Best mobo for AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 Black Edition

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

How bout, what is the best Overclocking motherboard for a AMD Quad 955

 

[MalVeauX]

How bout, what is the best Overclocking motherboard for a AMD Quad 955

Heya,

For actual overclocking, probably:

GA-MA790XT-UD4P if you like Gigabyte.
M4A79T Deluxe if you like Asus.

These two boards are known to hit 4Ghz with the 9XX series Quads on air. They can be expensive though. I comfortably hit 3.8ghz on air with my 955BE on my BioStar. I can probably get 4ghz if I tinker with my voltages again, but I was happy to hit 3.8ghz on the first try without having to really put effort into it. The way I see it, if you have proper chipsets, the board doesn't matter nearly as much. And I've collaborated with others who used the same chip and many people have gotten 4ghz on several boards, and they were not all asus and gigabyte. So I'm leaning towards chipset being the real factor.

Regardless, they're still cheaper than the $200~$400 i7 Intel boards and the $280 processor to suit. That's the nice thing about AMD. $100 board with a $150 CPU basically, hitting 4ghz with a Quad. Performance is fantastic for the money. And it can be done with a $35 air cooler (Mugen2) or up to the more expensive things; but its AMD, why spend for the `top' when you're trying to not overspend in the first place by going AMD, right?

Very best,

 

[Team Spicoli]

Well Mal, once again you've outdone yourself!! I hope others realize just what an asset you are to these forums!! Thank you SO much my friend! Take care!

 

[Team Spicoli]

Heya,


And finally, I have this board. I overclock with it with a PhenomII x4 955 Black Edition and Mugen2 cooler. I use the onboard HD3300 with my 8800GT to display on 3 different displays (2 monitors and 1 HDTV). It's a great board and will serve you well if you don't plan on going SLI. If you plan on SLI later, by all means, let me know and we'll get a new board.

Very best, 🙂

Hey Mal, what did you mean when you stated that you "use the onboard HD3300 with the 800GT" to display on 3 different displays. Will I be able to use two monitors simultaneously for work, and still send a separate signal to a 3rd monitor in another room?

Thanks!!

 

[MalVeauX]

Hey Mal, what did you mean when you stated that you "use the onboard HD3300 with the 800GT" to display on 3 different displays. Will I be able to use two monitors simultaneously for work, and still send a separate signal to a 3rd monitor in another room?

Thanks!!

Heya,

Exactly that. Not all motherboard's are capable of having the onboard GPU function when you have a dedicated PCIe card in the primary PCIe slot. The one I listed can though, for sure, because I do it. That gives me up to 4 displays with my motherboard and my one videocard currently in the machine. Two from each GPU. I run three from it through currently. Two 23" monitors 1080p, and on 37" 1080p LCD HDTV. I use HDMI and DVI outputs from both GPU's. In an older build I had, I had to have two separate video cards in the case to be able to get several monitors displayed from it (this was before Eyefinity made it possible to get 6 displays from a single card though). I was running 5 monitors for a while. But now I'm back to 3 as I didn't want the clutter in my case, and the displays were not being used much. I'm going to go back to 4 displays though. Three 23" 1080p LCD's all together in a tri-setup and my 1080p TV above them angled down. That way I can watch TV on my HDTV via my TV tuner with DVR capabilty (and pause live tv, woo!); game in tri-display mode (with an eyefinity card), or simply use the tri-display for workstation use (photo editing, lots of web editing, lots of text swapping, websites all open at once, etc).

Very best,

 

[Team Spicoli]

Heya,

Exactly that. Not all motherboard's are capable of having the onboard GPU function when you have a dedicated PCIe card in the primary PCIe slot. The one I listed can though, for sure, because I do it. That gives me up to 4 displays with my motherboard and my one videocard currently in the machine. Two from each GPU. I run three from it through currently. Two 23" monitors 1080p, and on 37" 1080p LCD HDTV. I use HDMI and DVI outputs from both GPU's. In an older build I had, I had to have two separate video cards in the case to be able to get several monitors displayed from it (this was before Eyefinity made it possible to get 6 displays from a single card though). I was running 5 monitors for a while. But now I'm back to 3 as I didn't want the clutter in my case, and the displays were not being used much. I'm going to go back to 4 displays though. Three 23" 1080p LCD's all together in a tri-setup and my 1080p TV above them angled down. That way I can watch TV on my HDTV via my TV tuner with DVR capabilty (and pause live tv, woo!); game in tri-display mode (with an eyefinity card), or simply use the tri-display for workstation use (photo editing, lots of web editing, lots of text swapping, websites all open at once, etc).

