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Help me decide between 2 boards

post #1 of 11
Thread Starter 
I can get either of these two:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A97/#specifications

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3908#ov

It will be paired with a Phenom II 965 and 16GB of DDR3 (2x8, with possibly another 2 sticks in the future).

Only mild overclocks (possibly running the CPU at 4GHz). Which one would be better? The Gigabyte one is cheaper over here.
Magicbox
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
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Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
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Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
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Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
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100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
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6 cell 
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Magicbox
(18 items)
 
crapbox
(13 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
CoolingOSOSMonitor
Artic Cooling Twin Turbo II Kubuntu  Windows 7 Ultimate  Acer 21.5 S220HQL (1920 x 1080) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
Power
6 cell 
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post #2 of 11
The Asus one.
AMD RIG
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2 SAMSUNG 830 256gb SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 2TB LITE-ON Black Blu-ray/DVD Burner Combo CORSAIR H100 with 2 AP-29 
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AMD RIG
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2 SAMSUNG 830 256gb SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 2TB LITE-ON Black Blu-ray/DVD Burner Combo CORSAIR H100 with 2 AP-29 
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post #3 of 11
With a mild overclock in mind, save some money and go for the Gigabyte one which is just as good quality wise and will do your biding just as well.
BitofHeaven
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GreenLee
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Intel Core i5-3570K ASRock Z77E-ITX mITX  Sapphire HD 5970 OC G.SKILL Ripjaws 2X4GB DDR3-1600 
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Crucial SSD 128GB mSATA SATA III 6GB  Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATAII 32MB 7200RPM LG DVD R/W SATA with LightScribe Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100 
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Win 7 Professional x64bit Samsung SynchMaster 24" Widescreen TFT-LCD Logitech G15 Corsair AX850 Gold Fully Modular 
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BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ATX Black  Microsoft Sidewinder X5 Redmond Mouse Pad Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 
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Intel i5 750 @4.0GHz - 1.325V Gigabyte P55 UD3R Galaxy 8800 GT OC G. Skills Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600MHz 
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Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATAII 32MB 720... LG DVD R/W SATA Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 Win 7 Professional x64bit 
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Samsung 22" Widescreen TFT-LCD Logitech Deluxe 250 Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 
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Logitech MX 518 
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Intel Core 2 Quad 6600  Motherboard: XFX 780i SLI Galaxy 8800 GT OC OCZ Reaper HPC SLI DDR2 1066MHz 2GB Kit 
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BitofHeaven
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Sarabera
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GreenLee
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Intel Core i5-3570K ASRock Z77E-ITX mITX  Sapphire HD 5970 OC G.SKILL Ripjaws 2X4GB DDR3-1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Crucial SSD 128GB mSATA SATA III 6GB  Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATAII 32MB 7200RPM LG DVD R/W SATA with LightScribe Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win 7 Professional x64bit Samsung SynchMaster 24" Widescreen TFT-LCD Logitech G15 Corsair AX850 Gold Fully Modular 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ATX Black  Microsoft Sidewinder X5 Redmond Mouse Pad Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i5 750 @4.0GHz - 1.325V Gigabyte P55 UD3R Galaxy 8800 GT OC G. Skills Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600MHz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATAII 32MB 720... LG DVD R/W SATA Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H50 Win 7 Professional x64bit 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Samsung 22" Widescreen TFT-LCD Logitech Deluxe 250 Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 
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Logitech MX 518 
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Intel Core 2 Quad 6600  Motherboard: XFX 780i SLI Galaxy 8800 GT OC OCZ Reaper HPC SLI DDR2 1066MHz 2GB Kit 
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Western Digital Caviar 500GB SATAII 7200RPM Samsung Super Writer Master Thermaltake Max Orb Win Vista 32bit 
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post #4 of 11
Thread Starter 
Looking at pictures it seems that the NB heatsink on the Gigabyte may interfere with my AC Freezer 13 Pro.
Magicbox
(18 items)
 
crapbox
(13 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
CoolingOSOSMonitor
Artic Cooling Twin Turbo II Kubuntu  Windows 7 Ultimate  Acer 21.5 S220HQL (1920 x 1080) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
Power
6 cell 
  hide details  
Reply
Magicbox
(18 items)
 
crapbox
(13 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
CoolingOSOSMonitor
Artic Cooling Twin Turbo II Kubuntu  Windows 7 Ultimate  Acer 21.5 S220HQL (1920 x 1080) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
Power
6 cell 
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post #5 of 11
go with the Asus, it looks to have better heatsink placement and cooling anyways and some nice features i.e thier UEFI BIOS...
Edited by stubass - 11/9/12 at 12:29pm
 
