AMD Chip sets

[robkewley]

I am a serial over specifier when it comes to PC builds. This time I thought I'd ask rather than guess. If i'm not planning to overclock or run multiple GPUs is there any benefit to be buying a 990FX MB over a 790? The price differential is only £20-£30 so will happily pay the difference if there is any actual performance to be had (mostly office, media streaming and some light gaming).

[mikeo01]

In a way yes but not massively for average use.

990 chipsets support USB3, SATA 6, faster HT link and just better support for newer processors.
990 chipsets do not have video output, so a dedicated video card is required.

Performance wise you would not really benefit, not greatly looking at what you use it for.



Is this a build from scratch? May be worth looking into AMDs APUs if budget is a concern

[DanceswithUnix]

Chipsets for FX line are looking a bit dated these days, if you are only light gaming then you may well find the mainstream FM2 platform is better. A75/A85 have USB3 as standard, and the graphics on the top end APU models is actually not that bad.

Edit to add: To try and answer the original question, there is some theoretical improvement between the chipset ranges, but frankly unless you want to run SLI graphics cards there would have to be other features on the board on top of the chipset to make me want to get the 990.

[shortie87]

I'd also recommend the AMD APU's, I've just built a new system with one for pretty much the same usage requirements as yourself, and it does a great job, the onboard graphics are more than capable of 1080p video and some light gaming at medium settings. Mine is the Gigabyte GA-F285X-D3H which can be picked up for about £60-£70 quid, and an A10-5700 for about £95. Also, the APU's thrive with quick memory. Mine is running at 1600mhz but you would be better off with something quicker if possible.