I wanted to build a new gaming PC around an AMD FX-8350 due to budget constraints. I will buy a MB, CPU and RAM to use with my antique HDD and GTs 8800 until I can safely afford to upgrade those as well.
My question is, what RAM and mainboard to use with the CPU.
Will a board with the cheap 970 chipset suffice or will one with 990FX perform significantly better? I obviously don't need crossfire or SLI.
I do not plan on overclocking, although it would still be a nice option to have.
Also I read that the RAM will usually run in 1600Mhz when used in dual channel mode, while others have stated that they use the FX-8350 with 2133Mhz. So should I just go for the cheaper 1600Mhz and not risk overclocking it? If I decide to use 2133Mhz, will it make any difference to use Ram rated for 1600Mhz and then overclock (is that even reasonable?) or use 2133 and just set the controller?
The M5A97 Evo R2.0 MysteryAngel suggested is great, I have it running on a FX 8320, but it should work with the 8350 perfectly, just a Bios update and you are good to go.
1600mhz ram will be fine, however FX processors work very good with 1866, and this mobo supports it without OC, you only have to apply the setting.
thank you everyone for the mostly helpful comments, I was actually deciding mainly between ASUS M5A97 R2.0 and ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 what a lucky coincidence...
So I guess I'll go with the aforementioned ^^ and some 1866Mhz ram then.
Get a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3. Great board, color scheme, stability, and features. It has an 8+2 power phase as well as much better placed sata ports, and the quality of the VRMs is outstanding. I have my 8350 running stable at 4.7GHz on mine right now, zero problems.