Wife's Rig
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i7-3770k Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Asus HD7950 DCII Summer has killed my OC :( G.Skill TridentX 2400 2 x 4GB 
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Samsung 830 128GB Plextor M5p 128GB 2 x WD 500GB Blues LG 
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Prolimatech Megahalems Rev C Arctic F12 CO PWM x 2 Push/Pull Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate LG IPS235V 
PowerCase
Corsair AX850 Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (Asia version) 
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I5-3570K Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 MSI GTX460 Cyclone 1GD5 8GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Crucial M4 64GB WD black 500GB Liteon Coolermaster Hyper 212+ EVO 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Win 7 ultimate Samsung Syncmaster 932gwe+ OCZ ZT series 550W Coolermaster 410 
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
1.67Ghz Atom stock 1GB DDR2 2 x 500GB Western Digital Cavier Blacks [RAID 1] 
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stock DSM3.2 [built on linux] stock stock 
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Synology DX510 Expansion unit 5 x 1TB WD Cavier Blacks in a RAID 6 
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Wife's Rig
(12 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7-3770k Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Asus HD7950 DCII Summer has killed my OC :( G.Skill TridentX 2400 2 x 4GB 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveOptical Drive
Samsung 830 128GB Plextor M5p 128GB 2 x WD 500GB Blues LG 
CoolingCoolingOSMonitor
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev C Arctic F12 CO PWM x 2 Push/Pull Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate LG IPS235V 
PowerCase
Corsair AX850 Coolermaster HAF 912 advanced (Asia version) 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
I5-3570K Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 MSI GTX460 Cyclone 1GD5 8GB G.Skill RipjawsX 1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Crucial M4 64GB WD black 500GB Liteon Coolermaster Hyper 212+ EVO 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Win 7 ultimate Samsung Syncmaster 932gwe+ OCZ ZT series 550W Coolermaster 410 
CPUMotherboardRAMHard Drive
1.67Ghz Atom stock 1GB DDR2 2 x 500GB Western Digital Cavier Blacks [RAID 1] 
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stock DSM3.2 [built on linux] stock stock 
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Synology DX510 Expansion unit 5 x 1TB WD Cavier Blacks in a RAID 6 
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post #6 of 11
get the asus
post #7 of 11
Id recommend you get the M5A97 EVO rather than just the M5A97. The 6+2 vrm on the EVO will give you much better headroom for overclocking, and its only slightly more expensive.
    
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post #8 of 11
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately PC hardware her is overpriced as hell (heh, $200 for a HD7770). Those are the only viable options.
Magicbox
(18 items)
 
crapbox
(13 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
CoolingOSOSMonitor
Artic Cooling Twin Turbo II Kubuntu  Windows 7 Ultimate  Acer 21.5 S220HQL (1920 x 1080) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
Power
6 cell 
  hide details  
Reply
Magicbox
(18 items)
 
crapbox
(13 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II 965 Asus M5A97 HD6850 Kingston DDR3  
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Samsung DVD-RW SH-S203N Thermaltake Frio 
CoolingOSOSMonitor
Artic Cooling Twin Turbo II Kubuntu  Windows 7 Ultimate  Acer 21.5 S220HQL (1920 x 1080) 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Generic MS Keyboard (Black) Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W Cooler Master HAF 912 Generic optical mouse (Black) 
Mouse PadAudio
Some no-name thing I got at Fry's Xonar DS 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Sempron 3300+ HP stock mobo (laptop) 200M (IGP) 2x1GB PC3200 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
100GB ATA133 DVD/CDRW Kubuntu 32 bit 14.1" (1280x768) 
Power
6 cell 
  hide details  
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post #9 of 11
yea the power phase is the first thing i looked at.. while i dont have experience with those boards ii have used a few of the asrock 970 boards and found them quite stable with good features for the price.. soory i dont know if they are available over there or the price. good luck either way.

one thing that i found that made a huge difference in my computing experience is a ssd drive.. again price in your area.. hopefully someday that will change. ;>

I was browsing walmart ad today with pre black friday deals and they had a 7770 mispriced for 479.00 I hope some poor sap didnt buy one. I emailed them.
anyway good luck!
sunset1
Edited by sunset1 - 11/10/12 at 8:10am
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wd black 1 terra wd black 1 terra corsair 256gig ssd external usb3 wd 3 terra 
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blu-ray burner Thermaltake water 2.0 Extreme (cpu) Thermaltake water 2.0 pro 2gpu 1clc with corsai... windows7 home pro 
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samsung T260 25" ms gamer  Seasonic 750x gold Coolermaster Haf 22 Modified 
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SunsetGrill
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AMD FX-8120 SABERTOOTH 990FX AMD Radeon HD 6950 AMD Radeon HD 6950 
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Mushkin 2133 Mushkin 2133 Mushkin 2133 Mushkin 2133 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
wd black 1 terra wd black 1 terra corsair 256gig ssd external usb3 wd 3 terra 
Optical DriveCoolingCoolingOS
blu-ray burner Thermaltake water 2.0 Extreme (cpu) Thermaltake water 2.0 pro 2gpu 1clc with corsai... windows7 home pro 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
samsung T260 25" ms gamer  Seasonic 750x gold Coolermaster Haf 22 Modified 
MouseMouse PadAudioAudio
Logitech MX-518 Duh this is nonsence. belkin onboard but will install sb titanium logitech 5.1 thx 
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post #10 of 11

The later revs of the 970A-D3 have VRM cooling, if it eases your choice. The original M5A97 does not have Vishera FX support. Take a 970A-D3 and ask the retailer to get you a rev 1.3, 1.4 or (preferably, as it has UEFI) 3.0.

Hexagonal
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Voyager [XT875]
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Voyager [XT875]
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