[Alastair]

Hi guys as the title states i am looking for a bit of input on this. I currently have an MSI 990FXA-GD65. But I am thinking of replacing it with the Asus M5A990FX PRO R2.0. The reason being is that the MSI board is having major voltage drop and fluctuations when i attempt to overclock my FX8320. The question that I can't seem to find the answer to is I dont know if this is a good board. The reviews are good but I would like feedback from people who have combined this board with an FX processor. Also the phase designs on the MSI and ASUS boards are difderent. MSI 8+2 vs. ASUS 6+2+2. Whats the difference here?

 

[nakoni47]

I recently purchased this combo to replace a failed x58 asus sabertooth board with a w3520 (i7 920 equivalent).

Right now I have the Fx8320 running at 4.6 still working on the voltage to achieve the best stability. I am using an XSPC EX360 D5 vario kit to keep things cool. I have not had any issues regarding the setup. As far as the power setup I haven't had any issues. I followed the Piledriver and Bulldozer OC and adjusted all necessary settings. Let me know if there is anything more specific that you are wanting to know.

My System:
MSI Twin FROZR III 7950
ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0
AMD FX 8320 (@ 4.6)
8GB (2 x 4GB) Gskill Ares 1866 @ 9-10-9-28
Corsair AX 1200

 

[Alastair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nakoni47

I recently purchased this combo to replace a failed x58 asus sabertooth board with a w3520 (i7 920 equivalent).

Right now I have the Fx8320 running at 4.6 still working on the voltage to achieve the best stability. I am using an XSPC EX360 D5 vario kit to keep things cool. I have not had any issues regarding the setup. As far as the power setup I haven't had any issues. I followed the Piledriver and Bulldozer OC and adjusted all necessary settings. Let me know if there is anything more specific that you are wanting to know.

My System:
MSI Twin FROZR III 7950
ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0
AMD FX 8320 (@ 4.6)
8GB (2 x 4GB) Gskill Ares 1866 @ 9-10-9-28
Corsair AX 1200

Thanks man I will keep in touch. I have ordered the board with some 2133MHz Corsair vengeance and look forward to trying this board out. My main gripe with the MSI board was the fact that it had no LLC. So my overclocks start falling over at higher voltage settings....

 

[nakoni47]

Was able to keep stable @ 4.7 on prime small FFT for just over 6 hours until a rounding error came up. bumping voltages on Vcore and NB and testing again.

 

[Alastair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nakoni47

Was able to keep stable @ 4.7 on prime small FFT for just over 6 hours until a rounding error came up. bumping voltages on Vcore and NB and testing again.

What batch is your FX-8320 from? mine is batch 1320. I was struggling toreach 4.7 on 1.6v. But I think it is because this MSI board has no LLC and so voltage delivery is not stable.

 

[nakoni47]

Didn't bother checking, was too anxious to get my computer up and running. I'll have to check so I can reapply better thermal paste.

 

[Alastair]

Ha ha, I just gave you an excuse to redo thermal paste. I can't wait to get this board! I was a little anxious about only having 6 phases to the processor. But this is an ASUS board. They most likely got less, high quality VRM's rather than some other manufactures preferred "Lot's of not so good quality VRM's". I really cant wait! I hope this board can take my 8320 to 5GHz !

 

[Alastair]

Well I got the board.... And just opening it up and looking at it. It just "feels" so much better than the MSI boards I have owned. I am not saying that MSI boards are bad by any means, It's just that the ASUS board has that extra "something". I really look forward to firing this baby up and cranking up the clocks. My fears have been laid to rest about the 6+2+2 phase design vs. the 8+2 phase design on the MSI. Because the ASUS board, even though slightly cheaper than a Sabertooth or a Crosshair, still oozes quality!

 

[South80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alastair

Well I got the board.... And just opening it up and looking at it. It just "feels" so much better than the MSI boards I have owned

I cant comment on the quality of msi but i got that same feeling when i got my m5a99x evo (990x version). Its heavy and extremely solid.

You wont have any troubles getting the most out of an 8 core with that board trust me

 

[Alastair]

Here are some pics of my new kit! This board is awesome!







Any way. Got some advice on the plethora of BIOS settings this thing has?

 

[nakoni47]

Pics look awesome. What XSPC Kit is that?? I have the ex360, thinking about adding another rad and cooling the GPU as well.

 

[Alastair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nakoni47

Pics look awesome. What XSPC Kit is that?? I have the ex360, thinking about adding another rad and cooling the GPU as well.

Its an EX280. I plan on adding my 2 GPU's to the loop, putting a an EX360mm rad on the top and moving the 280mm to the bottom.

 

[Alastair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nakoni47

Pics look awesome. What XSPC Kit is that?? I have the ex360, thinking about adding another rad and cooling the GPU as well.

Its an EX280. I plan on adding my 2 GPU's to the loop, putting a an EX360mm rad on the top and moving the 280mm to the bottom.