Which motherboard should I get for my FX 6300?

[jason5220]

After much debate I decided on FX 6300 over the i3. And I am going to OC the FX6300 I think this would make a better deal. One board is $80 the other is $55

I never OC a CPU before and I would prefer something that's easy to do, if I OC it to run at 4.5 GHZ which is the target I am looking at, would I ever have to touch the settings to reduce it? meaning will it automatically downclock and save electricity while web browsing and reading on idle?

I just wanna set it up and not touch it again I will also use a Zalman 9500AT cooler that I have home. Will that do 4.5 GHZ?

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-DDR3...d=1440911399&sr=8-4&keywords=AM3++motherboard

or

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-M5A97-R2...&qid=1440900547&sr=8-2&keywords=970+amd+board

PS I also want a board that will hold up for 14 years. My country has summer everyday at 33 degree Celsius

 

[jason5220]

Another thing I want to know the Zalman cooler I have is about 6 years old, how long can I expect the fan to last on it? the fan never ran at full speed it was used on a old i3 first gen at stock speeds to do web browsing

There was never any heat infact for its life it was in Air Conditioning room which was cool.

 

[eton975]

Would get a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P. Great bang-for buck, good VRMs.

 

[jason5220]

^I dunno about that it has poorer reviews and its more expensive than the ASUS

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 looks fantastic for $79

 

[nenforcer]

Considering the AMD-FX 6300 is very similar to the older AMD Phenom ][ X6 Thuban chips @ 125W I think you will be fine with your Zalman CNPS9500 at 4.5 GHz which will probably put out similar heat and power requirements as the older .45nm Thuban did.

I also think going with the higher core count rather than the higher IPC of the Core i3 may prove beneficial once Windows 10 DirectX 12 games start rolling out.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Another thing I want to know the Zalman cooler I have is about 6 years old, how long can I expect the fan to last on it? the fan never ran at full speed it was used on a old i3 first gen at stock speeds to do web browsing

There was never any heat infact for its life it was in Air Conditioning room which was cool.

Not sure on the fan. You'd have to look up the model and try to find mtbf data on it. But you're right to be at least a little concerned. That being said, cheap-arsed stock HSF fans on Intel and AMD chips alike pretty-much run forever. If it were a 3000 rpm fan running balls-out 24/7 for years from a less-than-reputable manufacturer, then I'd worry.

As to whether or not the HSF is up to the task, try it and find out. If you can't hit 4.5 GHz with it, get a better HSF and try again.

Would get a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P. Great bang-for buck, good VRMs.

Agreed, that is a fine board. That is the best buy in 8+2 power phase territory you'll get for AM3+, barring eBay specials on 990FX boards.

^I dunno about that it has poorer reviews and its more expensive than the ASUS

ASUS M5A97 R2.0 looks fantastic for $79

Poorer reviews according to whom? That's only a 4+2 power phase board. It might do okay for 4.5 GHz, but the Gigabyte board is far more likely to get you there without headaches. It will also let you step up to something like an 8320e (which is a better buy than the 6300 in my opinion) with confidence.

If you want more than a 4+2 board from Asus, it gets a little expensive. The cheapest one I see on this particular list is the m5a99x Evo:

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#m=8&s=4&sort=a8&page=1

In contrast, the 970a-ud3p can be had for a mere $72 (plus shipping, if any) until Sept. 7th:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga970aud3p

 

[AtenRa]

I have the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 and it was fine with a 4.7GHz OC on the FX8350. It will be fine with the FX6300 at 4.8GHz easily.

Also the board supports the new -E series FX CPUs with BIOS 2501.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97_R20/HelpDesk_CPU/

 

[bononos]

After much debate I decided on FX 6300 over the i3. And I am going to OC the FX6300 I think this would make a better deal. One board is $80 the other is $55

I never OC a CPU before and I would prefer something that's easy to do, if I OC it to run at 4.5 GHZ which is the target I am looking at, would I ever have to touch the settings to reduce it? meaning will it automatically downclock and save electricity while web browsing and reading on idle?

......

PS I also want a board that will hold up for 14 years. My country has summer everyday at 33 degree Celsius

You must make sure cool n quiet is enabled so voltages will drop during idle, and theres probably several other things to check on the bios. If you want longevity, overclocking isn't the way to go. The cpu will degrade faster and you'll have to dial back the frequency or set it back to stock after a while.

And if you are concerned about power consumption, Intel is the better choice.

 

[rancherlee]

The Zalman should be enough, Mine keep my 8320 at decent temps at my current 4.5 @ 1.35v during gaming and such, it just couldn't handle a Prime 95 burn in and would push past 70*c after 10 minutes. Should be able to keep a 6300 well cool enough. I switched to an H90 CLC that I got a good deal on an it never pulls over 55*c in prime now. Also I'd opt for the Asus M5A99fxpro if its not too much more money, the 6+2 phase would provide plenty power for overclocking where as a cheaper 4 or 4+2 might be pushed pretty hard with a higher overclock if you decide to push it further than 4.5 later.

 

[Leyawiin]

I had an ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 paired with my FX-6300. One of the best motherboards I ever owned for the price. I was easily able to get to 4.5 Ghz on air cooling and I'm a pretty inept overclocker.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874

It has a capable power delivery system (6+2 digital)

 

[alexruiz]

Another vote for the GA-970A-UD3P.
In my opinion the best 970 chipset board.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I had an ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 paired with my FX-6300. One of the best motherboards I ever owned for the price. I was easily able to get to 4.5 Ghz on air cooling and I'm a pretty inept overclocker.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874

It has a capable power delivery system (6+2 digital)

That's a better board than what the OP mentioned, though.

I'd still go for the 970a-ud3p were I in his shoes. It's as cheap as the m5a97 Rev 2.0 and it has a better power phase layout, so why not? Only reason I'd pick an Asus board is if I insisted on running Linux . . .

 

[soccerballtux]

Would get a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P. Great bang-for buck, good VRMs.

I have that and like it as well, I chose it for same reasons. the r2.0 is pretty good but the VRMs overheat-- so do the Gigabytes' but that's life these days I shoe-goo'd a small fan on top and have been fine ever since. they do have the best heatsinks on top

 

[soccerballtux]

I have the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 and it was fine with a 4.7GHz OC on the FX8350. It will be fine with the FX6300 at 4.8GHz easily.

Also the board supports the new -E series FX CPUs with BIOS 2501.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97_R20/HelpDesk_CPU/

and still supplies wrong voltage on resume from suspend with a WOL packet.

my 8310 got 1.6v for a few seconds before I realized it