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Good move to buy AM3+ mobo right now?

Rhezuss

Rhezuss

Diamond Member
See rig in signature.

I'm currently looking to "upgrade" and get ready for AM3+ and i'm more of a "pay some here and some then" than a "pay a lot then" kind of guy...if that means anything pwahahah!

Anyways, I was looking at some AM3+ mobos like the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX something and coupling that with 8gb of DDR3 RAM...for like 230CAD. Selling my M4A77D and 6gb DDR2-800 in the process for like 100CAD would make the upgrade not cost that much and I could keep the Phenom II for some time too.

There's already plenty of AM3+ motherboards available and some look nice.

I know it would be more of a side step than an upgrade but at leats i'd be ready for Bulldozer when it comes out.

Or maybe there's more AM3+ mobos that are coming that would be better than those available rigth now?

So good or bad move?
 
If you have an X3 that you turned into an X4 (like me) you have to stick to the 800 series chipset with UCC or else lose the forth core. The 900 series doesn't have UCC.

From what I read, the 900 series doesn't really offer much more than the 800 series chipset.
 
lifeblood said:
If you have an X3 that you turned into an X4 (like me) you have to stick to the 800 series chipset with UCC or else lose the forth core. The 900 series doesn't have UCC.

From what I read, the 900 series doesn't really offer much more than the 800 series chipset.
Click to expand...

No core unlocking?? That sucks for my X2's!!

Bought an Asus Sabertooth, but wasn't aware that they wouldn't unlock the extra cores. Haven't set up the board yet.
 
No I have a "genuine" X4 so the unlocking thing is not necessary.

Sure it sucks for those who would want that though, dunno why they removed it...

Anyways, the goal if it would certainly not to upgrade per se but to get parts that I can install and use now for relatively cheap and later simply add a BD CPU in there and enjoy it for a couple of years.
 
sequoia464 said:
No core unlocking?? That sucks for my X2's!!

Bought an Asus Sabertooth, but wasn't aware that they wouldn't unlock the extra cores. Haven't set up the board yet.
Click to expand...

Actually quite a few boards do have core unlocking,example being Asrock 990FX Professional http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Fatal1ty%20990FX%20Professional via Turbo UCC so does the Asrock 990FX Extreme4.

Sabertooth and Crosshair V also have it listed in their specs ie core unlocking.

I'm sure more boards have it as well if you search.
 
if i understand correctly, all the top mobo's were/are released 1st. so u shouldnt have to worry bout better ones coming out later. imo, get the sabertooth and ram now
 
Mem said:
Actually quite a few boards do have core unlocking,example being Asrock 990FX Professional http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Fatal1ty 990FX Professional via Turbo UCC so does the Asrock 990FX Extreme4.

Sabertooth and Crosshair V also have it listed in their specs ie core unlocking.

I'm sure more boards have it as well if you search.
Click to expand...
This is good to know. However, I would want to hear from someone who's done it. It was an ASROCK tech that warned me about needing an 800 series board to unlock Penom/Athlon II CPUs. Hopefully they (and I) are wrong and it can unlock cores.
 
lifeblood said:
This is good to know. However, I would want to hear from someone who's done it. It was an ASROCK tech that warned me about needing an 800 series board to unlock Penom/Athlon II CPUs. Hopefully they (and I) are wrong and it can unlock cores.
Click to expand...

After reading the manual for Asrock 990fx Professional board, it does state it supports UCC with conditions.

CPU - Support for Socket AM3+ processors
- Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD PhenomTM II X6 /

X4 / X3 / X2 (except 920 / 940) / Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 /

Sempron processors

- Supports 8-Core CPU

- Supports UCC feature (Unlock CPU Core) (see CAUTION 1)

- Advanced V12 + 2 Power Phase Design

- Supports CPU up to 140W
- Supports AMD’s Cool ‘n’ QuietTM Technology

- FSB 2600 MHz (5.2 GT/s)

- Supports Untied Overclocking Technology (see CAUTION 2)
Click to expand...




CAUTION!

1. ASRock UCC (Unlock CPU Core) feature simplifies AMD CPU activa-

tion. As long as a simple switch of the UEFI option “ASRock UCC”, you

can unlock the extra CPU core to enjoy an instant performance boost.

