2
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill DDR4-4000
Video Card(s)	AMD RX 6750 XT
Storage	WD Black SN850 2TB, various other SSD's from ages past
Display(s)	LG 27GL850 1440@144, AG Neovo EM2701QC 1440@75
Case	Zophos EVO Silent by Raijintek
Audio Device(s)	HyperX Cloud II Wireless headphones
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	ProtoArc EM01
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Mercury
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	4k
Processor	AMD 5800x3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG b550m Mortar Wifi
Cooling	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240
Memory	4x8Gb Crucial Ballistix 3600 CL16 bl8g36c16u4b.m8fe1
Video Card(s)	Nvidia Reference 3080Ti
Storage	ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s)	LG 48" C1
Case	CORSAIR Carbide AIR 240 Micro-ATX
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar STX
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 650W
Software	Microsoft Windows10 Pro x64

System Name	Lil'Lighty
Processor	Intel Core i3 530 @ Stock
Motherboard	Asus P7P55D
Cooling	Artic Cooling Freezer Pro Rev.2
Memory	Gskill Ripjaw 1600MHz 9-9-9-24 8GB
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce GTX650 OC 1GB
Storage	WD Blue 500GB AAKS
Display(s)	ASUS 20'
Case	Aerocool Aeroengine II // Two 120mm Blue Fans
Audio Device(s)	Creative SoundBlaster LE // Logitech X-230
Power Supply	Corsair VX450W
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro x64

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero
Cooling	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 A-RGB // X12 Phanteks D30-120 D-RGB Fans
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series (AMD Expo) DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MT/s CL30
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 AMP Extreme AIRO
Storage	Samsung Pro 980 2TB NVMe (OS and Games) // WD Black 10TB HDD (Storage)
Display(s)	SAMSUNG 34-Inch Ultrawide 75Hz (Desk Games) // SAMSUNG 49-Inch Ultrawide 144Hz (Sim Racing Rig)
Case	Phanteks NV7
Power Supply	Seasonic Vertex GX-1200, 1200W 80+ Gold, ATX 3.0
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Addison Clark
Processor	Ryzen 9 7950x3D delid
Motherboard	Asus X670E Hero
Cooling	Custom Bykski loop CPU, GPU, 2x 360 rads, and 1x 280 rad with Arctic P12 and P14 ARGB fans
Memory	G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage	Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s)	Samsung 57"
Case	Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platnium
Software	Win 11 Pro

System Name	HOMECOMPUTER
Processor	Intel i9 - 9900k @ 5.1Ghz - 1.31v
Motherboard	Asux ROG Maximus XI Hero Wifi
Cooling	ek supremacy evo full nickle, 2xEK 360 Radiators, ek d5 pump/res combo, ek full cover 2080ti block
Memory	16GB DDR 3600 Trident Z RGB
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 2080TI
Storage	1xWD black NVME 500GB, 1xSamsung 970 Evo Plus NVME 1TB
Display(s)	2 Dell Gaming 27" 1440P Gsync
Case	Lian LI PC-011 Dynamic
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Evga P2 1200Watt
Mouse	Zowie FK1+
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe rgb silent
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	i'm working on that

Processor	AMD Ryzen 1700
Motherboard	Gigabyte AB350 GAMING 3
Memory	16GB (2x8) 3200MHz
Display(s)	Acer 24" LCD
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Betty The Dirty Dragon
Processor	AMD 8350 @4.8
Motherboard	ASUS sabertooth rev 2
Cooling	Watercooling - Swiftech GTZ - XSPC RS360 - XSPC RX120
Memory	8GB corsair vengeance cas 9
Video Card(s)	280x 1100core 1600 mem
Storage	240 gb ssd- 2 tb Storage
Display(s)	Samsung 24" 2433BW
Case	Corsair 650d
Audio Device(s)	Xfi Fatality Titanium Pro
Power Supply	XFX 850 fully modular
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64