Very best,

Hey Mal,

Thanks! So do I need to purchase an "eyefinity" card to then handle the tri-display?! For example, at work, we use 3 monitors which allows me to drag browser windows across each screen, etc. . . At home I will most likely just use 2 monitors for work, and still be able to send a separate media signal to an HDTV in another room. . .make sense?!

Thanks again!

 

[MalVeauX]

Hey Mal,

Thanks! So do I need to purchase an "eyefinity" card to then handle the tri-display?! For example, at work, we use 3 monitors which allows me to drag browser windows across each screen, etc. . . At home I will most likely just use 2 monitors for work, and still be able to send a separate media signal to an HDTV in another room. . .make sense?!

Thanks again!

Heya,

Nope. Eyefinity is only necessary if your motherboard isn't capable of having an active integrated GPU as well as an active PCIe GPU at the same time; and even then, only if you want to have 3 displays from a single card (eyefinity can do 3 displays, all other cards can only do 2 displays). There is also an eyefinity card that is capable of 6 displays from one card. But ultimately, you do not need eyefinity at all. It's just nice if you want to game on 3 monitors (and only some games can do it, even then). Really, forget eyefinity. It's too expensive in the end to really appreciate (due to one of the displays having to be a display-port capable display, or use a really expensive adapter).

Again, with your GTX260 and the motherboard's GPU, you can have 4 displays active from the machine and they can all be one work space. So you can drag windows/work from each display to another no problem. You can even add another card, to get 2 more displays for a 6 display setup if you want. There's really no limit outside of how many display adapters you can fit. And in windows, you can set your desktop to extend across all the displays to use it as one huge desktop. Just like at work. And they don't just have to be monitors, you can also include DVI/HDMI capable televisions too.

For example, with that BioStar board and a single extra GPU, you can get 4 displays, all one big desktop that you can drag things around and work with.

Here's what mine looks like with some 23" LCD's and a 37" 1080p LCD.

You don't need eyefinity to do any of that. I only mentioned eyefinity for multi-display gaming specifically. It's pricey and not worth it yet (because of display port requirement for one of the displays).

Very best,

 

[Team Spicoli]

Hey Mal thanks!

Very impressive. What O.S. are you using? The monitors appears to show to browser windows split side-by-side on each screen?! Is that correct?

 

[Team Spicoli]

Heya,

Nope. Eyefinity is only necessary if your motherboard isn't capable of having an active integrated GPU as well as an active PCIe GPU at the same time; and even then, only if you want to have 3 displays from a single card (eyefinity can do 3 displays, all other cards can only do 2 displays). There is also an eyefinity card that is capable of 6 displays from one card. But ultimately, you do not need eyefinity at all. It's just nice if you want to game on 3 monitors (and only some games can do it, even then). Really, forget eyefinity. It's too expensive in the end to really appreciate (due to one of the displays having to be a display-port capable display, or use a really expensive adapter).

Again, with your GTX260 and the motherboard's GPU, you can have 4 displays active from the machine and they can all be one work space. So you can drag windows/work from each display to another no problem. You can even add another card, to get 2 more displays for a 6 display setup if you want. There's really no limit outside of how many display adapters you can fit. And in windows, you can set your desktop to extend across all the displays to use it as one huge desktop. Just like at work. And they don't just have to be monitors, you can also include DVI/HDMI capable televisions too.

For example, with that BioStar board and a single extra GPU, you can get 4 displays, all one big desktop that you can drag things around and work with.

Here's what mine looks like with some 23" LCD's and a 37" 1080p LCD.

Very best,

Hey Mal, if I wanted to add an additional dedicated video-card, not to SLI, but only to be able to add additional montiors, which one would you recommend? The additional card would just be used primarily for general work-related applications, and general multi-tasking. . . no gaming, and possibly streaming of media. . .

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Hey Mal thanks!
Very impressive. What O.S. are you using? The monitors appears to show to browser windows split side-by-side on each screen?! Is that correct?

