Power and Overclocking
Power
This is going to be an interesting test. Here we get to see if there is any functional differences between a pretty high end 8+2 implementation with the Asus board and the 6+2 of the budget MSI board. The system was left to idle for 15 minutes with the video active.
At idle we see a small difference between the two boards. Two watts is nothing to write home about, but it is a couple percentage more than expected. We must also consider that the Asus board is chock full of extra features and chips which will consume more power. Does this spell a little trouble for the supposedly lean and mean MSI board? We test load with all eight cores running Cinebench R15 for several back to back runs.
We can gather a few things from this particular result. The 27 watt difference between the two boards is pretty significant. We must again consider that the Asus board is just plain running a lot more stuff on it, and more stuff requires more power. The 6+2 power phase setup that MSI implemented is simply not as efficient at load as what Asus designed for their high end Crosshair V FZ. Each phase with a 6+2 setup is required to do more work to provide the CPU with power. This will cause more heat to build up, and that will lower the efficiency of the individual phases. The MSI board does not get overly hot, but we can see here that fewer phases are actually less efficient in this particular scenario. Also consider that Asus is using some higher quality chips in their design, but these are higher priced parts on a board that is almost 3x more expensive.
Overclocking
Overclocking the FX-9590 is a nearly fruitless endeavor for this board. The chip runs at a 5 GHz boost clock and a 4.7 GHz base clock. The board can slightly overclock this product, but I would not trust a long term overclock with this combination. I was able to reach a stable 5.1 GHz OC with this processor.
When paired with a FX-8370 the board can easily take that part to 4.8 GHz on all cores with Turbo disabled. I raised the voltage by about 0.04v for this test. It does of course heat up the VRMs, but at about the same amount as just running a FX-9590.
If a person really wants to push their processors, then a higher end solution would be best. The 6+2 phase setup works better than expected, but those extra phases do make a difference when pursuing ultra-high overclocks. This board would actually complement AMD’s 95 watt TDP parts very well. I could easily see this pushing the FX-6350 quite nicely and at a relatively low bundled price.
This board is undeniably
This board is undeniably great for the price, but I wonder if they could have cut out the aesthetics and some of the less useful features in order to get a good 8 phase setup without increasing the price. That would be a perfect board. Seems like manufacturers just focus on features to be marketed instead of simple good quality. Still, at least it isn’t 4 phase, and handling the 9590 long term is certainly an accomplishment for such a cheap board. That long term testing is important for seeing if a board can truly handle a power-hungry CPU, so thanks for that.
Any plans to start doing video segments as part of the reviews like Ryan and Allyn do? You seem to have a lot of insightful comments during the podcast.
In this particular case, I
In this particular case, I think the aesthetics are pretty inexpensive… so not a lot of money to cut there. They still need heatsinks, and adding color accents to those is not really hard.
I will eventually start doing some videos here. I need to gather more equipment and figure out a good way to accomplish it. Thanks for your comments!
Thank you for Testing FX-9590
Thank you for Testing FX-9590 with your test, set up. Which with your set up, at least found out the my FX-9370 CPU will work with that motherboard.
I would like for them to
I would like for them to bring back the high-spec AM3+ microATX boards from a couple years ago.
For instance the Asus M5A88-M motherboard I’m currently using in one of my PCs. Compare this board to any other mATX AM3+ board currently available for purchase today and it’s completely obvious that the M5A88-M trumps those other mATX boards in every conceivable way. It has two USB 3.0 ports and 6 (SIX!) SATA 6.0Gb/s ports back when Intel only had two SATA 6.0 Gb/s for their mATX boards. Why did AMD suddenly stop adding the SB850 southbridge to their smaller motherboards and instead went back to a far inferior southbridge is a total mystery to me.
I would love to see a
I would love to see a Streaming Engine Board for the AMD line of CPU’s would definitely be interested in it. Could listen to streaming music, put voice comms on wifi to not interfere with the game, Stream. The possibilities are endless.
Is the USB 3.0 on this
Is the USB 3.0 on this motherboard capable of handling both the two ports in the back and two ports in the front via front panel? Or is it where the ports become shared speed between all four or either the front or the back depending on which is connected?
It seems like the way the VIA
It seems like the way the VIA chip is configured, it will likely share bandwidth and throttle the ports if more than 2 are in heavy use. I don't have confirmation of this, so the reality of the situation may not reflect what I am reading. Having said that, I am curious what kind of usage scenario would be common that all 4 USB 3.0 ports would be going full bore?
Where do you find this board
Where do you find this board for $89US?
