Official GIGABYTE Forum

Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: geekyadz on April 29, 2011, 05:52:22 pm

Title: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on April 29, 2011, 05:52:22 pm
Ive had the above board since May 2009, and just wondering is it worth getting a new board?

Ive had no problems with it, but Im just wondering with the AMD 3+ processors coming soonTM, is it worth changing the board now or waiting a little while longer?

I currently use a 970 BE and DRR2 (800Mhz) memory.

Obviously I would be sticking by the AMD processors ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on April 29, 2011, 06:14:52 pm
Personally I would have thought that as you are having no problems with this one to hang on to it for now until Bulldozer comes along. ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on April 29, 2011, 06:26:15 pm
Had a feeling someone would say that, after reading some of the recent topics about the new AM3+ socket ;)

Any ideas on how long they would take to arrive?
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on April 29, 2011, 06:30:50 pm
Well not really my area but I seem to remember that absic said they should be available by summer.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: absic on April 29, 2011, 07:44:00 pm
Hi,

the rev 3.1 boards with socket AM3+ will be coming along fairly soon (next few weeks). Still no indication as to when the new 9 series boards will be coming along but I did see some more information today that would indicate that they are in the pipeline.

As DM says, if your system is running fine (like mine) I wouldn't upgrade just yet. Wait until the AM3+ Processors come along which is possibly late June/July as best as I can tell and make a decision then.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on April 30, 2011, 08:36:34 pm
Just in time for my birthday then :lol:

Ok, is there any tech news about the 9 series that state what processors they support (if any AM3 ones - hoping my 970 BE will be supported :D)? It takes me a while to save up some money ;)

Whilst I can get PNY 2Gb of DDR3 memory running at 1333 mhz at about £30 at the moment, that wont be a problem. Buying a brand spanking new board at about £200 and (maybe) a new processor to fit it (costing about the same) is not something I could save up for in weeks, more like months.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on April 30, 2011, 09:18:50 pm
Actually do tell a lie lol the only problem I have is my mate thinks that a Hiper 530W power supply isnt really enough for my HAF 932 case (with all fans plugged in). Any chances on being recommended a better power supply?
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: absic on May 01, 2011, 08:47:15 am
If your 530 is working OK then you have proved your mate wrong! However, I would be looking at something with a bit more grunt to ensure reliability and enough power for future upgrades to the system.

I run a Corsair modular PSU with a single rail and I would recommend looking into something along these lines for an upgrade when your finances allow.

Details for the next Series 9 Chipsets are pretty vague at the present and despite a lot of digging it is hard to come up with any hard facts. However, it does appear that the new AM3+ (AM3b) Sockets are backwards compatible with socket AM3 CPU's so it will be down to the motherboard manufacturer's BIOS whether your processor will work or not. On the current rev 3.1 Black Socket (AM3+) motherboards from Gigabyte it is supported, so I guess the same will hold true when the 9 Series come along.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 01, 2011, 01:46:05 pm
If your 530 is working OK then you have proved your mate wrong! However, I would be looking at something with a bit more grunt to ensure reliability and enough power for future upgrades to the system.

I run a Corsair modular PSU with a single rail and I would recommend looking into something along these lines for an upgrade when your finances allow.
Lets put it this way: she seems stable. Not cutting out or anything like that after a couple of hours on COD:BO or COD4:MW.

Bit lost as whats the difference between Modular and Non-modular PSUs (according to the Corsair site - http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies.html ) and also what sort of wattage I might need. As I have said its a HAF 932 case with the standard three 230 mm fans and an extra 120 mm fan (with 4 leds in), two DVD-RW drives (one sata. one pata but I might ditch the PATA one) and two sata hdd. I might add more leds later to make it "pretty" but not fully made my mind up.

Details for the next Series 9 Chipsets are pretty vague at the present and despite a lot of digging it is hard to come up with any hard facts. However, it does appear that the new AM3+ (AM3b) Sockets are backwards compatible with socket AM3 CPU's so it will be down to the motherboard manufacturer's BIOS whether your processor will work or not. On the current rev 3.1 Black Socket (AM3+) motherboards from Gigabyte it is supported, so I guess the same will hold true when the 9 Series come along.
Thankyou for digging for me, but if theres little known info then I will just have to wait ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: absic on May 01, 2011, 02:41:43 pm
Basically the difference between Modular and Non-Modular PSU's is to do with cable management. With a Modular PSU you only attach the power leads you really need to the unit rather than having all the redundant cables laying in your PC case.

Looking at what you're doing with your rig I don't think you need to worry too much about the power draw. Personally I would be looking at something of at last 650 Watts, to allow a little more headroom than you currently have but, as always, it comes down to costs and if you have the money available. Before you upgrade your Mobo and CPU though (whenever that may be) I would suggest that you consider upgrading your PSU.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 01, 2011, 05:18:04 pm
I see. Well modular looks to be out of my price range from my "usual" computer shop so thats ruled that one out I think.

