MSI Unveils 970A-G43 Entry-Level Socket AM3+ Motherboard

btarunr · Jan 25, 2013

MSI rolled out a new value socket AM3+ motherboard, the 970A-G43. Based on the AMD 970 chipset with SB950 southbridge, the ATX form-factor board covers all the essentials for a single graphics card gaming PC build, on a tight budget. It uses a simple 5-phase VRM to power the AM3+ socket. The board uses an all solid-state capacitor loadout, by saving on MOSFETs. The CPU VRM uses inexpensive On-Semi DPAK fare. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory.

Among the expansion slots are a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (wired to the 970 northbridge), a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the SB950 southbridge), and two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity is care of six SATA 6 Gb/s ports supporting RAID 0/1/5/10. A couple of 2-port USB 3.0 controllers wired out four ports, of which are two are given out by a standard front-panel header. Completing the package are 8-channel HD audio (Realtek ALC887), gigabit Ethernet (Realtek 8111E), and a handful of USB 2.0/1.1 ports. The board is driven by AMI UEFI BIOS. The 970A-G43 is priced at $89.99.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

darkangel0504 · Jan 25, 2013

Failure VRM

50eurouser · Jan 25, 2013

Niko-sem vrm rules ! Oh ! No vrm Heatsink ! ... damn !

DarkOCean · Jan 25, 2013

+ the price is too high for an entry level motherboad.

xkche · Jan 25, 2013

No vrm Heatsink?, is ok for me. My GA-870A-USB3 is working fine.

Price?, to high

But, is good see a USB 3.0 internal header.

Steven B · Jan 25, 2013

your GA-870A-USB3 doesn't use DPAK MOSFETs, it uses PowerPAK.

Batou1986 · Jan 25, 2013

There are holes and alignment marks for VRM heatsink why bother with that then cheap out on $1 worth of aluminum ? OH WAIT ITS MSI this explains everything.

Jstn7477 · Jan 25, 2013

Can't wait for people to buy this and blow it up with a stock Bulldozer chip thanks to the worst, hottest type of MOSFETs you can buy and no heatsink.

cadaveca · Jan 25, 2013

No real VALUE board has MOSFET cooler. Really, guys?

This board barely does Crossfire, even. if you buy this to OC, you've made a big mistake, however, I don't think it'll do that badly, honestly.

Batou1986 · Jan 25, 2013

cadaveca said:
No real VALUE board has MOSFET cooler. Really, guys

Not sure if sarcasm

anyway

cadaveca · Jan 25, 2013

Batou1986 said:
Not sure if sarcasm anyway
http://img.techpowerup.org/130125/asa.png

Value = less than $89, for me. BTW, gigabyte has version of that board, $99 on newegg...no VRM cooler.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521

So, no, not sarcasm. Older boards are excluded, new boards though..no vrm cooling is needed, really.

:rockout:

suraswami · Jan 25, 2013

hmm probably this is a better option?

http://www.microcenter.com/product/385571/T_Overclocker_TA970XE_Socket_AM3_970_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

less than $89 and if u get the rebate its only $70. If u get a Bull take off another $40!

_JP_ · Jan 25, 2013

Batou1986 said:
OH WAIT ITS MSI this explains everything.

Gigabyte and ASUS do it all the time as well...

Frick · Jan 25, 2013

I'm not into overclocking anymore, so I wouldn't buy an AM3+ board new. Refurbished and used, but not new.

blibba · Jan 26, 2013

I ran overclocked CPUs on one of these for years with no issues at all:

Overclocked better than my MSI P45 Platinum, in fact, using the same Q6700.

btarunr · Jan 27, 2013

Reg: VRM, there are two sets of up/dn FETs per phase. So the load (and in effect, heat) is spread that way.

Deleted member 67555 · Jan 28, 2013

This makes me laugh hard...You can get the 970A-G46 with heatsink and better caps for $80 ($40 if purchased with a AM3+ cpu at Microcenter)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/401771/970A-G46_AM3_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

slinger2013 · Mar 21, 2013

VRM and overclocking

Hey Guys, After reading this post I was scared that my mother board would blow up or something terrible, lol
I went out and bought heat sinks for my 970A-g43 , I have a KDM 875 watt power supply with 16 gb ddr3 an FX-8150 overclocked to 4.3 gigs. I am also overclocking my GTX 560 to 990 on the core with voltage adjusted on both the CPU and GPU. Very stable.

I know there are more choices out there then this board. Don't get me wrong I have a few.
But since this article I have been putting my fingers on the VRMs to check the heat. (I do have a water-cooler on the CPU). So I can slide my hand right in there. Never gets hot at all.

I play tomb-raider 2013, SWOR, Bio-shock and deadspace3.

I have a back up board in case something goes wrong. But if I don't post here... That means all is well. :toast:

slinger2013 · Dec 11, 2013

still have the board no issues......
I do notice the north bridge gets warm. but that is normal with most boards overclocked.