When I was writing this, the
When I was writing this, the MSRP was $99 but I was able to find it at multiple places for $89. It seems that prices on the board have gone back up and there are fewer specials.
Can you give more information
Can you give more information on how to get headphones to work with the front audio jack? I cannot seem to get it working even though it detects. Thanks!
i don’t see front panel
i don’t see front panel connections is there any on this board
i don’t see front panel
i don’t see front panel connections is there any on this board
Just picked this board up
Just picked this board up with a fx-4300 processor (NVidia 650)for my son and it is working great, $100 for the MSI 970 gaming board and the fx-4300 chip. I just got him titan fall and he has leveled up to 40 within 4 days of playing and is kicking my but against my MSI Z87i setup with a i5 4670k (NVidia 970).
What is a good videokaart for
What is a good videokaart for this bord.
For 200 euro ore less
I use this board with an AMD
I use this board with an AMD FX 9590 and MSI Radeon R9 290x card, highly recommend watercooling. This chipset will catch fire it seems :p 85 degrees C.
All in all the board is a solid choice so far, if you can keep it cool.
im thinkin of getting this
im thinkin of getting this board too
is it stable running an 8350 and R9-290X without forcing constant voltage and forcing higher clock speed for the gpu ?
thanks,
mike
what cooler did you and would
what cooler did you and would Cooler Master V8 be good for it
I just got the MSI 970 gaming
I just got the MSI 970 gaming with FX-8300. On the FX chip box they state you will get better OC with air cooled vs water cooling. I’m using Cryorig Hi with push pull fan added to the H7. I’m doing a slight OC running 4.16GHZ all the time. I’m running at 43C. Also picked the board up for $99 with $10 mail in rebate. I should be getting lower temps here pretty soon. Because I’m going to be replacing the six fans in my tower. To higher output fans.
I picked up this mobo and the
I picked up this mobo and the only issue I had with it is that for some reason my cpu voltage somehow got reduced in bios from the offset I had set for it. I OC’d my amd 8310 to 4Ghz and had it stable at 1.336v(used the voltage offset in bios), then last weekend I power on my rig and it won’t even post. I trouble shot everything and thought the cpu failed, then I cleared the cmos data and when I booted it up I noticed in bios the auto voltage setting was only providing my cpu with 0.970v, LESS THAN A VOLT! I couldn’t even boot windows and I’m surprised it had enough voltage to post. I had to use the voltage offset to get it to 1.228v to stabilize it. Other than that no problems, you can help keep board temps down by using a top down cpu cooler, I have the big typ revo. That coupled with my side vent fans give me great cooling for the board.
Do you know if this unstable
Do you know if this unstable voltage issue is common or a one off thing? because I am buying this board and if this is a common problem then I may look at getting a different one.
What power supply are you using? Could it be that?
i want to use a fx-8320cpu in
i want to use a fx-8320cpu in it and use the stock cooler but i am scared for vrm failures or anything that could shut it down. i am not planning on overclocking yet but i dont know if its going to be too hot in there with just a stock cooler. can anyone explain me possible problems?
How dit you get the r9 280(x)
How dit you get the r9 280(x) working
I asked it because i getting and error of 1 long and 2 short beeps
I just bought the 970, with
I just bought the 970, with fx 9590, on pcpartpicker it says it is incompatible, because of voltage… Help!
yeah ive just got a fx9590
yeah ive just got a fx9590 seeing alot places as its a 140 max vault bord wont work in bord tryingsee if theres a bios update like ive read for some boards wot did you do
This is a great board, I
This is a great board, I picked one up for $109 CDN which is about $70US these days. It’s only rated for 200W TDP processors which excludes the 9XXX series. I’m running at 8320 at 4.2 GHz and it’s rock solid stable. Given the features and aesthetics, it’s one of my favourite boards (even over the two ASUS ROG boards I have.)
I have a MSI 970 gaming board
I have a MSI 970 gaming board FX6300 processor enermax 620 650w peak power supply. 2 x4 gb kingston hyper x genesis memory khx1600c9d3k2/8gx, asus r9 380 4gb graphics card. crucial BX200 SSD 240. dvd drive.
I try to install windows 10 from disc I get to the restart after utilities and files and updates it counts down restarts then says device drivers loaded and hangs .
All parts are new bar the kingston memory which worked fine in my asus old mother board.
I have tried to load windows 8.1 dvd original and see below
I have tried loading an 8.1 image from the usb drive which was down loaded from microsoft
I have flashed and updated the bios to the current version but still no joy completing boot. everything is seen in the bios setup.
any body have any suggestions.
it fires up gets to the install goes through it not always though.
how much wattage do this
how much wattage do this M-board uses