Well I give this a try! Thanks AMD and Asrock!
I got an Asrock 970M Pro 3!
http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/970M%20Pro3/
EDIT: Post updated with new pictures.
I used 2 diffrent kind of cameras. One are HTC one X and the other Pentax M85.
Alot of pictures!
And a wall of text.
My PC
Close up on the VRM cooling and the Northbridge heatsink.
I really like this motherboard!
+ Stable + mATX + Easy to OC with + All black +Easy BIOS +Support FX83XX-serie +Very good onboard sound!
My experince so far with this motherboard:
It has fully support for the AMD FX83XX-serie and below that ofc. The overclocking part is easy...Just regulate the multiplikator if you got a ''black edition'' CPU..Or you will be forced to overclock with the FSB..Little harder but still do-able. And! It has support for CrossFire! 16X and one 4X PCI-E.
Overclocking:
I manage to overclock my AMD FX8350 up to 4700MHZ@1,45V! Still the motherboad was okey with it, temps was under the ''danger zone'' I tested to overclock my RAM, and that worked out great! I manage to OC my G.Skill 1600MHZ 9-9-9-24 RAM to 1866MHZ with 10-9-10-27 Timings with T1 ofc :).
The automatic OC'er overclocks by FSB not multiplier, just a ''heads up'' So I prefer to overclock manually, so I can adjust the multiplier without touching the FSB.
BIOS:
The bios is easy to learn, but! the mouse got a strange input lag...I got the latest BIOS VER yet I got mouse lag in the BIOS, I hope this will be fixed later on.
When it comes to updating the motherboards BIOS, the Windows Flash BIOS are really easy to use, all you has to do is to download the latest BIOS for the motherboard, and the unzip then dubbel click on the BIOS file and the PC starts to work with it, for me it took around 2 minuts to finish. You can update via USB to, just download the BIOS and send it into your USB, reboot and enter BIOS, then go on to flash BIOS from there, done.
Drivers:
The drivers are stable and easy to install! Not much to it, ''Plug n play'' mostly.. This Asrock motherboard got fully driver support for Windows 7, 8 and 10. I had no problems at all installing my Asrock drivers for the motherboard. I use Windows 10.
Other fun stuff:
I manage to undervolt my CPU to 1,250V at stock speed! Still stable! The CPU temp never peaked over 52c.
The boot up time is fast, I got a Samsung 840 EVO, and my PC cold starts in ~10sec
The 970M pro 3 got really nice quality to it, it feels heavy yet it is tiny, good heatsinks on the VRM and NB/SB
Onboard sound:
I really love the onboard sound! What a clear and sharp sound, the bass reacts quickly and tweeters are crisp but still soft, the sound device gets full putt! I have 2.1 speaker system, I like stereo pure sound without any extra backgroud programs, only the power of the soundcard+ my speaker set. That gives the best sound.
Negatives:
-The Sata ports should be angled to make it look better in the case, cable management would be easier of they where angled. And the input lag/Delay in BIOS.
The reason: Why I choosed Asrock as my motherboard was that i looked after a mATX AM3+ mobo with fully support for FX-series and SATA3! And this Pro3 got all of that! And beside, it looks really nice. This are my first Asrock mobo and I will continue to use Asrock in my future builds. I hope Asrock will make motherboards for ZEN systems later on :-)
Overall I recommend you to buy this motherboard if you are searching after an AM3+ mATX FX-ready motherboard!
Total I give this motherboard 9/10 stars in its class!
My PC specs:
MOBO: Asrock 970M Pro 3 CPU: AMD FX8350 RAM: G.SKill 8GB PSU: CoolerMaster V700 Chassi: H440 SSD: Samsung 840, 250GB HDD: Seagate 1000GB VGA: Gigabyte GTX970 G1
I wanted to build a silent gaming PC as possible..H440+ 2 case fans, really quiet :)
Sorry for my bad english, I'm Swedish.
If you got some questions just ask, I will try to answer them.
Thanks again!
------------- My PC. http://i.imgur.com/x6wZmmz.png
|