AM3+ inexpensive mainboards

[quest_for_silence]

I'm looking for a friend for an inexpensive but good AM3+ board.

Up to now I've four choices: the ASUS M5A97 EVO , the MSI 970A-G46 , the Asrock 970 Extreme4 , and the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 .

Could you give me any somewhat thorough advice about any of them?

[mkk]

I'm just happy with my Extreme4 that I bought last fall. At the time of choosing I discarded the Gigabyte board because of no UEFI, and the ASUS board because of inefficient PCIe slot layout. That MSI board was not out at the time but looks like a useful alternative now, though it appears to lack internal USB 3.0 header which would turn me away.

I got my board as a possible path to Bulldozer, but after the reviews I stuck with my at the time available low budget steal of the Athlon 2 X4 640. I run it at 3.5 GHz without having had to raise the core voltage so I'm guessing this is the CPU that this board will have for its lifetime. Today only Bulldozers seem to remain on the market for socket AM3+ and unfortunately something like the FX-4100 would not be a better CPU than the X4 640 was, but perhaps your friend will be looking for the stronger CPU's or have something that fits already.

Hard to say much more with no idea about what it's going to be used for.

[quest_for_silence]

Hard to say much more with no idea about what it's going to be used for.

It's mainly for a secondary game rig, my friend needs a new mobo to use with a pair of 5850 and a Phenom II BE.

[lodestar]

All of these boards seem to be in a similar price range. For a crossfire setup, maybe the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 is worth serious consideration because to me it seems to have a better layout for this purpose. But any of these boards is likely to be more than satisfactory.

[mkk]

The ASRock board will be a good choice then. The Gigabyte may be a wee bit cheaper if UEFI isn't important, but personally I want that in any system nowadays.

[quest_for_silence]

The ASRock board will be a good choice then.

Please forgive me if I abuse of your patience: I'd have some more questions to you.

In your experience, did your board look like somewhat "flimsy", or somewhat less robust than 1-tier manufacturers' ones (like GB, ASUS and MSI)?

Moreover, do you use SpeedFan with it (to control the fans)?
And as far as you may know, is the 2-ways SLI support the only actual difference between the 970 Extreme3 and 970 Extreme4?

Thanks in advance for sharing.

[mkk]

970 Extreme3 seems to lack a number of smart extras like the onboard function buttons for Clear CMOS, Reset and Power, as well as the internal USB 3.0 header for what I can see. The Extreme4 also has a PCIe 4x slot at the end of the board(the third full length) which can be nice to have for future use even if the immediate benefit might not be apparent. If one has a motherboard for a long time, ending up having just one too few of the right kind of card slot can be a real problem down the road.

This motherboard felt as well built as any other of todays main manufacturers. I've been using and built mostly with Gigabyte motherboards in recent years uptil this board. Five years ago I regarded ASRock designs as "what ASUS didn't dare sell under their own brand" but I've heard only good things about them for the last few years. I just love finding affordable motherboards with good design and couldn't see myself getting one of the overpriced flagship models, though they are certainly nice to build with.

I haven't used Speedfan much for a number of years. The CPU fan is controlled through the motherboard BIOS, and the Extreme4 board has a CPU fan controller for 3pin and 4pin separately. Otherwise it's fairly common for boards today to only be able to regulate 4pin fans. There are also BIOS settings for the boards 4pin case fan connectors, but I'm running mine at a steady low voltage so I'm not using that function. Expect them to be limited to 4pin control whether controlled through Speedfan or not.

[Tzeb]

I have the 970 Extreme3.

4 out of the 5 fan headers are fully controlable with speed fan. Only "PWR_FAN1" is allways at 12V.

[lodestar]

It might help to know how many fans are being controlled by the current motherboard, and what type. If it's just a PWM CPU fan and a couple of 3 pin fans then any of the motherboards being discussed could control those thermally. Given that is is a crossfire gaming rig I would have thought that even basic motherboard thermal fan control would have been enough. If more control were needed, I would say go for the Asus which seems to have the best BIOS fan controls of this group, particularly if used with the optional Fan Xpert software. But most gamers are I suspect not likely to want to be involved with fan control, other than putting it on the Performance setting if there is one.

[quest_for_silence]

The reason why I've asked of the Extreme3 is mainly aesthetic: it's all black, IMO more cute than the 4.
But I've checked better, the Extreme3 is not suitable for an effective CFX (it's just x16/x4).

[GnatGoSplat]

I picked the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 only because I have a 970A-D3 and it is rock-solid stable and really well built.
They're all reputable brands though, had good luck with MSI, ASUS, and Asrock in the past 5yrs so I'd probably just go on layout and price.
One thing to consider is usually Asrock has the wimpiest warranty (or at least they did a few months ago). 1yr while the other brands have 3yrs. I've never had to use the warranty on a board purchased brand new, but it gives me some security knowing if anything happens and the board goes bad, it gets replaced for the cost of shipping.

[quest_for_silence]

I picked the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 only because I have a 970A-D3 and it is rock-solid stable and really well built

What about SpeedFan support? Have you ever used SpeedFan to control fan speeds on your GB board?

[lodestar]

If there is a downside to Gigabyte motherboards, it is that with many boards the BIOS fan controls are fairly basic. For example a choice of either PWM or voltage control on the CPU fan, and a thermal control setting (on or off) for the system fan headers. The Gigabyte 970A-UD3 is one of these boards. Having said that, for many users particularly gamers that is all they need, especially where they have a case with built-in manual fan controls.

What I have found with Gigabyte motherboards is that if you want more control over fan speeds then Gigabyte's Easy Tune6 software will always work. And Gigabyte have an AMD specific version of Easy Tune6.

With the Gigabythe motherboards I tried SpeedFan on it either didn't work at all, or only partially worked. That may have changed since but I would still say try Easy Tune6 as the first option.

[dhanson865]

I'm looking for a friend for an inexpensive but good AM3+ board.

Up to now I've four choices: the ASUS M5A97 EVO , the MSI 970A-G46 , the Asrock 970 Extreme4 , and the Gigabyte 970A-UD3 .

Could you give me any somewhat thorough advice about any of them?

You can save $20 or so going M5A97 vs M5A97 EVO, all you lose is two USB 2.0 ports , 2 eSATA ports, and a 1394 port.

[loimlo]

I have the 970 Extreme3.

4 out of the 5 fan headers are fully controlable with speed fan. Only "PWR_FAN1" is allways at 12V.

Yes.
It's probably too late to say this, but 970 Extreme3 served me very well during past 3 months.
Other than internal USB3 header, I've no complaint with this board.