A85X worth the Cost over A75 for AMD A10-5800K APU?

[tornadobox]

Hey,

Just completing my AMD A10-5800K APU build, the last piece I need is the motherboard.

I'm wondering, is the extra cost of the A85X chipset worth it over the somewhat lower (even as low as 1/2) cost of the A75 chipset boards (i.e.: MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 @ $99.99 vs. MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 @49.99...granted the A75 board is mATX, however I don't necessarily need a full ATX board for my build)?

The one thing I'm not quite understanding is the boasted '8x/8x' PCI-Express feature of the A85X board...what exactly would this give me? I'm planning on running the APU alone for now, and possibly tossing in an HD6670 in the future at some point. Would the '8x/8x' matter at all for this? Or am I correct in thinking it's only a factor if I run 2x discreet GPUs in Crossfire (thus cutting out the APU's graphics completely)?

My build thus far is:

APU - AMD A10-5800K Black Edition
RAM - 8GB (2x 4GB) G.Skill Ares DDR3-1866
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s
PSU - Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550w (probably overkill but got it for a good deal in a package with the case and rebate)
Case - Cooler Master Elite 311 ATX Mid Tower

Thanks!

[tcsenter]

Originally Posted by tornadobox

PSU - Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550w (probably overkill but got it for a good deal in a package with the case and rebate)

The Extreme Power Plus 550 is a solid 430W PSU design labeled as 550W, I would recommend treating it as such.

[Insert_Nickname]

Originally Posted by tornadobox

I'm wondering, is the extra cost of the A85X chipset worth it over the somewhat lower (even as low as 1/2) cost of the A75 chipset boards (i.e.: MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 @ $99.99 vs. MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 @49.99...granted the A75 board is mATX, however I don't necessarily need a full ATX board for my build)?

The one thing I'm not quite understanding is the boasted '8x/8x' PCI-Express feature of the A85X board...what exactly would this give me? I'm planning on running the APU alone for now, and possibly tossing in an HD6670 in the future at some point. Would the '8x/8x' matter at all for this? Or am I correct in thinking it's only a factor if I run 2x discreet GPUs in Crossfire (thus cutting out the APU's graphics completely)?

Just go with the A75. I doubt you'll notice the difference. The 8x/8x is only relevant if you run a crossfire setup with two discrete cards. If you are, then you're on the wrong platform anyway...

[tornadobox]

Originally Posted by tcsenter

The Extreme Power Plus 550 is a solid 430W PSU design labeled as 550W, I would recommend treating it as such.

Good to know, ~430w is what I was intending on anyway and this is less $$ than the one I had been eyeing.

Originally Posted by Insert_Nickname

Just go with the A75. I doubt you'll notice the difference. The 8x/8x is only relevant if you run a crossfire setup with two discrete cards. If you are, then you're on the wrong platform anyway...

Yeah, this is what I was thinking but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything major. I definitely would not be running 2 discreet GPUs in Crossfire on this platform!

Thanks guys, I'll save myself some $$ and go with the A75.

[Madpacket]

FYI I have this same motherboard (MSI FM2-A75MA-E35) and can confirm it's an excellent board for the price. It does everything very well (overclocking etc) but the only con I have with it is it does not support CPU undervolting below 1.35 volts. This may or may not be a big deal depending on your intended usage.

Just letting you know.

[tornadobox]

Originally Posted by Madpacket

FYI I have this same motherboard (MSI FM2-A75MA-E35) and can confirm it's an excellent board for the price. It does everything very well (overclocking etc) but the only con I have with it is it does not support CPU undervolting below 1.35 volts. This may or may not be a big deal depending on your intended usage.

Just letting you know.

Thanks for the info, what would I want to under-volt the APU for? What would one generally do that for?

[Madpacket]

These APU's can be undervolted to around 1.275-1.30 at default clock speeds which helps reduce loaded power usage and reduce heat. It's not that big of a deal unless you run your APU maxxed out all day and have to pay for expensive hydro as really the idle power characteristics are amazing. I measured 21 watts idle with my killawatt with this board and chip.

[tornadobox]

Originally Posted by Madpacket

These APU's can be undervolted to around 1.275-1.30 at default clock speeds which helps reduce loaded power usage and reduce heat. It's not that big of a deal unless you run your APU maxxed out all day and have to pay for expensive hydro as really the idle power characteristics are amazing. I measured 21 watts idle with my killawatt with this board and chip.

Interesting, thanks!