Was looking at the crossblade or the MSI A88X gaming bard. But I saw the GA-F2A88X-UP4 and thought to myself, "This is a really nice board and has a cool aesthetic!" So if it is a good board, please let me know so I can pull the trigger ^~^.
Here's the link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FBCCKIW/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Thanks in advance!
Do you realy need a full size ATX mobo built for Crossfire? because the FM2/+ platform is kinda weak for multi gpu configuration's.
The micro atx MSI gameing is probably the best looking and more practical being Micro sized so you can build a smaller pc.
I disagree on the MSI hands down. In AMD spec, the brands you jump on are: ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock.
The GA-F2A88X-UP4 has pretty solid ratings over on Newegg with a 46% 5 star rating of the reviews.
The downside that is with most Gigabyte AMD boards is that they tend to limit you to 2133Mhz RAM as the highest you can go.
The following boards are good AMD FM2+ boards for the money:
If you're not running an APU then ram speed doesn't matter. ;)
Also, if you're looking at boards like this, I would assume you're also looking at running discreet graphics with something like a 760/860K.
I had one once, it was awful (UEFI was garbage, most OC settings lacked tool tip or any description as to what they did or how to use them). Then I got a Crossblade Ranger and haven't looked back since. The Crossblade is well worth the money
The Gigabyte F2A88X-UP4 is a stalwart board. They really put a lot of heft into the VRMs, and the heatsink is really kind of over-engineered to do its task. Overall, it has a good amount of connectivity (in terms of SATA, USB, and PCIe) and pretty good sound. However, the thorn-in-the-lion's-paw of Gigabyte is their BIOS. It looks dated, and while it certainly has the basics, it is not as feature rich as what ASUS puts out, or what you may find on some real high-end motherboards.
Anandtech did a fairly good review of the motherboard, and they do a decent reviews of BIOSes, if you are interested in looking into that sort of thing.
Another alternative in the same price-bracket is the ASRock A88X Extreme6+. It has a more modern BIOS, and a better audio codec, but is otherwise much the same.
Spending more than $100 bucks on an FM2+ platform seems like madness to a lot of people, but if you like a lot of features and a good lay-out/design, it's worth it. I have issues recommending The Crossblade Ranger - $150 is a lot to justify spending on any motherboard. But if you can find the ASUS A88X-PRO on sale for around $100, it has some great enthusiast-class features (BIOS flashback - never have to worry about bricking during a BIOS update!) that are just the bee's knees.
Thank you all so much for the input! I ended up going with the ASRock Extreme6+ for its price:functionality. Big thanks to LinuxMaster9 and Calculatron for providing excellent insight as to what would be the best choice.
No problem; enjoy!
If it doesn't meet your expectations, feel free to come yell at us! More data is always welcome, even with bad news. :\