I may upgrade but this board is still working overclocked.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600 @4.65 GHz
Motherboard	Asus ROG X570-E
Cooling	Thermalright
Memory	32 GB 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	Asus RX 6700XT 12 GB Dual
Storage	1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Display(s)	SS QHD 144Hz + LG 55 Inch 4K
Case	Corsair 4000D
Power Supply	Superflower 850

System Name	Master & Blaster & BlastFromThePast
Processor	Xeon 1241v3 *103x39 \| Xeon L5408 @3.2GHz \| P4 2.8 GHz
Motherboard	Z97 PRO-GAMER / P45-DS3R \| P4MDPT
Cooling	Freezer / S775 Copper / S478 Stock
Memory	16GB DDR3-2270 / 8 GB DDR2-800 / 2GB DDR PC3200
Video Card(s)	Nitro RX570 8GB 1411 MHz\| HD 5770 \| Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB
Storage	NVME 250+1TB SM2263XT \| 256 GB SM2259XT \| IDE 250GB
Display(s)	MANY
Case	SANDBLASTED
Power Supply	APS-550 Cap-Modded / 350W Cap-modded

System Name	xkche
Processor	INTEL Core I5 6400
Motherboard	Gigabyte H170 Gaming
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	16GB DDR4 2400Mhz (2133Mhz)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire RX480 Nitro+ (4GB)
Storage	Crucial MX200 275GB
Display(s)	49" LG TV 49UH6030 4K HDR
Case	NZXT 410
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 600W
Software	Windows 10

Processor	Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard	ASUS Prime X470 Pro
Cooling	Arctic liquid freezer II 240
Memory	2 x 16 Gb Gskill Trident Z 3600 Mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3060 Ti OC
Storage	Samsung 960 EVO 500 Gb / 860 EVO 1 Tb
Display(s)	Dell S2719DGF
Case	Lian Li Lancool II Mesh
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	Logitech G703
Keyboard	Logitech G513
Software	Win 11

MSI Unveils 970A-G43 Entry-Level Socket AM3+ Motherboard

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

darkangel0504

50eurouser

DarkOCean

xkche

Steven B

Batou1986

Jstn7477

cadaveca

My name is Dave

Batou1986

cadaveca

My name is Dave

suraswami

_JP_

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

blibba

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

Deleted member 67555

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slinger2013

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slinger2013

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System Name	Awesomesauce 4.3 \| Laptop (MSI GE72VR 6RF Apache Pro-023)
Processor	Intel Core i7-5820K 4.16GHz 1.28v/3GHz 1.05v uncore \| Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-X99-UD5 WiFi LGA2011-v3\| Stock
Cooling	Corsair H100i v2 w/ 2x EK Vardar F4-120ER + various 120/140mm case fans \| Stock
Memory	G.Skill RJ-4 16GB DDR4-2666 CL15 quad channel \| 12GB DDR4-2133
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Hybrid SC2 11GB @ 2012/5151 boost \| NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB +200/+500 + Intel 530
Storage	Samsung 840 EVO 500GB + Seagate 3TB 7200RPM + others \| Kingston 256GB M.2 SATA + 1TB 7200RPM
Display(s)	Acer G257HU 1440p 60Hz AH-IPS 4ms \| 17.3" 1920*1080 60Hz wide angle TN notebook panel
Case	Fractal Design Define XL R2 \| MSI
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z \| Realtek with quad stereo speakers and subwoofer
Power Supply	Corsair HX850i Platinum \| 19.5v 180w Delta brick
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64 \| Windows 10 Home x64

System Name	---
Processor	FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling	Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory	Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage	Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s)	3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case	AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s)	Built-in Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

System Name	LenovoⓇ ThinkPad™ T430
Processor	IntelⓇ Core™ i5-3210M processor (2 cores, 2.50GHz, 3MB cache), Intel Turbo Boost™ 2.0 (3.10GHz), HT™
Motherboard	Lenovo 2344 (Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset)
Cooling	Single-pipe heatsink + Delta fan
Memory	2x 8GB KingstonⓇ HyperX™ Impact 2133MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM
Video Card(s)	Intel HD Graphics™ 4000 (GPU clk: 1100MHz, vRAM clk: 1066MHz)
Storage	SamsungⓇ 860 EVO mSATA (250GB) + 850 EVO (500GB) SATA
Display(s)	14.0" (355mm) HD (1366x768) color, anti-glare, LED backlight, 200 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300:1 co
Case	ThinkPad Roll Cage (one-piece magnesium frame)
Audio Device(s)	HD Audio, RealtekⓇ ALC3202 codec, DolbyⓇ Advanced Audio™ v2 / stereo speakers, 1W x 2
Power Supply	ThinkPad 65W AC Adapter + ThinkPad Battery 70++ (9-cell)
Mouse	TrackPointⓇ pointing device + UltraNav™, wide touchpad below keyboard + ThinkLight™
Keyboard	6-row, 84-key, ThinkVantage button, spill-resistant, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight (PT Layout)
Software	MicrosoftⓇ WindowsⓇ 10 x86-64 (22H2)

System Name	White DJ in Detroit
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	The one under the desk / Media Centre
Processor	Xeon X3730@3.6GHZ / Phenom II X4 805E
Motherboard	Gigabyte P55M-UD4 / Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Corsair H70 + 2*PWM fan / Arctic Alpine 11
Memory	16GB DRR3-1333 9-9-9-27 / 4GB Crucial DDR3-1333
Video Card(s)	Asus DirectCU GTX 680 / Gigabyte 560TI
Storage	Kingston V200 128GB, WD6400AAKS, 1TB Seagate 7.2kRPM SSHD / Kingston V200 128GB
Display(s)	Samsung 2343BW + Dell Ultrasharp 1600*1200 / 32" TV
Case	C'M' Silencio 550 / Some ancient SilverStone brushed aluminium media centre
Audio Device(s)	No.
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower XT 675W / EVGA 430W
Mouse	Mionix Naos 3200 / Generic PS2
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos TKL Pro / Evoluent Mouse Friendly Keyboard (Logitech OEM)
Software	Windows 7 Ult x64
Benchmark Scores	Nah.