Which mobo for 7750 Kuma?

[way2fast91]

For all you Inteloids, I am considering an Intel platform as well, but for the sake of this thread I would like to focus on AMD platforms (AM2+). You can see in my sig what I currently run, the most current game I have is Fallout 3, but planning to get left 4 dead and a couple other new titles soon. I am going to purchase a new monitor ~22"-24" widescreen as currently I am gaming on my 61" Samsung hdtv. Budget is a concern as my wife will only let me "waste" so much $. I recently upgraded the GPU to the 4830, but when I overclock it to 690/1190 which overdrive recommended for me, Fallout 3 appeared to be artifacting(?, large white bloches everywhere) so I had to turn it down manually to 600/1050 and this seems to work well. I'm guessing my cpu/memory/mobo is bottlenecking the games currently. Parts I am currently looking at:

CPU- 7750 Kuma
Memory- 4GB (2x2) OCZ Reaper 1066 MHz
MoBo- ASUS M3A78-T or BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+

Any thoughts on the choices I have for motherboards? I am wanting something with 2 PCI-e slots (possible crossfire in the future), very reliable, could eventually upgrade cpu to Phenom or PHII(maybe?).

Keep in mind that I do not overclock my cpu's at all currently and if I do it will be very conservative. I am wanting to keep it cheap, around $200- 300 for the parts and $200 for the new monitor.

Your advice is appreciated.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Lookee here ---> Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4

 

[way2fast91]

booboo,

I notice you recommended that board to someone else considering a 9850 or 920 or some similar cpu, so I took a closer look at it. Is there any benefit to having onboard video other than to use it when between gpu's or something? I mean can it be used to boost or supplement primary gpu performance or must you disable it to use primary gpu? I always avoided integrated video in the past as it was usually a waste of time, however with the need for multiple rigs in my house now (other than just a primary gaming rig) the idea seems to carry more weight now. Moving this board to a secondary system in the future wouldn't require another gpu be installed.

 

[heyheybooboo]

No doubt integrated video can be a benefit but the future addition of a discreet solution would most likely be cheaper and more capable.

A Radeon HD 4350 is around $30 and would exceed the capability of the on board Radeon 3300 (which is a die-shunk Radeon HD 2400xt).

Don't let me talk you out of it I'm an IGP fan. The Gigabyte 790x just saves you $25 over the Asus 790gx but comes at the price of no on board graphics.

And as you note - there are discreet cards that will work with the on board IGP in tandem or 'Hybrid' function (and the HD 4350 may well be one of them). The tech is somewhat in its infancy, choices for discreet cards in Hybrid are limited, and performance returns have not been all that great (though I imagine that will change for the better in the future).

 

[thegypsylord]

I have almost the exact rig you were describing, (see sig) and lemee tell you...for less than $400 I have one hell of a gaming rig. I have been an AMD baby for years, and this thing is an overclocker's heaven. I currently have it to 3.1 Ghz (stock speed is 2.7) and I could prolly squeeze a little more out of it. From white I have read in the white papers, this thing is actually a quad core with two cores gated off. This increased L2 really makes a difference. The Asus M3a78 does have onboard graphics, but it uses crossfire in some way with the onboard and a graphics card...this is built into the board, so no need for two cards. I get about a 20 percent increase in framerate over the card alone with te crossfire enabled. While two cards will give better results, I am saving the cost of a second card and the premium of 2 PCI-x x16 slots. I highly recomend the Kuma and the ASUS board.