Best FM2 motherboard?

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DJ Big T

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 15, 2011
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Hey I'm upgrading studio computer to AMD A10-6800K Richland 4.1GHz (4.4GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - Black Edition AMD Radeon HD 8670D and 8GB of RAM. I have no idea what the current specs of it are, but I know he's using Windows XP and Pro Tools 7.4. I want to buy a newer version of Protools, but I'd like to keep the cost low. Is there a low cost, reliable motherboard for this processor? I'm not wanting to spend too much money on this upgrade, but still have it be very reliable.

Thanks,
T
 
Okay but are there decent options for say, the $50 range? We are upgrading using old parts and are on a strict budget because we have to buy Pro Tools 11 for $300, so that limits us. Thanks.
 
Your thread title is a bit misleading: "Best FM2 motherboard" and "good motherboard for $50" aren't exactly the same.

To answer your question about the $50 FM2 motherboard, the answer is basically a NO. Protools can use up a lot of RAM. As such, those budget $50 FM2 motherboards aren't good choices since they only have two DIMM slots which means a max of 16GB of RAM. At a minimum, I would recommend the Biostar Hi-Fi A85W since it seems to be fairly popular and is relatively cheap.

Also, you really should move him off Windows XP as soon as possible as OS updates for Windows XP will be ending on April 8, 2014. So might as well get him use to a new OS now rather than later. Not to mention that unless he has the 64bit version of Windows XP, he can't use more than 3.75GB of that 8GB of RAM.
 
Yes the idea would be to get a copy of Windows 7 or 8. Yes I realize the thread moved from
'best' to 'affordable yet quality' ... haha. I think Protools and most programs are moving towards 64-bit anyway.
 
Okay looks like I'm putting this off until December. What's the highest end motherboard? I might as well start compiling a build that includes a nice motherboard, just to compare.
 
DJ Big T said:
Okay looks like I'm putting this off until December. What's the highest end motherboard? I might as well start compiling a build that includes a nice motherboard, just to compare.
Click to expand...

Highest end and FM2 don't belong together IMO since you effectively negate one of the the main advantage of FM2 which is its low cost. If you want higher-end, you should be looking at the AM3+ motherboards and CPUs at the least.
 
DJ Big T said:
Okay but are there decent options for say, the $50 range? We are upgrading using old parts and are on a strict budget because we have to buy Pro Tools 11 for $300, so that limits us. Thanks.
Click to expand...

That G43 board linked above seems to fit everything you'd need for $50 after rebate/coupon. It even has 4 DIMM slots for extra memory compared to the other $50 boards. If you're going with the A10-6800k, that board will be fine.

If you're looking for the absolute best. I'd get either the Asus or the ASRock A88X FM2+ boards. I had the older A85X Extreme6 and it was a great board to work with. I'd get either of those two personally if I were buying today.
 
I built my brother a computer 11 months ago with the GA-F2A85X-UP4 and it's been rock solid.
Set up two raptors in raid 1 with a hotspare and it's very snappy.

Gigabyte has the updated version, GA-F2A88X-UP4 now.
Both have the ultra durable 5 and it shows, it weighs a ton.

Since the A88 is out the A85 has dropped in price, $90 after MIR.
 
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