AM2+ SLI motherboards

[tinyang]

Preferably one that can take over 4gb pc6400 ram and is liquid cooled. Thanks for all suggestions!

 

[NXIL]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...yCodeValue=719%3A26652

"Liquid cooled": if you are going to be doing some serious overclocking, many would say you are barking up the wrong socket. Intel CPUs own the high end right now, and, from some benchmarks I have seen, you can't overclock higher end AM2 CPUs to even stock Intel CPU speeds.

Also, if you are going to overclock for super performance, might as well be a quad core CPU.

 

[tinyang]

Hi NXIL. Thanks for the link. Is it just me, or are none of those boards AM2+? Your advice is noted. I'm actually just looking to put together a nice gaming rig for myself. I don't plan to overclock. I was interested in the liquid cooled chipset boards because my current machine which I built 3 yrs ago has the chipset fan almost dead, and this has the annoying habit of causing the heat alarm to go off on my processor from time to time. I was thinking if I went liquid cooled that maybe I could reduce some fan noise by having less fans in the case and avoid the current problem I'm having. You are right, Intel CPUs are the best right now, but I'm still interested in going AMD with this machine. Thanks for your input!

 

[THERESONATOR]

Go with DFI

 

[NXIL]

Hi--no overt AM2+ socket SLI motherboards yet.

Supposedly AM2 motherboards are backwards compatible with AM2+, with some caveats concerning hypertransport, etc.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Pro...ec.aspx?ProductID=2287

*Note: If you install AMD AM2+ CPU on AM2 motherbord, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0(5200MHz) to HT1.0(2000 MT/s) spec; however, the frequency of AM2+ CPU will not be impacted. Please refer "CPU Support List" for more information.

However, looks like AMD and motherboard manufacturers having issues with that:

http://www.tomshardware.com/20...6/phenom_motherboards/

AM2+ and AMD/Crossfire are available:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...8074%2CN82E16813131224

Upcoming nVidia AM2+ chipsets:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10471

http://news.softpedia.com/news...2-Chipsets-74960.shtml

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-13855_1-9842563-67.html

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=5433695

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1031915666

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2...ybrid_sli_on_desktops/

http://news.softpedia.com/news...otherboard-75882.shtml

&

http://forums.slizone.com/inde...=0&p=99807&#entry99807

HTH

NXIL

 

[tinyang]

DFI, they do look like they have some nice offerings, but with crossfire, not SLI. From what I've picked up, SLI is better than crossfire. Does anyone use crossfire? What do you like or dislike about it? What are the pros and cons vs. SLI?

Thanks NXIL for all the info! I'll look through it and post back if I have any more questions.

 

[mb103051]

As a system builder configuring sli systems and crossfire systems for gamers there isnt much difference between the two..Ive found the ati video cards to be more affordable and playing the latest games on them there is no difference in viewing ..maybe in benchs you see a small fps difference but its so small like 7- 10fps when your running 80-90fps 7 dosent even show up.Its stupid to even think that 7fps is gonna matter.most intel boards only support crossfire so shortly crossfire and sli will be even in use with users....crossfire IMO is easier to set up than some sli setups.......

 

[renethx]

nForce 780a SLI / 750a SLI (Socket AM2+) was just annouced at CES on Janaury 7, 2008. Actual release will be on February 14, 2008 along with 790i, 9600 GT, 9800 GX2.

Early report is here.

ASUS M3N-HT picture

 

[tinyang]

Thanks mb103051 and renthx also for your input. At this point I've still decided on an AM2+ board, but I may not limit myself to SLI, I may also consider crossfire options. What would be the best chipset (I'm assuming I'd want an AMD chipset) for a phenom cpu that supports crossfire? Thanks.