Seems I have the choice of two realistically:

http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies/non-modular-psus/gaming-series-1/gs700w.html

http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies/non-modular-psus/enthusiast-series-1/enthusiast-series-tx650-v2-80-plus-bronze-certified-650-watt-high-performance-power-supply.html

Though the enthusiast series one is looking more tempting as its the cheapest one. However the difference is literally £5 so for an extra fiver I might as well get the 700 one.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on May 01, 2011, 06:08:04 pm
To be honest there is nothing much to choose between them. The 650 has a five year warranty and is only 3 amps less output on the 12v line. They both are single 12v line PSUs and the 700w only has a three year warranty. So nothing much in it either way unless you need the pretty lighting! ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 01, 2011, 07:50:17 pm
I might decide in a couple of weeks by flipping a coin then ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on May 01, 2011, 10:39:50 pm
Yes they are both pretty good PSUs and either would be enough to power your system unless you are planning to do some major upgrades like crossfires 6990s or something.  ;D
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 01, 2011, 10:57:25 pm
Oh I dont know now. You plant an idea into my head like that and Im gonna get carried away with what I can get :D

Actually Absic might be able to answer this one better:

Is it true that the AMD chipset works better if theres an ATi graphics card used instead of a Nvidia one? (I currently own a GT240 1GB). Im pretty certain I read that somewhere around here but couldnt quite remember
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: absic on May 02, 2011, 08:06:52 am
I can only speak from personal experience and there is no hard evidence to support this but, I have found that AMD systems do seem to prefer ATI GPU's over NVidia.

When I started building PC's I would always use NVidia cards but some years ago, I started getting driver glitches and various system crashes for no real reason. I switched to ATI cards and the problems all but disappeared and I have been using them ever since.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 02, 2011, 08:33:50 am
Well most AMD boards are Crossfire now so that would make sense
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Aussie Allan on May 02, 2011, 10:45:00 am

 Just to throw the biggest spanner into the works that I can find......If you already have a working PC, your covered for what I call a "incentive PC Build"

 Step1......work out the biggest kick ass system you'd care to own!... don't worry about the fun tickets yet!
 Step2..... save enough to go out (online) and buy you case/motherboard and CPU.
 Step3..... this is were the incentive part comes in, ... over the next 2 to 6 months you will be amazed how dedicated you will be to find cash and buy that next component to get to the finish line......washing your grandmothers feet for a fiver will even seem like a good idea. the reality will be, you will make changes to the final list to get the system up and running, you will do more research regards compatibility and make changes of components in the "To buy List"...You will find absolute bargains shopping this way saving even more fun tickets.....but you will have a far,far better system then going out and buying what you can afford now.

 Ive done this a couple of times in the last 5 years so I know for me this works......My wife thinks I'm mad as she found out what I spent when we itemized for insurance....still not talking to me! ...another plus for doing it this way.

 Allan Thomson

 
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: absic on May 02, 2011, 10:52:12 am
I like your approach Allan and it definitely works.........


now all I have to do is raise enough money to get me old Mum out of the Pawnbrokers!!
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 02, 2011, 04:55:25 pm
Step1......work out the biggest kick ass system you'd care to own!... don't worry about the fun tickets yet!
 Step2..... save enough to go out (online) and buy you case/motherboard and CPU.
 Step3..... this is were the incentive part comes in, ... over the next 2 to 6 months you will be amazed how dedicated you will be to find cash and buy that next component to get to the finish line......washing your grandmothers feet for a fiver will even seem like a good idea. the reality will be, you will make changes to the final list to get the system up and running, you will do more research regards compatibility and make changes of components in the "To buy List"...You will find absolute bargains shopping this way saving even more fun tickets.....but you will have a far,far better system then going out and buying what you can afford now.
Dunno about you but I certainly dont have enough money to be shelling out for new pc cases, motherboards etc etc etc. I certainly dont have the space for it anyway.

Make a "buck" on the side isnt going to be possible. I dont really want to disclose where/how I live, but lets just say it puts my tenancy at risk if I do that.
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Aussie Allan on May 02, 2011, 10:54:53 pm

 Sad to hear your predicament.... If you have patience, Ebay can produce some amazing result, I picked up a GA-X48-DQ6 in mint condition for a friends son reasonably quickly for 17 pounds and a Q6600 CPU for 27...........you make your own luck, rarely you find it on a scratchy.

 Aussie Allan
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 03, 2011, 01:13:56 pm
Well Im pretty good at saving money anyway. Worst case is that it might take me a month or so to save about £100 (just to give you a rough idea what Im getting ;)) which whilst I hate waiting for releases of stuff, its not entirely a bad thing for me ;)
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on May 03, 2011, 02:11:43 pm
I think most people are in the same boat at the moment and find it hard to save enough for what they want (and hide it from the misses)! :-\
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: geekyadz on May 03, 2011, 04:52:42 pm
(and hide it from the misses)! :-\
True, except I dont have a misses :P
Title: Re: Upgrade motherboard GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 1.0 to...?
Post by: Dark Mantis on May 03, 2011, 05:40:20 pm
Well at least then you only have half of the problem! ;D