Motherboard for Phenom II X3 720-build?

[oseven]

All other components I can grasp, if I spend enough time reading tech-articles, but motherboards are dang difficult.

I am a gamer, so as I understand it, my money is better spent on GPU, memory etc., than on the motherboard - so the exercise is choosing the exact motherboard that won't inhibit performance from the rest of my rig.

But the articles often seem to praise motherboards for their ability to overclock, sli/crossfire-compatibility and for compatibility with future CPU's. These are all qualities, that I don't care about: I don't (i.e. know how to) OC, I'm probably never going to try sli/crossfire, and when I do upgrade my CPU, I upgrade my motherboard at the same time.

As I recall, last time at built a rig, I ended up throwing (too much?) money at a motherboard, because I couldn't figure out what I needed.

I'm planning on an Antec P182 case, with a CPU Phenom II X3 720 BE and GPU probably an overclocked radeon 4870, maybe a 4890.

Memory comes after the motherboard. I understand that the motherboard dictates whether the memory should be DDR2 or 3, but the differences & advantages between the two is - at least for the moment - confusing to me.

Any tips on what I need? Maybe pointers to any up-to-date "motherboards-for-dummies"-articles?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Bandit1]

Performance gains from ddr3 are minimal,but if i was starting fresh i would get an am3 motherboard for that 720.The benefit there is being platform ready for a future AMD cpu upgrade.It would be cheaper in the long run to do it this way.

You could get something not too fancy smancy such as my board,which is a biostar TA790gx a2+.It's been very solid,can oc some if you want in the future very easily with that chip plus i got lucky and the 4th core of the 720 works fine.Check out some of biostars other offerings for a price/performace ratio that is hard to beat.I know i did'nt answer your questions in full,but i hope it helps.

 

[fijianalky86]

your best bet is too go with a DDR3 board for future upgradability..i would've done the same if i saved enough to buy all my hardware at once...

thats one of the cons of upgrading-by-parts so they work with your current config and than getting other things later

 

[oseven]

Hey guys - thanks for the input!

So a 790gx-type-motherboard would be the way to go? In the couple of stores I'm looking to spend my money, I don't see a Biostar-board - although I see a couple of MSI 790gx-boards, which brings me to a few follow-up questions, regarding the difference between

this board (790GX-G65): http://eu.msi.com/index.php?fu..._no=&prod_no=1739#menu

and this board (KA790GX): http://eu.msi.com/index.php?fu..._no=&prod_no=1612#menu

Q1: So the 790gx-G65 is an AM3 board, which *brain-cells grinding* fits with... Phenom II? And the KA790GX-AM2+ fits with Phenom? (It gets a little more confusing, as the AM2+-board is listed as ready for use with AM3-CPU's?)

Q2. The 790gx-G65 is - unlike the KA790gx - a DDR3-memory board, but I take it, that a DDR3-mem-board also works with DDR2?

I'm getting there - any help is, as always, appreciated greatly

 

[o1die]

Ddr3 and ddr2 don't mix. They have different voltage requirements, and the notches are offset differently. If you go with a ddr3 board, newegg has some ocz 2x1 gig sticks for $14.99 after rebate.

 

[jandlecack]

AM2+ boards can be equipped with the new Phenom II processors even if they are AM3 by nature, since they maintain backwards compatibility to AM2+. The specific CPU compatibility depends on the BIOS as well, which usually there are updates for.

However, as already addressed, do yourself a favour and get an AM3 motherboard and DDR3 memory (as DDR2 won't work with a DDR3-only motherboard).