I don't know much about motherboards.

[Enigma]

Hey forum,

       I need some help. I am building a pc for the first time and I do not know what motherboard to get. I want sata 6gb/s, one 16x slot(for my video card), potentially overclocking later down the road, be able to last me for a long time(4-5 years). I will be running fx 8320 in this machine so it also has to support that. I would also like a UEFI bios but that is not a requirement. This board also has to have usb 3.0 header.

 

These are two I have been looking at:

gigabyte 990fxa:http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62403&vpn=GA-990FXA-UD3&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1316

Asus M5A97: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873

 

 

Feedback is always appreciated, Thanks.

 

--Dominic

 

I have not bought anything yet so anything can be changed.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Enigma

[WoodenMarker]

This will do just fine: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-970ag43

 

What's your system plan so far? Budget and usage?

[Enigma]

Budget: $800 USD (total)

Usage: Browsing the web. gaming(sc2, some fps games, third person games, etc...), School work(when in school), blender and unity stuff

System so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1bqyx

 

 

 

[Mastermortis]

cant go wrong with msi

[Enigma]

cant go wrong with msi

Other places say different

http://www.overclock.net/t/1377279/gigabyte-ga-970a-ds3-or-msi-970a-g43-amd-970

 

 

 

I just do not want to have to rma or return a motherboard.

[Mastermortis]

i have had 2 msi motherboards and 1 asus one and out of those 3 boards the asus is the only one not running today granted im jaded for that reason 

1st board http://us.msi.com/product/mb/760GM-P23--FX-.html(got it for 30 at frys)in my friends gaming pc 

2nd board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131819 (died 2 weeks after i got it )

3rd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130660 (current board thing is a beast )

 

 

 

 

Other places say different

http://www.overclock.net/t/1377279/gigabyte-ga-970a-ds3-or-msi-970a-g43-amd-970

 

 

 

I just do not want to have to rma or return a motherboard.

[iSuzak]

MSI have great motherboards... for Intel, when it comes to Amd you can find much better, there is a lot of complains about msi 970 boards and you're making a bet if you're going for it. Asus and Gigabyte make good Amd motherboards.

To answer your question go for the Gigabyte motherboard if you're planning to crossfire later. If you want and will stay with a single gpu setup go for the Asus M5a97 Evo, the EVO has more power phases witch means better overclock

[mgsstar]

I would get the M5A97 R2.0 because this has 6 phase unlike the 5 phase on the MSI board which will help in your overclocking and I personally like the Asus UEFI bios and I think you will probably have more overclocking support from the community/users on a Asus UEFI bios than a MSI bios.