[Imglidinhere]

I've got a client that is looking for a reliable AM3+ board that doesn't have any of the issues he's faced with the Asus M5A97 Rev 2.0. Namely, the sata ports are failing on almost every other motherboard he's worked with as in, they BSOD randomly then reboot to BIOS and won't work unless they're shut down, purged of power and rebooted from a cold state. He's tired of this issue and wants a new set of machines. This is where I need help.

Give me a general price bracket where reliability is best with the budget say... $100 or less? I haven't been given a budget, but he needs AMD for various reasons and they're cheaper to purchase. No games. Needs onboard video capabilities. No APUs either. Needs to be AM3+.

 

[WizardontheJob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imglidinhere

Namely, the sata ports are failing on almost every other motherboard he's worked with

Sounds like the motherboard may not be the problem...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.97 @ OutletPC)
Total: $99.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-04 09:33 EST-0500

 

[Erick Silver]

If he has been through other motherboards and getting the same issue, its not a motherboard issue. Might be a bad SATA cable or a bad HDD.

 

[Undervolter]

In AM3+ you basically don't have onboard video capabilities, unless you go to mATX and older chips where you don't have SATA 3, but only SATA2. With one exception (Asrock 970M Pro), but i wouldn't consider it an example of reliability.

Cheapest and best mATX structurally out there:

- Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 (760g chipset, SATA2, USB3, onboard video)

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga78lmtusb3

- Intermediate price, full ATX, no onboard video 970 chipset Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P.

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

- Higher price, already posted above.

 

[warpuck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undervolter

In AM3+ you basically don't have onboard video capabilities, unless you go to mATX and older chips where you don't have SATA 3, but only SATA2. With one exception (Asrock 970M Pro), but i wouldn't consider it an example of reliability.

Cheapest and best mATX structurally out there:

- Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 (760g chipset, SATA2, USB3, onboard video)

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga78lmtusb3

- Intermediate price, full ATX, no onboard video 970 chipset Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P.

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

- Higher price, already posted above.

A 95 watt FX is okay on a GA-78LMT-USB 3 and it has onboard video. Not for use as a game machine. I sold one with a 960T in it running at 3.5 GHz. No customer complaints.

 

[jsc1973]

If you have to have AM3+ and you have to have onboard video, that GA-78LMT-USB3 is the way to go. They're dirt cheap these days, and reliable as long as you don't stick 8-series FX chips into them and try to overclock. Use 95W or below chips and it's bulletproof. Giga's been making them for years as the go-to board for Micro ATX on AMD FX.