First of i am new to AMD and overclocking it. This is my first time owning AMD cpu. I already bought the fx 8350 but i need to buy a motherboard still. So what do you think.
The asus one has a UEFI bios, but the gigabyte doesn't, asus one also looks nicer but that's not a real concern. All i want to know is which one is gonna help me get a higher score.
I don't know what to look for when buying an overclocking mobo 990FX has to be better than 970.
From experience the m5a97 has a weaker vrm and won't have a ton of overclock headroom, the UD3 is a beast on the other hand!
this is D3 tho, but i don't think that will effect the overclocking that much
The M5A97 r2.0 has a 4+2 phase design with their VRM, with a heatsink, while the 990FXA-D3 has an un-heatsinked 4+1 design. So the ASUS wins by virtue of a heatsink.
The Gigabyte board, though, has a bit more connectivity, and slightly better audio.
If you want to actually overclock, you'll want to invest in a better motherboard - something in the $130 range, with great VRM capacity. Like what Cathsy said, the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 is a great bang for the buck board. Another great one is the ASUS M5A99FX-PRO.
990FXA-UD3 is $20 more expensive than this one tho. Ill se what i can do but so far the asus one wins it.
I would go either on the m5a97 r2.0 EVO or msi 970 GAMING, or even the asus M5a99fx pro...
Don't get one of the above you said for OC a fx 8350, you'd fry the mobo within a year.
That being said, I have the M5a97 r2.0 (not evo) and a fx 8320 at 3.8ghz stable and its running well, If you're not going to OC then the ASUS is fine and better
Msi 970A Gaming.
could be a good in the middle choice.
I would get that UD3 or the M5a99fx, i wouldnt go with a low end board if your going to overclock your 8350!
i say it because i was a guy watercooling a 8350 with the 990fxa. That's the main reason why i am posting this. I know that the 990fxa can get it up to 4.8 ghz stable but i was just curious what would be the best out of these two. The mosfets stayed at 55C max and all so i didn't see a reason why i won't be a good mobo
Ah my mistake, neither :/ I would go with the UD3, m5a99fx pro, or evo
The UD3 has an 8+2 phase VRM design, with a hefty heatsink. It'll handle overclocks above and beyond 4.4ghz.
The M5A97 r2.0 may throttle your frequency when at a load, even before reaching 4.4 ghz. I had an ASUS M5A97 EVO, which had a 6+2 phase VRM, and I experienced throttling with 4.3 ghz. (Everyone's mileage, of course, is different.)
At the end of your day, it's your choice. All of this is academic anyway, because there is diminishing returns in (gaming) performance beyond 4.2 ghz anyway. I'm just saying that if you plan on doing some serious overclocking, you'll have to throw down some extra cash to meet your expectations.
i will not overclock now, i start overclocking after the cpu seriously in about 2-3 year old so i don't feel bad if i break anything. By that time i will just do slight overclocks that should be just fine
sorry about the 9990fxa I just dind't looked for the correct specs, I would go for a M5A99fx r2.0 pro, It's a little more expensive But it has a very good reputation and a good 6+2 power phase, quality is really god, on the forum I've read problems with the 990fxa but until some revision, you should look at what revision you buy
i had 4.8GHz on my Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 with northbridge overclocking. 6+2 powerphase digi vrm board offcourse.
im personaly not a big fan of Gigabyte am3+ boards, in my honnest opinnion i think they are junk ☺
but did you use one of the to form your personal opinion. I mean i haven't but i don't know why they would be bad.
Well it seems that newer Gigabyte boards like the 990FXA UD3 rev 4.0 are a bit better then theire previous boards. also the newer Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P seems to be a bit better.
However all previous boards of them even the higherend UD5 boards had vrm overheating issues, lagging bios issues, failing sata ports and what not.
A good friend of my had a Gigabyte board GA-990FXA-UD3 rev 3.0, and i can tell you it was realy a mess. It cost me tons of headaces. I just ripped that piece of junk out of his system, and we returned it to the shop. and he boaght an Asus 990FX Sabertooth R2.0 And after that, never looked back at Gigabyte.
I simply dont trust them anymore. But thats offcourse personal. ☺
OK but asus can make some pretty horrible motherboards as well, like ASUS M5A78L/USB3 that always failed within a year and M5A78L-M LX3 that's just as bad. And the one i use to have before all ram slots died one by one from right to left
yes also stay the hell away from the Asus M5A97 LE R2.0
If you want to overclock a FX8 core, then its just better to invest in a decent board.
AM3+ boards are very finicky ... to say the least
MSI boards for AMD have terrible VRMs, overclocking FX-8350 in them is like asking for a housefire.
http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database