Upgrade motherboard?

[Samwell]

Hi

At the moment I have an ASRock 970 Extreme3 with an 8320. I don't like this board and if I could I would have gone back and changed what I bought. But hey ho it's what I have at the moment. I was wondering if there would be any benefit with upgrading to a Sabertooth 990fx. I sometimes use an R9 280x and 7870xt in crossfire and was wondering if there would be any benefit with bigger PIC-e lanes/the 990 chipset over the 970.

 

I do not like the Extreme3. I don't believe it is letting me OC my CPU to it's fullest (but maybe I lost silicon lottery). It's sometimes a bit unstable, won't boot properly but I can live with that.

 

There are features on the sabertooth that I would like to have but I want to know if you think it's actually worth the upgrade. I think the Extreme3 is sort of a cheap board so going to one of the best (for AM3+) should make a difference? Better overclocking? More stable? Cooler? (temp wise. I notice that on the Extreme3 the heatsink under the CPU (says XFast LAN) gets very hot, too hot to touch and I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that)

 

Also I see that the sabertooth has a ThunderBolt header but how does that work? On Asus' website it says that the card needs an onboard DP and there isn't one on the 990FX? or is that just for using the thunderbolt port for display?

 

Thanks

[dragoon20005]

the Sabertooth will be a step up from the 970

 

but that board is kinda bad value when the Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 does the same job for cheaper the price

[Dobbsjr]

Hi

At the moment I have an ASRock 970 Extreme3 with an 8320. I don't like this board and if I could I would have gone back and changed what I bought. But hey ho it's what I have at the moment. I was wondering if there would be any benefit with upgrading to a Sabertooth 990fx. I sometimes use an R9 280x and 7870xt in crossfire and was wondering if there would be any benefit with bigger PIC-e lanes/the 990 chipset over the 970.

 

I do not like the Extreme3. I don't believe it is letting me OC my CPU to it's fullest (but maybe I lost silicon lottery). It's sometimes a bit unstable, won't boot properly but I can live with that.

 

There are features on the sabertooth that I would like to have but I want to know if you think it's actually worth the upgrade. I think the Extreme3 is sort of a cheap board so going to one of the best (for AM3+) should make a difference? Better overclocking? More stable? Cooler? (temp wise. I notice that on the Extreme3 the heatsink under the CPU (says XFast LAN) gets very hot, too hot to touch and I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that)

 

Also I see that the sabertooth has a ThunderBolt header but how does that work? On Asus' website it says that the card needs an onboard DP and there isn't one on the 990FX? or is that just for using the thunderbolt port for display?

 

Thanks

Go with the Asus M5A99FX. It's cheaper and has mostly the same features.

[Guest]

Hi

At the moment I have an ASRock 970 Extreme3 with an 8320. I don't like this board and if I could I would have gone back and changed what I bought. But hey ho it's what I have at the moment. I was wondering if there would be any benefit with upgrading to a Sabertooth 990fx. I sometimes use an R9 280x and 7870xt in crossfire and was wondering if there would be any benefit with bigger PIC-e lanes/the 990 chipset over the 970.

 

I do not like the Extreme3. I don't believe it is letting me OC my CPU to it's fullest (but maybe I lost silicon lottery). It's sometimes a bit unstable, won't boot properly but I can live with that.

 

There are features on the sabertooth that I would like to have but I want to know if you think it's actually worth the upgrade. I think the Extreme3 is sort of a cheap board so going to one of the best (for AM3+) should make a difference? Better overclocking? More stable? Cooler? (temp wise. I notice that on the Extreme3 the heatsink under the CPU (says XFast LAN) gets very hot, too hot to touch and I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that)

 

Also I see that the sabertooth has a ThunderBolt header but how does that work? On Asus' website it says that the card needs an onboard DP and there isn't one on the 990FX? or is that just for using the thunderbolt port for display?

 

Thanks

What usually limits FX processor overclocks is the VRM temps, The sabertooth 990fx has a beefy VRM cooler, I have the sabertooth 990fx R2.0 adn let me tell you: it kicks ass. In my opinion it is better than the M5A99FX PRO R2.0 because it has more fan headers and the color scheme is cool. The extra PCI-E lanes aren't gonna make a difference but I would still recommend upgrading for the beefier VRM cooling check out this thread for info on AMD motherboards' VRMs it is a really awesome thread.

[vembutech]

Asus M5A99FX it is cheaper one with the features that could help.

[Samwell]

What usually limits FX processor overclocks is the VRM temps, The sabertooth 990fx has a beefy VRM cooler, I have the sabertooth 990fx R2.0 adn let me tell you: it kicks ass. In my opinion it is better than the M5A99FX PRO R2.0 because it has more fan headers and the color scheme is cool. The extra PCI-E lanes aren't gonna make a difference but I would still recommend upgrading for the beefier VRM cooling check out this thread for info on AMD motherboards' VRMs it is a really awesome thread.

I'm leaning towards the Sabertooth but wondering, would you say it's worth an extra £27? ($40)

[dragoon20005]

I'm leaning towards the Sabertooth but wondering, would you say it's worth an extra £27? ($40)

use that savings for a better cooler