Looking for a CPU upgrade (AMD)

[musikmachine]

I'm using an Asus m4a78lt-m le which has done well but only one mini pci-e slot and i've recently been having issues with my ESIESP1010e card. I'd also like more slots for ram and am3+ for cpu upgrade, i'll continue to use my 560be for now though as it's still fast but something with good upgrade scope would be great!

So a few pci/pci-e slots, good scope for ram and cpu upgrades, good stability and bios options for performance. GPU is a Sapphire 7850.

I just spoke to scan and they recommend Asus or Gigabyte on a 970/990 chipset. Budget is £50-70. Interface issues could be windows related but i have a couple of other interfaces i could use but no spare slots! Also at least 6 usb slots, 3.0 is fine as long as it's backwards compatible. TI Firewire chipset would also be great.

But any other mobos to look at? MSI? I know i'll have to do some research but there are so many options it's a bit overwhelming and i've read about gigabyte boards failing.


Cheers!

[xNiMiNx]

Sabertooth 990fx rev3 came out, maybe you can find a reduced priced rev2. Costs more than what you asked, but 5 year warranty and really nice build quality, id save up for it.

I stay away from gigabyte for the last few years, had 2 different model boards die young. No hands on experience with MSI.

If youve had good first hand experience with ASUS, id stick with them.

[musikmachine]

Thanks. Sabertooth was recommended so i've been looking at that, i might save for a better board. I can use another interface in the meantime but the combination of SQ and low latency with the ESI is really nice and i'm losing the mic pres.

I was about to buy a monitor controller but with these issues it's not worth it, i don't know if the mobo is a bottleneck but i think it's a good upgrade right now, if i still have problems with the esi i'll sell it.

I'm wondering if anyone here is using the ESI and what mobo it runs on, the person i bought it from was using a gigabyte. Cheers.

[musikmachine]

I decided to do a clean install as i had a few other problems but i'm still having issues with the ESI that i'm not sure a mobo would fix. Reason i got the 560 was for good performance on a single core with maschine and it does pretty well however a quad would be better when it come to mixing mutlitrack arrangments so i was thinking about sticking a 965 in as it still looks to be a better option than Fx processors and i might be switching to Intel in about 6 months.

Anyway do you think it would be worth upgrading the cpu now or waiting a few months and seeing what transpires?

[musikmachine]

Bump, anyone? Is the 965 gonna be enough to keep me going until i build a new system? I keep reading it's a good cpu and i need more cpu cycles for synth squad etc and right now i just wanna crack on with teh musik.

Not sure what to do with the ESI, i tried with a dual boot and a fresh install and it's getting flakier so i don't know if there's a fault or it's the drivers.

[DevonB]

But any other mobos to look at? MSI? I know i'll have to do some research but there are so many options it's a bit overwhelming and i've read about gigabyte boards failing.

MSI? Last time I checked, which was a few years ago, they literally CHARGE you $35 for a warranty replacement. Not AFTER the warranty expires, but DURING the warranty period. Never again. I still love Gigabyte boards, but that's me. Can't speak to all of them, and I'm not an AMD fan anymore, so I'll bow out...

Devon

[musikmachine]

Must all be on macs.

I thought it might be a gpu conflict with the interface but it looks like it's the 1x pci-e slot, i tried it in the gpu slot and it boots fine, put the card back in the 1x slot and hanging at boot, tried it a couple of times. Good thing the mobo has onboard graphics!

This is like the issue i'm having anyway: http://forum.audiotrak.net/show.asp?db= ... 0&msg=6536

But for me it's just with the pcie card connected, no breakout-box. So be aware if you buy one of these, the i/o and SQ is good but compatibility can be an issue.

[musikmachine]

But any other mobos to look at? MSI? I know i'll have to do some research but there are so many options it's a bit overwhelming and i've read about gigabyte boards failing.

MSI? Last time I checked, which was a few years ago, they literally CHARGE you $35 for a warranty replacement. Not AFTER the warranty expires, but DURING the warranty period. Never again. I still love Gigabyte boards, but that's me. Can't speak to all of them, and I'm not an AMD fan anymore, so I'll bow out...

Devon

Hey,

I narrowed it down to a couple but the ASRock 970 Extreme4 looks like a well specced mobo for the money, plenty of pcie/pci slots, firewire, spdif, USB 3.0, solid state caps, ceramic coolers etc.

I'm not too familiar with them but they are one of the best mobo manufacturers apparently, looks like the next best thing to a sabertooth in my budget.

Do you think my mobo is likely to be a bottleneck, it's an old micro atx and i'm running a midrange gpu, firewire and pci/pcie with an OC, dual drive with lots of usb devices. I'm getting oc/overvoltage failed messages at boot but only when the ESI pcie card is connected to the 1x slot but otherwise everything runs fine.

[VitaminD]

I think most people are on Intel i-series based systems these days.. probably why there aren't a large number of suggestions..

[musikmachine]

Yeah i figured, or they won't admit it! I'm probably gonna switch to intel on my next build but i thought more people used AMD.

