AM3+ motherboards discussion

[skeletor]

This thread is for discussion related AM3+ motherboards.

----

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/cpu-mothe...am3-processor-upgrade-painless-its-users.html

ASUS First to Provide AM3+ CPU Ready Solution for Current AM3 and Future AM3+ Motherboards

 

[Skud]

Already posted in a separate thread, but lets keep it here too:-

MSI 990FXA-GD80 review

 

[vickybat]

The best thing i liked about am3+ motherboards is their native sli support. So amd users can also use multiple nvidia cards and are not just limited to amd cards. This wasn't possible in all previous chipsets and x58 was the only intel platform to do so.

Now intel giving both sli and cf support in its z68 and upcoming socket 2011 platform, its a nice initiative from amd to add multigpu options from both nvidia and itself on their 990fx platform.

 

[Skud]

Frankly speaking I am a bit disappointed with the 990FX chipset. Performance wise its basically a 890FX. I was expecting more. Lets see what BD brings to the table.

 

[thetechfreak]

Hope AMD wins the war against INTEL or atleast comes near giving them competition in the gaming proccy's of i5 and i

 

[VarDOS]

Buying ASUS Crosshair V Formula soon, hope some decrease in the pricing till September.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

Good thing MSI Mobo will support BD after a Bios Upgrade. And Cherry on Cake is their Cost is starting as low as near 5K

 

[sumonpathak]

^^actuall you can get an AM3+ mobo in 5k
try lookin for the latest revision of 880GMA-USB3

 

[Tech_Wiz]

Its easier to find a MSI in that list and just update the BIOS. I am pretty sure Vendors here wont start selling 3.1 Rev till earlier are exhausted.

 

[sumonpathak]

its already in market
i got one

 

[Cilus]

I don't think buying pricy 990FX or 990X motherboards is a good idea. It is nothing but a rebranded 890FX chipset with some minor tweaks for native Bulldozer support and SLI compatibility.
So anybody planning to get a Bulldozer based system can get a high end 890FX based mobo in a lot cheaper price. All the 890FX chipset based mobo supports AM3+ processors with some cosmetic features disabled.

For SLI support, there is already an SLIpatch available to enable SLI in any Crossfire based motherboard because the limitation of not running SLI is in motherboard BIOS and software Kernel level, not in hardware level. There is even a official site for SLI patch. read it here.

For example one can get a MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard, highest end AMD mobo from MSI @ 10.2K. It offers features which is not present in any of the currently available 990FX/990X mobos, even the high end 990FXA-GD80 from MSI.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

Read This: ASRock Explains the Differences Between AM3 and AM3 Sockets - Softpedia

Apparently AM3 & AM3+ have some differences. So It will be better to get Rev 3.1 Mobos of Gigabyte with AM3+ Socket (Black One) than Opting for a Pure AM3 one and upgrading BIOS. Difference may not be Much per say but why do it if you have option

ps: I bought Gigabyte GA-880G - USB 3 Rev 3.1 for Rs. 4800 with AM3+ Socket.

 

[sumonpathak]

I don't think buying pricy 990FX or 990X motherboards is a good idea. It is nothing but a rebranded 890FX chipset with some minor tweaks for native Bulldozer support and SLI compatibility.
So anybody planning to get a Bulldozer based system can get a high end 890FX based mobo in a lot cheaper price. All the 890FX chipset based mobo supports AM3+ processors with some cosmetic features disabled.

For SLI support, there is already an SLIpatch available to enable SLI in any Crossfire based motherboard because the limitation of not running SLI is in motherboard BIOS and software Kernel level, not in hardware level. There is even a official site for SLI patch. read it here.

For example one can get a MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard, highest end AMD mobo from MSI @ 10.2K. It offers features which is not present in any of the currently available 990FX/990X mobos, even the high end 990FXA-GD80 from MSI.

can you list the differences?

 

[Skud]

970 chipset is the younger sibling of 990FX. These mobos should be cheaper. Don't know whether they are available or not.

 

[Cilus]

Skud, 970 chipsets are released but not available in India till now. But they are just redesigned 870 chipset as in the case of 890FX to 990FX.

The SLI patch will work in any mobo with 2 PCI Express X16 slot running at minimum of X8 speed. X8-X4 or X16-X4 is not supported.

 

[Skud]

I think one thing we are missing is the socket. If someone is planning for BD, it's advisable to get a mobo with AM3+ socket. Chipset may be a 890FX like the GA-890FXA-UD5.

Future upgrades will most probably won't be coming for socket AM3.

 

[Cilus]

I am not getting you guys, all the major manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI have already announced that all their 890GX/FX based mobos and some of their 880G/870G based are gonna support Bulldozer. Partial support for 880/870 based chipset is because not all of them can't handle the power requirement of Bulldozer.
And there is no need to buy a motherboard with already updated BIOS for AM3+ support. If your mobo support it with a BIOS update, just update it.

initially my MSI 890GXM-G65 mobo was not supporting AM3+ when I have purchased it. With the latest BIOS 1.A0 update, now my mobo is ready for Bulldozer.

 

[Terabyte]

IMO getting a AM3+ mobo now doesn't make sense cause AFAIK they are coming with PCIe 2.1/2.0 slots and not PCIe3.0.

I suppose the next generation of graphic cards like HD7xxx are coming with PCIe3.0 support. Although PCIe3.0 is backward compatible with PCIe2.0 a PCIe3.0 mobo will be more future proof I guess!

 

[sumonpathak]

I think one thing we are missing is the socket. If someone is planning for BD, it's advisable to get a mobo with AM3+ socket. Chipset may be a 890FX like the GA-890FXA-UD5.

Future upgrades will most probably won't be coming for socket AM3.

+1

I am not getting you guys, all the major manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI have already announced that all their 890GX/FX based mobos and some of their 880G/870G based are gonna support Bulldozer. Partial support for 880/870 based chipset is because not all of them can't handle the power requirement of Bulldozer.
And there is no need to buy a motherboard with already updated BIOS for AM3+ support. If your mobo support it with a BIOS update, just update it.

initially my MSI 890GXM-G65 mobo was not supporting AM3+ when I have purchased it. With the latest BIOS 1.A0 update, now my mobo is ready for Bulldozer.

but they wont be unleashing the full potential of bulldozer...

IMO getting a AM3+ mobo now doesn't make sense cause AFAIK they are coming with PCIe 2.1/2.0 slots and not PCIe3.0.

I suppose the next generation of graphic cards like HD7xxx are coming with PCIe3.0 support. Although PCIe3.0 is backward compatible with PCIe2.0 a PCIe3.0 mobo will be more future proof I guess!

AFAIK current gen cards dont utilize the full potential of PCIe2.0....so getting a PCIe2.0 mobo is not as stupid as you think....
read and research before you buy anything...don't get fooled by the manufacturers

 

[Cilus]

Skud, 890FX based mobos are not AM3+ socket, they are AM3 mobo and they support Bulldozer or AM3+ processors by BIOS upgrade and this thing I am mentioning from the begining that buying a high end 890FX based mobo makes more sense rather than jumping to pricy 990FX based mobos.

sumonpathak, we asked the same question of Bulldozer support in AM3 mobo in the Asus Power User Meet Up to the Asus Engineer and as per him there will be some cosmetic features that cannot be accessed in AM3 based mobos like the live temp/Performance monitoring, native support of 1866 MHz ram etc, but no serius perfomance penalty.