Build Advice £100 Gaming AM2+ Motherboard?

Hey guys,
I need to know which motherboard you peeps recommend that meets this criteria:

- Around £100
- Socket AM2+ (Already have a Skt AM2+ Phenom II 940)
- Good for gaming
- Good for overclocking
- Not necessarily SLI/CrossFire (I'm only ever gonna use 1 card I think)
- MUST have at least 2 PCI slots (for sound card and Wi-Fi card)

The most reasonable I seem to find at the moment are these:

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P

Asus M3N-HT DELUXE/HDMI

Asus M3A78-T

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

Well, don't discount Crossfire too soon - you can make a monster CrossFire setup for very little money. Dual 4770s generally outperform a GTX 285, for instance - and that at a price that's roughly equivalent to a 4890, which is generally a bit slower than the 285.

I would shoot for the M3A78-T. If you do go Crossfire, it is the only board with a slot layout that can handle two dual-slot GPUs and two PCI cards. Besides, the 790GX is simply a better platform choice than 780a (as is the case with the other ASUS board you linked to).

Oh, and welcome to bit-tech.


- Diosjenin -

 

Interesting, I'll bear that CrossFire advice in mind for the future, as I have an NVIDIA 9800GTX+ at the moment, which I bought fairly recently

And thanks for the advice on which platform to shoot for. I've always tended to use nForce chipsets in the past, but from what I've gathered apparently the newer AMD chipsets perform brilliantly!

So I'll probably go an AMD 790 platform, any advantage on getting a 790GX as opposed to say, the 790X or 790FX versions? As I said, I'm a bit of a n00b to AMD chipsets :-S

Oh, and thanks for the welcome

 

790GX has onboard graphics in addition to everything else.

790X is basically the 790FX without crossfie capabilities, and the 790FX is the king. Also the 790GX has crossifre capabilities. However I'm not too sure if Hybrid Crossfire even saves power.

 

790FX is indeed the king, as Elton said, but it may be a bit out of your price range. If you can find a 790FX board in your price range, you should probably buy it (per the recommendation of this forum), but there's really no reason why a 790GX board should prove to be any real limitation. The 780/790 chipsets have all been around long enough by now that the boards are generally quite mature and the performance capabilities are rarely limited due to driver issues or whatever else have you, as can often be the case soon after new chipsets are first released.


- Diosjenin -

 

Actually the only performance wall is the Overclocking limits of the Phenom IIs.

 

Thanks for clearing the chipset issue out guys
So I'm aiming for a 790GX preferably then

So, all that leaves now is any more recommendations for actual boards

 

If you would consider nearly new over new then take a look at this board Im selling.

Ticks boxes a plenty!

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=173860

Dean.

 

Is it just me, but I can't access the link you provided, Dean :-S
Something about not having permissions...

 

I can't access it either, and might be interested. Feel free to PM me.

 

Cant see why not its just a regular link?

Anyways its near the top on the UK marketplace page titled ASUS M3A32 MVP DELUXE!

Its a 790FX based board.

Feel free to PM.

Dean.

 

Still can't find it, can't see a "UK marketplace" forum on here, or am I just being really thick...?

 

bit-tech.net Forums > Marketplace > United Kingdom

I still cant see why that link I posted wouldnt take you there? Its just a regular link

Try again: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=173860

If it doesnt work you might want to contact a Mod to check why.

Dean.

 

Not enough posts to access that part of the forum...

 

Ahhh right!

 

Well that explains it

Anyway, I had a look at that board on Asus' website and seems a bit too small and cramped for my liking.

Nudge to get back on topic here?
Anybody else got any recommendations for a motherbaord for me?
Thanks

 

Whatever you do stay away from the DFI AM2/2+/3 motherboards. I have had 2 burn out on me in under a year.

 

Yeah, I have rubbish experiences with DFI too, I think I may end up going for that Asus M3A78-T, as I have always got on well with Asus boards and that one has got some good reviews
However, more recommendations wanted!

 

MSI 790GX-GD65?

 

1. Isn't that a socket AM3 board? I'm after AM2+
2. No-where sells it, returns 0 results in Google Products lol