Assistance - AMD AM3+ recommendation

[guachi]

I am thinking of completely upgrading my 2010 era PC. And by upgrading I mean completely buying new everything and relegating the old machine to a dedicated Win 7 HTPC.

I plan on buying an 8370 because 1. I'm partial to AMD and 2. it's a good deal with a free game that I'd buy anyway (TW:Warhammer) and a decent stock cooler. That's like $80 saved.

So, the things I am looking for in my motherboard:

1. I don't care about overclocking.

2. Stability and reliability are important as the PC will be on 24/7 and spend much of its life at 100% CPU power encoding things.

3. It must have USB 3.0 headers so I can have front mounted ports.

4. Audio is important as I like to listen to music and will be using really nice Sennheiser HD600 headphones (300 ohm) with the PC. If the built-in audio is "good enough" I will keep it and not buy a sound card. Though I do like having a volume knob on my desktop I can turn like with my current PC speakers (which will stay with my old PC. The speakers have a control box for power, volume, and a headphone jack).

5. I won't ever have more than one video card.

I looked at MSI and ASUS boards on Newegg for examples and figured that I don't need anything more than a 970 chip. Both MSI and ASUS have boards with the Realtek 1150 chip. Is that worth the extra money (about $10)? Will it be a good match for headphones and (maybe) a small headphone amp?

Any assistance is much appreciated.

 

[sttubs]

I've been very happy with my setup in the signature line. I've also had good experiences using the Asrock 970 MATX boards, as long as it's not overclocked: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157582

 

[guachi]

Thank you.

I guess I could expand my request to Intel boards, too. As the features apply equally to them. Same audio choices, same reliability needs, etc.

 

[nenforcer]

I have a FX 8350 on an ASSRock 990FX Extreme 9 and Realtek ALC898 audio and Intel Ethernet which I have been very happy with.

This is one of early waves of 990FX motherboard which supports up to 220W CPU like the AMD FX 9370 / 9590.

Just recently the last wave of 970 based boards was released including what I believe you are referring to the MSI 970 Gaming and the ASUS 970 PRO Gaming Aura?

The MSI has Rivet Networks Killer Ethernet E2200 and Realtek ALC1150 while the ASUS has Intel I211 Ethernet and Realtek ALC1150.

However the ASUS is newer and has USB 3.1 and M.2 slots which really seperate it. This is the one I would go with.

If you are really planing on running this thing 24/7 however you might want to upgrade to a 990FX board which will have more power phases and should provide greater longevity.

These AMD FX boards and chips are obsolete now - I'm sure you know. An Intel based board will have DDR4 and PCI-E 3.0 along with native USB 3 and possibly USB 3.1 and M.2 / U.2. The new AMD AM4 platform will be coming towards the end of this year but expect to pay quite a bit more.

 

[guachi]

If I just upgrade what I have I can reuse my DDR3 memory and end up with an 8350 for $100 and and mobo of some kind for $90 or $100.

Yeah, I would be "upgrading" to a 3.5 year old chip. Though I don't know what advantage DDR4, PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.1, or M.2 would have to anything I'd do. Which is probably why I value them at $0 in an Intel board. It's not that they aren't useful, I just don't know what products would use them or what the benefits are.

I remember going ISA, VLB, PCI(?), AGB, PCIe with my video cards so moving from PCI-E 2.0 to 3.0 seems like nothing (even if it's not nothing)

I almost never (I think it's happened once of 8 CPUs) reuse a motherboard with a new chip. RAM lasts longer; I've actually used it with another CPU more than once!

It looks like an Intel system would be 6600 ($230) + mobo ($130) + 16gb RAM ($60) = $420. Whatever I get I'd likely keep for 3-4 years. My current system is going on six years with nothing added but external hard drives for media. And copying 3 TB over USB 2.0 is just wrong.