When UCC feature is enabled, the dual-core or triple-core CPU will boost

to the quad-core CPU, and some CPU, including quad-core CPU, can

also increase L3 cache size up to 6MB, which means you can enjoy the

upgrade CPU performance with a better price. Please be noted that UCC

feature is supported with AM3 CPU only, and in addition, not every AM3

CPU can support this function because some CPU’s hidden core may be

malfunctioned.
Click to expand...
 
lifeblood said:
This is good to know. However, I would want to hear from someone who's done it. It was an ASROCK tech that warned me about needing an 800 series board to unlock Penom/Athlon II CPUs. Hopefully they (and I) are wrong and it can unlock cores.
Click to expand...

I know that the unlocking capabilities are from the 800 chipset and not exclusively to the 800 chipset.

Depends on how he said it hehehh.
 
Personally I'd wait for BD to be released/reviewed/benchmarked. The motherboard itself isn't worth the incremental improvement if BD flops.
 
Interesting... I previously heard rumors that the FX-series would be unlockable. I wonder if this has changed... I was under the impression that the 900-series chipset was essentially an 800 re-badge.
 
^^^^^^

The above 2. The 900 series chipsets only added SLI support to the BIOS and a few electrial tweaks to allow 8 core BD chips.

I would not invest in a new 990?X motherboard until after BD is released and benchmarks are available.

From what I understand the successor to BD which arrives in 2012 will not even be AM3+ it will be something like socket FM2 so you will be buying a new motherboard anyways for any future AMD CPU's.
 
nenforcer said:
^^^^^^

The above 2. The 900 series chipsets only added SLI support to the BIOS and a few electrial tweaks to allow 8 core BD chips.

I would not invest in a new 990?X motherboard until after BD is released and benchmarks are available.

From what I understand the successor to BD which arrives in 2012 will not even be AM3+ it will be something like socket FM2 so you will be buying a new motherboard anyways for any future AMD CPU's.
Click to expand...

Yes that I know. But lets say I upgrade to BD when it comes out in 2011 (?). Socket FM2, I hope, won't be available a couple months later but at least 1 year later. If BD is a power house than FM2 won't be that tempting if BD, like SB, performs awesomely.

But your advice is good. Waiting for BD to release and see some benches is the wisest way to go.

I might as well do that.
 
Rhezuss said:
Yes that I know. But lets say I upgrade to BD when it comes out in 2011 (?). Socket FM2, I hope, won't be available a couple months later but at least 1 year later. If BD is a power house than FM2 won't be that tempting if BD, like SB, performs awesomely.

But your advice is good. Waiting for BD to release and see some benches is the wisest way to go.

I might as well do that.
Click to expand...

I'm waiting for BD to be released with benchmarks,if its not good then I'm going z68 with 2500k,I can't lose really since I'm upgrading from AMD socket 939 😉.

FM2 is more then few months away and to be honest you don't know how long that will last,could be FM3,FM4 down the road 😕
 
blckgrffn said:
As far as we know, AM3+ until FM2. Just got this guy today:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128519

Seems like a really nice motherboard, putting a used $80 Phenom 2 945 in it for my wifes upgrade from her Kuma core duallie. If BD isn't great on launch I'll find one used after folks jump to FM2 😉
Click to expand...

Yeah. I've been looking at the 990x or 970 and they look nice for the price. Cool features and all. The 990x is more tempting since I think in my next build i'm gonna try for the first time a CF or SLI setup since the 560 Ti that I have is doing the job.

But, looking at the soon to be release HD 7xxx Radeons...I think it's gonna be my next buy.
 
I would wait. AM3+ is end of life with the first gen BD chips. It would be different if they wernt going to FM2 right away then getting a board now might make sense but given all the issues AMD has been having with not being able to get BD out the door anywhere near on time i would assume its going to be dissapointing. So i would wait till the second gen FM2 BD's are out then make a decision then, at least you will have a brand new socket with a upgrade path if you wait for FM2.

If you must buy right now It makes alot more sense to go with 1155, it has a clear upgrade path to ivy bridge and ill eat my hat if ivy doesnt walk all over first gen BD.
 
I would wait as well, if bd is a flop then you are stuck with the mobo. If bd is good then you will get a cheaper price as board prices go down over time.
 
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