I checked and it sounds like an IRQ conflict anyway, quite common with pci-e cards apparently? All the issues i've had with it are gone so this would make sense so i can either take the gpu out as and when or get a mobo, it's a bit of a hassle but this'll probably be used as a gaming/multimedia machine so upgrading it is viable.

Cheers!

[Debutante]

I'm AMD for life. ASUS mobos are my staple. Have had them for over ten years and never had an issue.

I'll always stay AMD, really just to support the little guy. Intels are somewhat more powerful in the highest range, but I have 2 pcs and the 8350 on both (soon) will be enough.

I don't ever want to lose the AMD option and have Intel charging 25 or 50% more for a 10% increase in performance. Computers are now way cheaper than they used to be at least in part because of good old fashioned competitive capitalism based on AMD providing cheaper (and at one point BETTER) processors. They're losing the game, but I'll do what I can to keep them in play.

[musikmachine]

I'm AMD for life. ASUS mobos are my staple. Have had them for over ten years and never had an issue.

I'll always stay AMD, really just to support the little guy. Intels are somewhat more powerful in the highest range, but I have 2 pcs and the 8350 on both (soon) will be enough.

I don't ever want to lose the AMD option and have Intel charging 25 or 50% more for a 10% increase in performance. Computers are now way cheaper than they used to be at least in part because of good old fashioned competitive capitalism based on AMD providing cheaper (and at one point BETTER) processors. They're losing the game, but I'll do what I can to keep them in play.

Thanks. I was just posting to ask if anyone is on AM3+ and 990fx and what performance is like for audio, all it's about is performance and track count, i don't care about platform and intel upper range costs money. I spoke to scan and they advise strongly against amd cause of dpc latency testing, i ran the checker on my system and it said it was fine for audio, i can run 64 samples at 96khz but i won't get many instances of Fusor to run.

Everything i've thrown at it apart from the ESI has been gerat, just some minor issues. I've not got an problem with sticking with AMD i just want something with some serious grunt, been looking at the AM3+ mobos and their well specced, spdif and firewire, esata ports on the back, croossfire and SLI, 7.1 audio.

Anyway i'll continue tomorrow, gotta get some sleep. Thanks to all who replied.

[DevonB]

But any other mobos to look at? MSI? I know i'll have to do some research but there are so many options it's a bit overwhelming and i've read about gigabyte boards failing.

MSI? Last time I checked, which was a few years ago, they literally CHARGE you $35 for a warranty replacement. Not AFTER the warranty expires, but DURING the warranty period. Never again. I still love Gigabyte boards, but that's me. Can't speak to all of them, and I'm not an AMD fan anymore, so I'll bow out...

Devon

Hey,

I narrowed it down to a couple but the ASRock 970 Extreme4 looks like a well specced mobo for the money, plenty of pcie/pci slots, firewire, spdif, USB 3.0, solid state caps, ceramic coolers etc.

I'm not too familiar with them but they are one of the best mobo manufacturers apparently, looks like the next best thing to a sabertooth in my budget.

Do you think my mobo is likely to be a bottleneck, it's an old micro atx and i'm running a midrange gpu, firewire and pci/pcie with an OC, dual drive with lots of usb devices. I'm getting oc/overvoltage failed messages at boot but only when the ESI pcie card is connected to the 1x slot but otherwise everything runs fine.

Sorry, missed this earlier.

Bottleneck being the motherboard? Not likely. I remember "Back in the day" you'd actually pay attention to performance based on motherboard. Unless you're entering your machines in contests for which machine is the fastest, I'd say it hardly matters anymore in regards to speed. I'd be much more concerned about compatibility, DPC spikes, feature-less BIOS/UEFI, unproven boards for audio (nothing wrong with being a pioneer if you have the time and money to be one), bad drivers, BIOS/UEFI bugs that are not being addressed, etc.

As you noted, the ASRock is a cheaper board, and to my understanding the "budget" line from Asus. I've had one, but it went back. I believe my memory was not compatible with it as I had to replace a bad Asus motherboard before it that died in like a year or so. Asus is not the quality brand it used to be, but I'm hearing they've been turning around recently too from a reliable source. I haven't touched Asus in years now. Pretty much shifted to either Intel or Gigabyte boards for everything. Everyone has their preference, and like you, I don't go through brands in mass quantities either, but have plenty of build experience regardless.

Devon

[musikmachine]

Thanks! Yeah it looks like an IRQ conflict and i only have that slot, it works fine with the gpu slot but taking the graphics card out screwed up the drivers. I did some research and i've decided to get a gigabyte mobo anyway.

By bottleneck i meant on the cpu OC and the wattage as i have to push the voltage to get it stable. I don't think it would handle a quad core very well, it would throttle it.

In the interim i've started using it for audio again, i was trying to hold off until i got the mobo so i wouldn't have to reinstall everything (again ), apart from the ESI it runs well, people might look down on amd for audio i get good performance out of this system, i definitely need more slots and ports but do i go all out and get a decent 990fx mobo, if i do i may as well stay on amd and get an 8350 (the GB was recommded for the 8+2 power). I suppose the efficiency of intel is the other thing, i just want enough cpu power to handle polyphony of synths like Fusor and be able to handle multitrack arrangements with multiple effects.