Chipset Question

[Kennie]

Hi. While trying to look for places to save money on in order to minimize my budget, this question came to my mind:

 

What are the main (from an overclocking/performing point of view) differences between the different AMD 800-series chipsets? I understand that the 880G and 890GX have integrated graphics, but what are the actual performance differences?

Could I, say, get a 870 motherboard while still enjoying, to whatever extent it is possible, the same overclocking capabilities of a 890FX motherboard, while still saving about 100€? I guess there are slight differences, as it's about 50% the price tag, but I wonder how much.

Oh, and I intend to get the 1090T X6, so that will probably influence the outcome as well.

 

On a related topic (since I realized this is the correct forum and all), are the OCZ Black Edition memories really worth getting, as opposed to other, a bit cheaper 1600MHz CL7/CL8 RAMs?

 

Cheers,

 

Kennie

Edited May 15, 2010 by Kennie

[Miek]

I'm not sure if it pertains entirely to your question, but the 890fx can do 16x/16x crossfire while the 870 can only do 16x/4x.

[Kennie]

I'm not sure if it pertains entirely to your question, but the 890fx can do 16x/16x crossfire while the 870 can only do 16x/4x.

 

Thank you for your response. While I wasn't particularly looking for PCI-E performance, information about that is of course welcome as well.

 

What I mainly had in mind was what (if any) performance differences a 870 board versus a 890fx board would have, for instance benchmarking (I know these tend to be marginal, at least from what I've seen), as well as overclocking performance. Will there, say, be any worse performance for reaching 4.0GHz with a 1090T (with, in all probability, a Noctua D14 or a U12P) on an 870 board than an 890FX board?

 

Cheers

[The Smith]

There is no difference in performance. As for overclocking, you obviously will see a difference since the 870 boards are made to be budget boards.

[_TheAlexO]

if your wanting to overclock a high end CPU like the 1090t i strongly recommend you go with a high end chipset like the 890gx or 890fx.

[joel.monteiro]

if u want to save a buck go for the 890gx

[Kennie]

Thank you for your replies. I will try to go for a 890FX board, I think.

 

On a related topic: About RAM, how much of a performance loss do I get if I choose for instance a 1333MHz set instead of a 1600MHz one? From what I have understood, 1600 is in some sort of synchronization with the FSB or something along those lines, and thus preferable, but what is the reality? Could I, say, opt for a slower set to save bucks while not missing out too much on performance?

 

Cheers

[Miek]

It also depends on the CAS timings. Unfortunately, I'm far from an expert. I have heard, though, that 1600MHz RAM with CAS timings of 9-9-9-24 would actually perform similar to 1333MHz RAM with timings of 7-7-7-21.

 

Again, I'm no expert.

[RogerDeath]

if u want to save a buck go for the 890gx

+1

 

When I made my rig I went with 790GX instead of the 790FX (my non-gamer dad actually got one of these) because of price limitations, Only complaint I have is choice of manufacturer, but so far Biostar got their ducks in a row for this board....