amd 990fx motherboard debate

icefusion2k

hey guys! planning on building an amd computer and already have the fx 8350 but for the life of me, im torn between 3 motherboards and i like all 3 for unique reasons, just looking for some guidance as to which one i should get or mabey some insight would help me sort out my thoughts

 

first one:

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128509

i like this one because of its price point and the duel bios feature. plus its great for overclocking which i plan on doing. supports 2133mhz memory which is faster then the sabertooth but slower then the crosshair V. 

 

second one:

<span itemprop="name" pin_1372907571512_hazclick"="">ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131876

 

this one is probably the best out of the 3 due to its features but its a little on the pricey side and i already have a sound card which i know some of the cost is beacuse of onboard premium sound. but it garners a thought to buy due to how good at overclocking it is and supports the highest mhz of memory of 2400mhz which im not sure if i would even need that fast of ram but its faster then every other amd 990fx mobo.

 

last one: 

ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX/GEN3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131969

 

like this one because it supports 3.0 pci-e gfx cards (again, not too sure if its even worth it as a considerable feature) and its great for overclocking. but it supports the slowest of the 3 in the ram dept. at only 1866mhz.

 

 

so as you can see, i cant make up my mind on which to buy, they all have their pros/cons and for me, is my complaint with amd mobos, just seems like their arn't enough high end boards for the amd side, with intel its the complete opposite, the market is saturated with premium motherboards. and btw, i know Asrock has a high end mobo but i dont like that company, their customer service is pretty bad from what i've heard and they market all there high end stuff after some "pro" gamer which is in-mature to me.

 

Cleffy

I would avoid the 990fx for now. Its a rather dated chipset by technology standards. At this point I would go with an Intel Build or wait for AMD to come out with a new socket.

Out of those 3 boards, the ASUS Sabertooth is the best. The 2 ASUS models are identical aside from their memory and PCI-e lanes. Getting PCI-e 3.0 lanes with the cost of 1866mhz memory is worth it.  Memory bandwidth is not as much an issue for the FX processors as it is for the APU processors. Also on the board, the 1866 is natively supported, while you would need to OC in order to get the 1866 on the other boards.

Quizzical

Why would you want to clock memory above 1866 MHz when you don't have integrated graphics to feed?  Do you run some unusual software that is very memory bandwidth intensive?

The difference between a 990FX chipset and a 970 chipset is a bunch of money and the ability to use CrossFire or SLI properly.  If you don't want to use CrossFire or SLI (and if you're not buying two high end video cards today, then you probably shouldn't), then save some money and get a 970 chipset motherboard.  If so inclined, you can even get a fairly nice 970 motherboard that will let you do whatever you want as far as overclocking:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873

miguksaram

Unless you have unusual consumer needs between the boards you are looking at the only real difference is the price and looks.  Assuming price is not "the" issue (based on the fact you are trying to decide between said boards) if it were up to me I would most likely choose the Sabertooth board based purely on aesthetic appeal.  Please remember this is based solely on looks and has nothing to do with the boards ability compared to the others in your line up because honestly most people who come here and ask for advice aren't likely to take full advantage of the options offered on a MB over $150 USD.  That isn't meant as an insult but rather a generalization of the market as a whole which people like ASUS prey upon to begin with.

Mikeha

With the way video card prices are falling I would not buy a board that does not fully support crossfire or sli. Even if you are undecided there is nonthing wrong with having a crossfire ready board because you never know when you may decide you want to try going dual card then all you would have to do is buy a card and just put it in and you are ready to go.If by high end you mean you want something with nice features and good overclock potential then just about every brand carries a board that's capable. Asus is best atm but companys like MSI, Gigibyte and AsRock also have some very nice boards.