When bulldozer is released, i'm planning to commit herracy and rebuild my machine with Phenom ii. Can someone please give me a breakdown of the different AM3+ chipsets? I'm not worried about SLI/Crossfire etc, but need SATA 3, and would like USB 3. Would an 8xx series chipset be ok? What are the advantages of a 9xx series over the 8xx? Finally, if i am to upgrade to Bulldozer further down the line, which chipset would be most appropriate? Thanks in advance.
well the 9xx chipse'st will definatly work for Bulldozer and the 8xx some will work and some wont... Personally i would go get a 9xx mobo because its better down the line and will give me a piece of mind if i were to upgrade...
There's only one true AM3+ chipset, and that's that 9XX series. The 8XX series boards that support AM3+ only do so because they have a modified BIOS, not because they were meant to support it to begin with. The 9XX boards also use a different system for power regulation, so if you're planning on overclocking, the 8XX boards may not take kindly to it. The 9XX chipset also features a faster HyperTransport, 3.1 vs 3.0. As for a breakdown of the chipset, it goes like this: Chipsets with no designation do not supposrt Crosfire or SLI. G chipsets have onboard graphics, typically featuring a PCI-e x16 slot. M chipsets have onboard graphics, typically featuring a PCI-e x16 slot. These are designed for mobile processors GX chipsets have onboard graphics, typically featuring a PCI-e x16 slot. Supports Crossfire by also utilizing onboard graphics. X chipsets also have PCI-e x16 slots, but typically feature two of them. Supports Crossfire. FX chipsets also have PCI-e x16 slots, but typically feature four of them. Supports Crossfire. Also the only chipset that supports quad graphics.
OK, thanks for the info, chaps. So it looks like i'm after a good old fasioned 9xx series. Any recomendations? I'd like to spend below £100 idealy... Edit: At this stage, is it possible to tell which ones will and which won't? Or will we have to wait until they've been tested?