Windows 7. You can do multi-monitor just fine in nearly any OS though. There's a ton of software that enhances it though, like "Ultramon" which lets you control task bars on each screen, movement of work from one screen to another, etc. It's fantastic. Highly recommended if you have more than two displays. I keep websites open, so I open them in their own windows and put them side by side. Win7 automatically snaps the size to the top/bottom of the screen, I just make them wide enough to suit my need for the site. I prefer this to feeds and bookmarks, so I can always see the sites I'm looking at the most. Just add a plugin like `auto refresh' to whatever browser you're using and you're golden.

Hey Mal, if I wanted to add an additional dedicated video-card, not to SLI, but only to be able to add additional montiors, which one would you recommend? The additional card would just be used primarily for general work-related applications, and general multi-tasking. . . no gaming, and possibly streaming of media. . .

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

You can add any video card for this. Even an old PCI card will work. I recommend however at least PCIe because of the bandwidth for HD/1080p video that may surprass what an old PCI slot can actually handle. I went for a fanless PCIe card so that it's absolutely silent and just adds extra display options (HDMI, DVI and VGA).

I got a Saphire HD4350 512Mb with HDMI, DVI and VGA. It's fanless and low profile, so the heat sink doesn't stick out far and it doesn't cover up other slots on the motherboard. There are other ones. I use it for everything like playback and the sound over HDMI works flawless. Love the card.

Here's a perfect HTPC/extra display PCIe card for you:

Gigabyte HD4550 512Mb $38. It's completely fanless and is low profile so it doesn't block anything on your board. HDMI, DVI, VGA. Sound over HDMI. Handles HD/1080p/BluRay on its own.

Alternatively, if you want more displays from your card, you can get any of the 5000 series ATI cards, they have eyefinity, so you can get 3 displays from the basic ones. But one display will have to be display port capable (a montior or adapater using display port to connect, instead of DVI/HDMI/VGA). That's more costly since display port is a newer tech and not on everything; the adapter is expensive and must be active so they run $70~$99 (there are non-active ones that do NOT work that are like $10, don't be fooled there). ATI is working on getting someone to produce a cheaper adapter. I plan on going this route as soon as they release it. But until then, I use multi-cards to get the job done.

-- Just another point, if you put a TV tuner in there, low profile is important, so you don't block the PCIe 1.0 slots for a TV tuner to be installed to. Your GTX260 is a dual slot, so it will cover up whatever is under it. It's important to get a motherboard with a spread of PCIe 1.0, 2.0 and PCI slots that work for your components. The board I linked that I use (the biostar) has the primary PCIe slot in the middle of the board, so my dual slot 8800GT covers up a single normal PCI slot (no loss to me, I don't use normal PCI except for a sound card, but I have two PCI slots and the one not covered has that sound card). That keeps my 2nd PCIe 2.0 slot open for another GPU (like my low profile HD4350), and it keeps both of the PCIe 1.0 slots open so my TV tuner is in one of those. I still have another PCIe 1.0 slot open so I can add another device if I need to (like another TV tuner). With that setup, I can have 6 displays from my motherboard GPU, 8800GT and my HD4350. And have two TV tuners.

Anyhow, I just ordered another 1080p monitor and I'm going to move my HDTV to the wall, higher up, and angle it down, with my three 23" 1080p LCD's side by side so that I can have my workstation and keep my games/TV/DVD on the TV on the wall above them at the same time. I'll post a pic and show how easy it is to setup when it gets here in a few days.

Very best, 🙂

 

[Team Spicoli]

Heya,




Here's a perfect HTPC/extra display PCIe card for you:

It's completely fanless and is low profile so it doesn't block anything on your board. HDMI, DVI, VGA. Sound over HDMI. Handles HD/1080p/BluRay on its own.

Alternatively, if you want more displays from your card, you can get any of the 5000 series ATI cards, they have eyefinity, so you can get 3 displays from the basic ones. But one display will have to be display port capable (a montior or adapater using display port to connect, instead of DVI/HDMI/VGA). That's more costly since display port is a newer tech and not on everything; the adapter is expensive and must be active so they run $70~$99 (there are non-active ones that do NOT work that are like $10, don't be fooled there). ATI is working on getting someone to produce a cheaper adapter. I plan on going this route as soon as they release it. But until then, I use multi-cards to get the job done.

