970 vs. 990FX Chipset

[Shakaza]

Would a motherboard with a 990FX chipset overclock, say, an FX-8320 to something like 4.8 GHz more easily than one with a 970 chipset, such as this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970aud3p ?

'Cuz, I'm gonna do a new build soon with my dad, and I want to know if it's absolutely necessary to get a 990FX chipset or if I'll be fine with a 970.

(Note: Please don't make any other CPU recommendations or anything, especially you, @Faa, because this is pretty much final. I want a build that can overclock well, and an AMD one appears to be cheaper than an Intel one, thank you very much, though I am still open to helpful last-minute recommendations.)

[CoolBeans]

990Fx will be able to overtrick more

[WoodenMarker]

In theory, it should.

[tp95112]

Your not always garunteed a overclock of your choice. But a 990fx may be better

[Shakaza]

990Fx will be able to overtrick more

No, no, it doesn't need to do tricks; our bunnies already take care of that.

But, seriously, how much more is a 990FX board able to overclock? Is the example 4.8 GHz too much to hope for on a 970 board?

[CoolBeans]

No, no, it doesn't need to do tricks; our bunnies already take care of that.

But, seriously, how much more is a 990FX board able to overclock? Is the example 4.8 GHz too much to hope for on a 970 board?

Yes, 970 will probably be able to handle up to 4.5

[AMICLG]

No, no, it doesn't need to do tricks; our bunnies already take care of that.

But, seriously, how much more is a 990FX board able to overclock? Is the example 4.8 GHz too much to hope for on a 970 board?

It really depends on the boards power phases more than anything but most 970 boards were cheaply made in the first place so OCing is going to be not all that great in genreal on those boards also most of Gigabyte's AMD boards suck so don't get them regardless of their reviews, go Asus or Asrock.

[JoshM]

It really depends on the boards power phases more than anything but most 970 boards were cheaply made in the first place so OCing is going to be not all that great in genreal on those boards also most of Gigabyte's AMD boards suck so don't get them regardless of their reviews, go Asus or Asrock.

Well they don't...lol...

[Shakaza]

It really depends on the boards power phases more than anything but most 970 boards were cheaply made in the first place so OCing is going to be not all that great in genreal on those boards also most of Gigabyte's AMD boards suck so don't get them regardless of their reviews, go Asus or Asrock.

Do most of the 970 boards have an 8+2 phase design? The one I was looking at does. Would that, in general, be sufficient for high-ish overclocking?

[nicehat]

Pretty much all motherboards are the same. It comes down to features and whether the manufacturer locks down voltages or not. As long as thats all ok, it really comes down to the luck of your draw of processor. I think 4.8 is out of reach for an 8320. If thats the clock you want, you will have better luck with the 8350 (costs like $20 more I think)

[AMICLG]

Well they don't...lol...

Don't what? That was one of the least descriptive comments I've seen in a while on this fourm, could you add some context to that.

[Shakaza]

Don't what? That was one of the least descriptive comments I've seen in a while on this fourm, could you add some context to that.

I assume he was saying that GIGABYTE motherboards don't suck.

[AMICLG]

I assume he was saying that GIGABYTE motherboards don't suck.

The boards themselves don't but the BIOS's are slow/laggy and don't support things that it should have in the first place.

[Shakaza]

Pretty much all motherboards are the same. It comes down to features and whether the manufacturer locks down voltages or not. As long as thats all ok, it really comes down to the luck of your draw of processor. I think 4.8 is out of reach for an 8320. If thats the clock you want, you will have better luck with the 8350 (costs like $20 more I think)

No, I wasn't too worried about it reaching that clock speed; it was simply an example of a pretty high clock speed to compare the performance of motherboard chipsets and their power phase designs. And, while we're on the topic of the clock speeds an AMD CPU can reach, what is the maximum voltage you recommend for them? And isn't the max temperature in the high 60's in Celsius?

[Shakaza]

The boards themselves don't but the BIOS's are slow/laggy and don't support things that it should have in the first place.

Ahhhh...anyways, I gotta go to bed. Thanks for all the replies! I shall take them into account.

[nicehat]

No, I wasn't too worried about it reaching that clock speed; it was simply an example of a pretty high clock speed to compare the performance of motherboard chipsets and their power phase designs. And, while we're on the topic of the clock speeds an AMD CPU can reach, what is the maximum voltage you recommend for them? And isn't the max temperature in the high 60's in Celsius?

 

your chip will throttle at 65C. so dont go higher/anywhere near that. 1.55 v or less

[Shakaza]

your chip will throttle at 65C. so dont go higher/anywhere near that. 1.55 v or less

Okay. Temps won't be much of an issue anyway, because I plan to get a Noctua NH-D14.

[nicehat]

Okay. Temps won't be much of an issue anyway, because I plan to get a Noctua NH-D14.

 

Another peice of advice. If you want to push an 8320, make sure you have good power phase and power regulation. One way to check this is to see if the motherboard supports Load Line Callibration. If you dont have it, you'll get voltage spikes and poor overclock stability. This is the most important thing you can do. I would get a 990FX for the upgraded power delivery. Lower overclocks, you can stick with the 970.

[JoshM]

Don't what? That was one of the least descriptive comments I've seen in a while on this fourm, could you add some context to that.

In response to you saying that gigabyte boards suck, most would have seen that but ok...lol

[JoshM]

The boards themselves don't but the BIOS's are slow/laggy and don't support things that it should have in the first place.

I haven't had an issue with support or lag? Might have got a crap one mate

[AMICLG]

I haven't had an issue with support or lag? Might have got a crap one mate

Not all, there are a bunch of good ones out there just most of their BIOSs are slow.

[Priller]

It really depends on the boards power phases more than anything but most 970 boards were cheaply made in the first place so OCing is going to be not all that great in genreal on those boards also most of Gigabyte's AMD boards suck so don't get them regardless of their reviews, go Asus or Asrock.

 

Im not going to quote everything you said. But considering I hold all of the AMD cinebench records on Gigabyte boards means you dont really know what you are talking about. 

 

Also, if you got a Gigabyte board that was really cheap that is just getting what you paid for. I put Asus in first followed very closely by Gigabyte. Asrock isnt even on my list.

[AMICLG]

Im not going to quote everything you said. But considering I hold all of the AMD cinebench records on Gigabyte boards means you dont really know what you are talking about. 

 

Also, if you got a Gigabyte board that was really cheap that is just getting what you paid for. I put Asus in first followed very closely by Gigabyte. Asrock isnt even on my list.

If you read my other post I said that there BIOSs are junk if you get a board that's not updated on there rev 1 and 2 boards but the rev 3 are awesome, overall their boards in terms of performance and stability are rock solid.

[Shakaza]

Another peice of advice. If you want to push an 8320, make sure you have good power phase and power regulation. One way to check this is to see if the motherboard supports Load Line Callibration. If you dont have it, you'll get voltage spikes and poor overclock stability. This is the most important thing you can do. I would get a 990FX for the upgraded power delivery. Lower overclocks, you can stick with the 970.

Okay, so how do I find out if it has LLC? Do I look on the product page?

[DildorTheDecent]

Okay, so how do I find out if it has LLC? Do I look on the product page?

Product page. Google, owners club. things like that.

What board are you looking at anyway?