Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

[djm68]

Hello,

The last few days I have read many information that was new for me about motherboard quality as far as capacitor and number of phases are concerned.

I am on the brink of upgrading my system and I would like to experiment a little with overclocking.

I will for sure not run overclocked all the time, only when converting video's and making dvd's the most heavy stuff I will do with my pc.

To make an estimation of the overclocked time vs normal use, I think 2% of my time spending in overclocked mode will be a fair estimation.

I consider two gigabyte models, each having all the features I need, but one has all solid state cap's the other partly electrolytic ones and i decided to let this be my selection criterion.

What I figured is that mainly the cpu comes under heavier voltage load (please correct if I'm wrong) so the cpu power caps need to be decent but all cheap boards nowadays use solid state's around the cpu so that might not be a problem.

My choice will be between the GA-880GM-UD2H and the cheaper GA-MA78LMT-US2H, both with an athlon II X3 440 CPU.
I will install a Xigmatek HTD-S1283 CPU cooler, which has very good test results.

Now with the little time spending overclocked, might this still have a definite life-time reducing effect of the electrolytic caps of the MA78LMT-US2H?
Would I just use my pc regularly, there would be no doubt to choose for the cheaper model.
During the past ten years I have never had any bad experiences with motherboard capacitors using Asus but I never tried overclocking.

I realize that important factors are how I overclock, how heavy and if I mess up, but let's presume I follow all the guidelines, doing things very carefully following beginners advice.

Can I go for the cheaper model safely?
I would really appreciate experience based advise rather than theory or personal preference based.

I hope you can help me out.
Thanks in advance.

[djm68]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

...Upgrade of my post.
I decided to look at the maximum voltage capacity of the capacitors around the cpu.
When I look at gigabyte photo's on the internet, they all say 2,5V.


The usual core voltage is around 1,3 volts.
when overclocked, the voltages are often raised just a little, say to 1,5v at most.
The 1,5V is still far below the 2,5 max voltage so I hope that I can safely say that the raise in voltage will have no effect the caps's health and when properly cooled there might be no life-span issues at all.

So with this, I think, solid theorie in mind, I decided to order the cheaper board.

Although my issue of choice is solved, comments are always welcome of course

[toastygoodness]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

the best chipsets for gigabyte are usually amd 770, 790, 870, 890. the integrated ones (micro) are harder to oc on. 790/890gx integrated are easy though. most gaboards should have solid caps or similar by now. if you can cancel i would suggest you, at minimum, get the ga board with a 870 chipset.

[djm68]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

ok, 770 is doable.
But I can buy a demo version of the msi 870-G54 of which only the box was opened, 100% tested ok for 10€ more, € 72 which equals $ 58. That's really a good deal.
The overclocking tests are very satisfying.

The Asrock 870icafe also $ 58, new, is also something to consider although no test results or reviews can be found.

Both Asrock and Msi suffer(ed) from reputation problems however, but examining both boards, they all have top quality components so I believe this is something from the past.

What is the factual state of quality these days of MSI and Asrock?
My own intuitive preference lies with MSI.

[djm68]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

I didn't mention gigabyte's 770 version, also in this price range because something strange is going on.

Part two of my interest in these boards is because the chances of being able to unlock 1 or 2 cores, especially with the phenom's is very high.
In all the 770 manuals of gigabyte boards however, dated mid 2010, the crucial EC firmware option is missing.
In 2009 there are many positive unlock attempts with GA 770's, in 2010 they are nowhere to be found. Can it be that the bios has downgraded? I somehow can't imagine.

My preference lies with gigabyte, but it's 770 against MSI's 870.
As far as features are concerned, both are really overdimensioned already so no issues there, but apart from features, why prefer 870 above 770 and what to think of the strange gigabyte bios?

[toastygoodness]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

also know that you can use am2+ motherboards too. my gigabyte is a ma770ds3 or something like that, i the same athlon ii chip. it OCs the same, mine is running at a solid 3.4GHz oced from like 2.5 or something.

870 is newer and updated. the problem with unlocking is not because of the bios, but because of the southbridge of the amd chipset. newer 770s will be able to unlock because they have ACC, but older ones (like mine) have the old southbridge that doesn't support ACC. you can only unlock if ACC is there.

also, ACC may not work. a lot of procs are downgraded because one of the cores has a defect. you should test what cores u have for stability before unlocking the next cores. and there is a less chance of unlocking working on a tri-core iirc. i remember that dual-cores Kuma or something were the highest chance of unlockable.

i would take the gigabyte but that is just my bias.

[djm68]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

the issue seems to be, that these gigabyte boards need two bios changes to unlock.
The ACC is there, no problem, but the second one to enter hybrid mode: the EC firmware option is missing.
I called a gigabyte technician who commented that if the option is not mentioned in the manuals, it is not present in the bios and the manuals are from 2010, june I think.
So this is my point of doubt.
On the other hand, He was an Intel board expert as he said, his knowledge about AMD boards was not up to date.

It is past midnight here by the way (Amsterdam) and a bed seems very attractive so my response might come late.

[toastygoodness]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

i must be weird then. eu probably is different cause here in the us, all the boards i've gotten are ACC enabled. they unlock with firmware and all that, but i've encountered some procs that simpily either don't have the extra two cores or are too damaged to run stable with unlocked cores.

[djm68]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

I solved it all.
I ordered an Asus with 770 chipset with easy unlock mode.
How overclocking goes with this board? I'll just have to wait and see.

thanks for all your comments.

[toastygoodness]

Re: Gigabyte motherboard choice for overclocking

lol there you go. should be easy. usually PSU and cooling are more important. don't forget board cooling too. most of the time its an awful psu that limits it.