still mulling over which AM3 chipset to get

[midnight growler]

So as I get closer to having enough money to buy a new system, I've been thinking more and more about what motherboard I really need for my situation and what I can do without.

I want a good gaming system (regular ATX) so I'm going with a Phenom II 955 cpu paired with a 4890 video card. I'm not interested in Crossfire as that would require me to get a new power supply

Is there any reason for me to go with a 790x-based motherboard over a 770 or a 785 version? I don't know anything about overclocking now, but if its easy enough with ACC or AMD's OverDrive (junkies, please try to hold back your cringing).

Or am I just looking at differences between the number of sata ports and onboard raid offerings?

 

[Spydermag68]

GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P AM3 DDR3 I just bought this motherboard. It has not arrived yet, but it made it to Kansas.

 

[midnight growler]

And that would be the one chipset I know I am NOT going to get

Even if I were to get a Crossfire system set up, the dual PCI-E slots at 16x wouldn't really do anything noticeable and while it does overclock nicely, I'll never OC it that far to warrant it over a 790x.

 

[dennilfloss]

Guess that leaves my mainboard off your choices too.

 

[Leyawiin]

From what I've read from reviews the performance difference (stock) in the various AM3 chipsets are very minor. About the only thing you get for extra $$ are more features. I got an ASUS M4A79T Deluxe, but only because Newegg "made me a offer I couldn't refuse" with a combo deal with an X4 955. It was $315 for the two (in July). If you aren't going to go multi GPU, you might as well go cheap. If I hadn't gotten such a good deal on the ASUS I would have just gotten a 770 board.

 

[nenforcer]

Well I would go with Spydermag68's recommendation because the 790FX boards tend to keep their value better when the time comes to sell them. Having the dual x16 crossfire helps.

However, if your budget limited then I would recommend the 785G DDR3 boards over any other choice since they are AMD's latest chipset, with the Radeon 4200 DX10.1 on board graphics and SB710 southbridge.

As long as you get an AM3 DDR3 board you should have good longevity but only the 790FX "Dragon" platform will retain much resale value.