-- Just another point, if you put a TV tuner in there, low profile is important, so you don't block the PCIe 1.0 slots for a TV tuner to be installed to. Your GTX260 is a dual slot, so it will cover up whatever is under it. It's important to get a motherboard with a spread of PCIe 1.0, 2.0 and PCI slots that work for your components. The board I linked that I use (the biostar) has the primary PCIe slot in the middle of the board, so my dual slot 8800GT covers up a single normal PCI slot (no loss to me, I don't use normal PCI except for a sound card, but I have two PCI slots and the one not covered has that sound card). That keeps my 2nd PCIe 2.0 slot open for another GPU (like my low profile HD4350), and it keeps both of the PCIe 1.0 slots open so my TV tuner is in one of those. I still have another PCIe 1.0 slot open so I can add another device if I need to (like another TV tuner). With that setup, I can have 6 displays from my motherboard GPU, 8800GT and my HD4350. And have two TV tuners.

Hey Mal,

Thanks! I'm concerned with the reviews of the Gigabyte card. Would you still recommend the Gigabyte card over the Sapphire card you have, which has more positive reviews? Is there another alternative, or should I just ignore the negative reviews?

Thanks again!!

 

[Team Spicoli]

Hey Mal,

Thanks! I'm concerned with the reviews of the Gigabyte card. Would you still recommend the Gigabyte card over the Sapphire card you have, which has more positive reviews? Is there another alternative, or should I just ignore the negative reviews?

Thanks again!!

Sorry, FYI, I ended up going with the Biostar board you picked, the features you pointed out seemed worth it!

Thanks!

 

[Team Spicoli]

Hey Mal,

And what TV tuner do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

The reviews you're seeing are people who plop it in and expect to play games on them. They're not gaming cards. I have the Saphire and it is excellent. The Gigabyte is nearly the same thing, it can't be bad. They're just not gaming GPU's. But for general use, HTPC, etc, they're excellent. You can get an nVidia alternative too, like a 8400 or 9400 if you prefer.

All that matters is the chipset and the adapters (HDMI, DVI). Someone who buys a low end 4000 series ATI and tries to play a recent game will understand it's not meant for gaming and not be happy. But someone who is looking for HTPC/extra monitor use, it's perfect. Again, I have it and it's great. Works flawless. Can't complain and it's cheap.

Go with your gut. And again, your motherboard can already do this. So you really don't need to get one. That Biostar has a built in ATI GPU that can drive two displays. And your GTX260 can drive two more displays. You don't need a 3rd GPU in that machine. You can already run 4 displays as it is. So consider that you don't even need this extra card.

The tuner depends on your needs. I use a Hauppage 1250 because it's only $50 and works perfect for my needs. It's PCIe 1.0, low profile, small, works perfect in Win 7 with Media Center, records, etc. I get my input from an HD satellite. I don't pay for cable or anything. I just capture the free HD stations in the air with a home antenna. Major networks are broadcast in HD over the air. So I watch them for free. I did it mostly for watching Football, the news, weather, and some late night shows that come on ABC, FOX, etc, all in HD. And again, for free. I bring it in over my TV tuner to my PC then to a display. So I can see it full screen, or a little window, record, pause TV, etc. If you want to watch channels and record at the same time multiple different channels, get a better tuner. Like the 2250 (dual input), but it's $140.

Very best,

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Got my new stand and another display, wanted to report in and let you know more info about that BioStar board I linked.

The motherboard I linked (BioStar) with the built in HD3300 and an nVidia 8800GT (any GPU will do, mind) combined on this machine to drive 4 displays at the same time without having to buy special cards, or run any fancy software. Just enable the HD3300 in bios to be primary, toss in the PCIe card (your GTX260 for example) and you're off to the races.

I hooked up the HDTV and one LCD to the nVidia 8800GT, and the motherboard's HD3300 drives the other two LCD's. And here's what you can do with it:

Here's a video of it working, and I use a special dimming software (SlimCode.com) that actually dims the displays or windows that are inactive when you want them to; via keyboard shortcuts. It's super handy when watching a DVD or when you just want less `white' blasting you in the face while you read something.

YouTube- Quad Display, Dimming Inactive Windows

Very best,

 

[wwswimming]

just picked up a cheap gigabyte ma785gm-us2h and an AMD x2 550 BE from newegg and it's prime stable (small fft) @ 3825mhz w/ unlock of 4 cores! 🙂

hard to beat that price / performance!

yeah, i got one of those (gigabyte ma785gm-us2h) because i couldn't resist the combo price ($120 for CPU + MB).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128394
$80

looking at the reviews ... they're popular.

the other one that's getting good reviews -
the Gigabyte UD3H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128395

both the UD3H & the US2H are AM3/ AM2+/ AM2 motherboards, they use DDR2.