Hi-
I just received my parts a for a budget gaming build.I will be using a AMD FX6300.I presently have this board in another pc with an amd 965 oc @3.8 w/1.375 on v-core.Using an Antec DF 85.It idles @ 24C Load 45C.These are winter temps,but not bad for oc 125w 965.This will be my 3rd 970A-UD3 board.I know there are 3 revisions of the GA-970A-UD3.The board I just bought on Jan-4-2013 is revision 1.2.It looks like they are still clearing out the old stock at NewEgg.I was hoping for the 1.3,but as long as it works,is what counts.I bought this board in Dec 2011,and July of 2012,The first is 1.1,and the later 1.2 version.I am using the F5 bios on the 965 with no issues,for 6 months.The 1.2 revision is definitely is more stable,and cpu voltage does not fluctuate constantly like it did in the 1.1 version.
Game Plan...
On the FX build,I plan on installing Windows 7 on a ssd.This will be used for a boot drive with a few platters for storage and games.I also plan on installing xp on a platter.Why? Because I like XP.I'm not going for a dual boot,both os will be installed separately with no other drives connected during install to avoid conflicts.When XP is needed,I will boot from the bios.I realize I will have to have ACHI enabled,so I plan on slipstreaming the achi drivers for xp with n-light first,so I can make sure xp works in achi mode.Then install 7 on the ssd.The bios will have achi already enabled,so hopefully all goes well.
Questions
1.Will I need to flash the bios to F7 for the FX2 CPU? I Never flashed a bios.I am aware of Q-Flash,but is this the correct way to use this utility? "Download the BIOS version that matches my motherboard and revision number, unzip it,and then put it on a USB flash drive and then run Q-Flash during startup by pressing the END key" That sounds pretty easy.Is that it? Do I install new bios before I install cpu?
2.Do you see any potential conflicts with my game plan?
3.I plan to overclock,so I will be disabling Cool N Quiet, C6, C1E, turbo.I dont see APM in the bios.How do I turn this off?
Looking at the F5 bios with the 970a and amd 965 I remember seeing something called core control.You can disable or enable.What does that mean? Should I turn it off,if I overclock.I left it at default,which is enable,because I'm not sure what it does.All other green stuff is off.
*Other Thoughts -Overclocking FX CPUs it's pretty much the multiplier and the CPU voltage. They don't like the CPUNB frequency messed with much. Good cooling and a heavy duty power phase mobo are the keys to high overclocks with the FX CPUs. Most people are going with water, at least for the 8 core FXs.I opted for a 6 core @ 95 watts.I'm using the fx6300,Hyper 212 Evo,,ssd,750w psu,& a full tower with 7 fans.The 970 is a budget board,but it has a 8+2 power phase.I plan to overclock the 6300 to 4.2g.This should give me decent frame rates while gaming,as this is my only concern.
Screenshot from someone else.Results achieved by upping multiplier with no voltage increase.It looks like 4.2 is an easy clock,but I dont want to push this board to much further,being budget