New build, what's the difference between these mobos?

[Eureka]

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138130

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128387

I'm picking these out because they both offer combo deals with the AMD Phenom II X3 720 chip, and also because I want a full ATX board for XFire.

I know neither of these have DDR3 but for a DDR3 solution the cost goes up at least $50 in the budget.

What's the difference between these boards? Yes I will be doing processor overclocking, if that matters.

Also, are there any other boards that do XFire and DDR3 around the ~100 range? Most I've seen start at 120, and I also lose the combo discount with the 720.

 

[Rifter]

If you are going to OC i would go with the gigabyte board for the sole reason that it has a heatsink on the voltage regulators that supply power to the CPU, they tend to get hot when adding more voltage and i think that heatsink will help alot. That said there is nothing stopping you from throwingt some heatsink on the biostar board but that would add cost.

 

[Eureka]

Hmm, how big/where is the voltage regulator? I have a few heatsinks lying around and I can find more (so no extra cost for a heatsink). Also, how would you hold it on? Would superglue work? Epoxy?

Besides that, is there any reason to get the gigabyte over the biostar?

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
Hmm, how big/where is the voltage regulator? I have a few heatsinks lying around and I can find more (so no extra cost for a heatsink). Also, how would you hold it on? Would superglue work? Epoxy?

Besides that, is there any reason to get the gigabyte over the biostar?

Maybe customer support? BIOS updates?

 

[Rifter]

Look at the top down view picture of the gigabyte board on newegg and look at the heatsink below the CPU socket in the picture, it says ultra durable on it, this is covering the components im talking about, note how the biostar board lacks any heatsink for that area.

 

[baddog60]

The biggest difference in those boards is that the Gigabyte does not have the built in video. It is one of the few boards to use the 790x and the750sb. That is probably not an issue since you are planning on using the crossfire setup anyway. Other than that I would say that the Gigabyte board would have a perceived quality advantage, but I have heard good things about both boards. I own the Gigabyte and really like it.

 

[Eureka]

Originally posted by: Rifterut
Look at the top down view picture of the gigabyte board on newegg and look at the heatsink below the CPU socket in the picture, it says ultra durable on it, this is covering the components im talking about, note how the biostar board lacks any heatsink for that area.

I see, well adding a heatsink would not be a problem for me.

Does anyone know the differences in OC'ability between the two? I plan to push my CPU/Ram to the max on this thing.

BIOS updates... is Biostar worse in that department?

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius

Originally posted by: Rifterut
Look at the top down view picture of the gigabyte board on newegg and look at the heatsink below the CPU socket in the picture, it says ultra durable on it, this is covering the components im talking about, note how the biostar board lacks any heatsink for that area.

I see, well adding a heatsink would not be a problem for me.

Does anyone know the differences in OC'ability between the two? I plan to push my CPU/Ram to the max on this thing.

BIOS updates... is Biostar worse in that department?

Biostar are a quality brand and many recent world record OCs have been done on their boards. Realisticly, the big four (Foxconn, MSI, Asus and Gigabyte) + DFI and Biostar are the most prominant quality and OC manufacturers around now, you can't go wrong with either, it comes down to what features you can find on a board at what price. I would recommend the DFI 790GX as I have had recent experience with it's bigger brother the M2RSH which shares a very similar Bios to the 790GX board. I also have recent experience with MSI 790 boards which have done me well aswell.