# Help me choose a motherboard?



## prankie (Nov 3, 2011)

Hi, I want to purchase a new motherboard for my existing system. 
Budget: 4-5.5k
Platform: AMD
My current cpu is Phenom II 550BE (AM3) I need a system which is compatible with AM3 as well as AM3+, also I need a board which is good for gaming. I have radeon 6850.
Also it should support USB3 and fastest memory speed.
Please give your suggestions. and also recommend from where should I buy it.. btw, I stay at pune..


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## Cilus (Nov 3, 2011)

Get the Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 @ 4.8K. It is based on Am3+ socket,  supports all the current gen Phenom II processors as well as the FX series processors.


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## prankie (Nov 4, 2011)

^^^^
This is a micro ATX form factor board right.. so i guess it will have issues with my existing cpu cooler (hyper 212plus) right??  btw i liked the asus M5A97, for how much can I get it?


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 4, 2011)

prankie said:


> ^^^^
> so i guess it will have issues with my existing cpu cooler (hyper 212plus) right??



Who told u that that & why
The mb that cilus suggested is the best vfm MB u can find for AM3+


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## prankie (Nov 4, 2011)

I said this because even in my existing motherboard which is a full ATX I have hard time taking out RAM from first 2 slots when there are Fans placed on the cooler on both the sides..


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## Cilus (Nov 4, 2011)

This problem is not due to Motherboard form-factor but because of Ram slot placements. Even in highend motherboards like Asus Sabertooth, if a big CPU cooler is placed, big sized Ram modules like Corsair Vengenace cannot be placed in the 1st socket, near to the CPU.

Get the mobo I've suggested, getting a Full ATX mobo won't solve the problem you have specified.


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## prankie (Nov 4, 2011)

@cilus
Thanks for your suggestion.. can you also tell me from where can I buy this board? because I'm new to pune.. so I will prefer buying it online where I can get it at the most reasonable price..


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 4, 2011)

^^ u can get it from here its a trusted site
Buy Gigabyte | Gigabyte motherboard in India | Gigabyte GA 880GM USB3 Motherboard


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## prankie (Nov 6, 2011)

Thanks Cilus and Mithun for your suggestions
finally bought the gigabyte board from primeabgb online.


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## Skyh3ck (Nov 7, 2011)

You must post Pics and a littel bit of review.....


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 7, 2011)

prankie said:


> Thanks Cilus and Mithun for your suggestions
> finally bought the gigabyte board from primeabgb online.



congrats mate good choice


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## Cilus (Nov 7, 2011)

prankie said:


> Thanks Cilus and Mithun for your suggestions
> finally bought the gigabyte board from primeabgb online.


Congratulation for your purchase. Don't forget to post some pics.


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## whitestar_999 (Nov 7, 2011)

the description on primeabgb site is for GA-880GM-USB3 (rev. 1.x) & not the superior AM3+ ready GA-880GM-USB3 (rev. 3.1). this is why people should not take advice on net without research.


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## Cilus (Nov 7, 2011)

As per my knowledge, SMC is keeping the Rev 3.1 version of this motherboard. Here is the Link: Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 7, 2011)

no way can anyone make out the revision form the pics or the data mentioned in the site the buyer himself to confirm it from the vendor if it has the black AM3+ socket


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## DARK KNIGHT (Nov 7, 2011)

+1 for cilus bcse he is always right


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## Cilus (Nov 7, 2011)

DARK KNIGHT said:


> +1 for cilus bcse he is always right



Arrey, it is nothing like that. One forum member (can't remember his name), after our suggestion, mailed SMC to verify the revision number. SMC verified that Rev 3.1 is writted over the box and confirmed him.

I think prankie should do the same before making his purchase; Mail the shortlisted online shops about the revision number and let them confirm. Then he does not have to rely on our guess work.


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## prankie (Nov 7, 2011)

Just called primeabgb, they said that the motherboad is Rev 2.1 
How good is it? they have not yet dispatched the order.. should i tell them to hold?


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 7, 2011)

^^ there is no 2.1 revision of the MB there is only 1.X & 3.1 ask them whether the cpu socket is black or white if it is black then it will support AM3+


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## prankie (Nov 7, 2011)

he said that it will support new amd fx processors... !
will call him again..


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## prankie (Nov 7, 2011)

primeabgb have removed the product page from their site.. dunno why??!


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## d6bmg (Nov 7, 2011)

prankie said:


> primeabgb have removed the product page from their site.. dunno why??!



Most probably its not there in there stock, all products were sold already.


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## Cilus (Nov 7, 2011)

Better ask SMC regarding the information about the board. It is still present in their web site.


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## prankie (Nov 8, 2011)

thats not an opiton, as i already placed the order on saturday evening along with MX-2 thermal paste.. they'll be dispatching the package today i suppose...


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## d6bmg (Nov 9, 2011)

^^ from where are you buying these? which online store/?


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## prankie (Nov 10, 2011)

Finally got my motherboard yesterday by Fedex.. Thanks to all the members for helping me out.. 
Uploading few pics of the board, will assemble it later when I return from office..

*img546.imageshack.us/img546/7103/dsc0268small.jpg
*img440.imageshack.us/img440/9439/dsc0269small.jpg
*img51.imageshack.us/img51/9922/dsc0270small.jpg
*img88.imageshack.us/img88/8348/dsc0271small.jpg
*img411.imageshack.us/img411/7449/dsc0272small.jpg
*img848.imageshack.us/img848/7915/dsc0273small.jpg

btw, I got it from primeabgb and its Rev 3.0


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 10, 2011)

congrats yes its the one


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## Cilus (Nov 10, 2011)

Congrats prankie on your purchase. Yes it is the Rev 3.1 mobo and an AM3+ one. REally gr8 board.


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## prankie (Nov 10, 2011)

@cilus, mithun,

While installing the board in my cabinet, when i touched the heatsink (Blue one) which has Turbo3D written over it, I found that it was not fixed to the board, like it was slipping over the board.. so will I have to take out the heatsink and apply the thermal paste, or will it settle gradually with heat once the system starts running?
btw, the system boots perfectly with no problem whatsoever, I have not yet installed the OS.. also the BIOS is a bit old fashioned..


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## Skud (Nov 10, 2011)

That is the NB heatsink. I think it's held in place by 2 white plastic screws. In any case, it should not be slipping over. What temps are you getting btw?


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 10, 2011)

@prankie that is ok don't worry no need to remove it since is fixed by the plastic screws it will slip a little either side i have seen other boards installed with same mechanism do

go ahead & install the os


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## Skud (Nov 10, 2011)

Can't remember if the 880GM-UD2H in my parent's PC do the same. Both the boards look same btw.


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## d6bmg (Nov 10, 2011)

prankie said:


> Finally got my motherboard yesterday by Fedex.. Thanks to all the members for helping me out..
> Uploading few pics of the board, will assemble it later when I return from office..
> 
> 
> ...



congrats on your purchase!!


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## prankie (Nov 11, 2011)

Had a hard time installing OS in the system, firstly in the setup windows wont identify any of the hdd in RAID 0 setup!! then when I tried installing on normal native IDE mode then the OS would identify only one of my 2 hdd!! and when I continued further with the installation, it would give error that "windows cannot install in this partition check setup log" and blah blah...
everything got fine when I removed one of my hdd from the board.. finished win 7 installation, now came another problem.. out of my 500gb i allocated 80 gb for windows and left rest as unallocated space. Remaining space was partitioned by me in 2 equal parts (un-formatted), in windows I formatted first partition, it went without any hiccup, but when the turn came of second partition it failed to quick format.. so I started complete format and have left the system idle.. the other hdd is left unconnected..  I hope by the time I reach home, everything works out..

btw, does connecting hdd's sata connection to different sata port makes a difference in their behavior?? sorry for the noob question, I have been away from the tech domain for a while so my knowledge has faded a bit...


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 11, 2011)

change it to achi mode from native ide mode in the bios


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## Cilus (Nov 11, 2011)

^^ Mithun, after installing the OS in IDE mode, changing it to AHCI mode won't work. The system will fail to boot if the setup is changed to AHCI mode. You need to install OS after selecting the HDD to AHCI mode.

prankie, it looks like that your HDD has some bad sectors and that's why complete system format or low level format is required.


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## prankie (Nov 11, 2011)

Advantages of AHCI over IDE?? is it worth another re-install?


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 11, 2011)

switching from ide to achi  will cause 0x7B bsod in xp but i am not sure about win7 anyway there is no harm in trying try it & let us know 
@prankie read this
AHCI vs IDE â€“ Benchmark & Advantage « Expertester


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## DARK KNIGHT (Nov 11, 2011)

congrats u got the same board which i have . nice pics buddy.


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## prankie (Nov 12, 2011)

Finally system is all set..  all games are running fine and the second hdd is also working perfectly.. but I'm loosing 240GB of first hard drive which is not getting formatted even after deep format from windows! please recommend a s/w for cleaning bad sectors and deep formatting.?


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## mithun_mrg (Nov 12, 2011)

backup u r data & perfom a low level format/zero fill drive using seatools


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